Resolve invalid hreflang code
Incorrect language or country codes can invalidate hreflang signals.
Incorrect language or country codes can invalidate hreflang signals The error should never be evaluated in isolation. What matters is which URL group is affected and whether it creates a crawling, indexing, snippet, performance or quality problem.
Check language code and optional region separately
A code such as en-UK can come from an internal country name that does not fit the intended hreflang format. What matters first is the language; a region can complement it. Check the output values against the documented codes instead of the visible language labels in the menu.
Example: Recognizing the Result
Illustrative example: One site uses de-UK for German-language content in the United Kingdom. Region and language code were not assembled according to the supported codes.
Limit cause and implement correction
Correct the mapping table and test any language versions that use it. Not every regional variant needs its own version. Avoid adding codes without a suitable landing page. Even a syntactically valid code does not help if the linked URL delivers the wrong language.
What makes you recognize a suitable correction
Determine the actually meant language and optional region. Use only supported combinations, such as de or de-GB; check URLs and backlinks thereafter.
Classification and boundaries
When is this indication not a clear error?
A region alone is not a language. x-default has its own task as an assignment for non-specifically covered users and is not an ordinary language code.
Further documentation
Invalid hreflang code after CMS and cause
Many audit messages can be resolved faster if they are grouped by system, page type and technical cause. CMS indentations are only linked where invalid hreflang code has a clear cause or fixed route in the respective system.
Frequent causes of this error
Related SEO Errors
Appropriate Seitenreport checks
This error should not be checked in isolation. The following tools and clusters help to narrow down the cause faster and to cleanly prioritize the affected URL groups.