HTML lang attribute missing or incorrect
The lang attribute supports language, accessibility and technical clarity.
The lang attribute supports language, accessibility and technical clarity The error should never be assessed in isolation. What matters is which URL group is affected and whether it creates a crawling, indexing, snippet, performance or quality problem.
Define the main language in the document
The lang attribute on the html element describes the main language of the document and supports, among other things, the pronunciation of assistive technology. A German surface with an English main article needs a conscious linguistic assignment. Therefore, check the actual content instead of just the language of the navigation.
Example: Recognizing the Result
Illustrative example: A German-lang document does not have a lang attribute on the html element. As a result, read-out software does not receive a reliable reference to the main language.
<html lang="de">
<p>Deutschsprachiger Inhalt</p>
<p lang="en">An English quotation.</p>
</html>Limit cause and implement correction
Set the appropriate value on the common template and test at least one other language version. Language changes within longer passages can be labeled locally. The attribute does not replace translation and is not a substitute for hreflang references between independent language pages.
What makes you recognize a suitable correction
Issue the correct document language; mark longer different language passages separately if necessary. Test each language version.
Classification and boundaries
When is this indication not a clear error?
long and hreflang perform different tasks. A correct document language does not replace the assignment of language URLs.
HTML lang attribute missing or incorrect 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 linked only where HTML lang attribute is missing or is incorrect has a clearly own 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.