Hreflang Tag Checker
Paste your page HTML to list every hreflang link tag, its target language/region, and the URL it points to — plus a check for a self-referencing entry and an x-default fallback.
How to Use This Tool
Copy your page's HTML
View source on any page in your multilingual site and copy the full HTML.
Paste it above
The tool scans the <head> for hreflang link tags specifically.
Click "Check hreflang"
See every language/region pair listed with its target URL.
Check for x-default
Make sure there's a fallback entry for visitors whose language doesn't match any listed variant.
About the Hreflang Tag Checker
The hreflang attribute tells search engines which language and, optionally, which regional variant of a page to show to users based on their search settings and location. It's essential for any site that publishes the same content in multiple languages, or region-specific versions of the same content (like a US and UK version of the same page).
Getting hreflang wrong is one of the most common technical SEO mistakes on multilingual sites, and the errors are usually invisible without a dedicated checker — tags pointing to the wrong URL, missing reciprocal links between language versions, or no x-default fallback for languages that don't have a specific match.
This tool lists every hreflang tag found on a page along with its target language code and URL, and flags whether an x-default entry is present, giving you a fast way to spot-check a page's international SEO setup.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the hreflang value "x-default" actually mean?
It's a special value that tells search engines which page to show visitors whose language or region doesn't match any of the specific hreflang entries you've listed — essentially a fallback or default version, often your main language homepage.
Do hreflang tags need to be reciprocal between language versions?
Yes, this is critical and frequently gotten wrong. If your English page links to your French version via hreflang, the French page must link back to the English version too — search engines largely ignore hreflang annotations that aren't confirmed by a matching reciprocal tag on the other page.
Can I use hreflang without having separate URLs for each language?
No — hreflang works by pointing to different URLs for different language/region versions. If your site serves different languages dynamically from the same URL based on browser settings, hreflang tags aren't applicable since there's nothing distinct to point to.
What format should the hreflang value use — just a language, or language and region?
Both are valid. Use a language code alone (like "es") to target all Spanish speakers regardless of country, or a language-region pair (like "es-MX") to target Spanish speakers specifically in Mexico. Choose based on how differentiated your regional content actually is.
Can hreflang tags be placed in the sitemap instead of the page HTML?
Yes, hreflang annotations can alternatively be declared in an XML sitemap rather than in each page's <head>, which some large sites prefer for easier management. This tool specifically checks the HTML <head> method, since it's the more common approach for small to mid-sized sites.
Will incorrect hreflang tags hurt my SEO, or just fail silently?
In most cases they fail relatively silently — search engines simply won't apply the intended language targeting rather than actively penalizing the page — but the practical cost is that the wrong language version may get shown to searchers, hurting user experience and potentially click-through rate.