SEO Pulse Feature
Hreflang checker
with reciprocal verification
Full hreflang detection and validation. Reciprocal return link verification, HTTP status per alternate URL, SSR vs JS badge per tag — on the page you have open.
What it does
Hreflang validation
on the page you have open
SEO Pulse reads all hreflang tags on the current page, checks the HTTP status of each alternate URL, and verifies that reciprocal return links are correctly implemented — without you needing to open a separate tool or paste any URLs.
Reciprocal verification is the most commonly missed hreflang check. If page A declares page B as an alternate, page B must also declare page A. SEO Pulse fetches each alternate URL and confirms the return link is present and correct.
An SSR vs JS badge per tag is critical for international sites — hreflang is frequently injected by JavaScript on React and Next.js sites, meaning crawlers on a first-pass HTML-only crawl may never see the international signals at all.
LangURLStatusReciprocalSSR
en-gb
example.com/en-gb/
200
✓ Found
SSR
en-us
example.com/en-us/
200
✓ Found
SSR
de
example.com/de/
200
⚠ Missing
SSR
fr
example.com/fr/
404
✗ Error
JS
x-default
example.com/
200
✓ Found
SSR
Features
What's included
Full hreflang detection
Reads all hreflang tags from the current page — in <head>, HTTP headers, and sitemaps. Shows language and region codes, alternate URLs, and x-default declaration.
Reciprocal return link verification
Fetches each alternate URL and checks that the return hreflang link back to the current page is present and correct. Missing reciprocals are flagged per alternate in the Issues Tab.
Most common error caught
HTTP status per alternate
Each alternate URL is checked for its HTTP status. 404s, redirects, and unreachable URLs are flagged individually — so you can identify broken hreflang targets at a glance.
SSR vs JS badge per tag
Each hreflang tag is labelled SSR or JS-rendered. JS-rendered hreflang on React/Next.js sites is a common cause of international SEO issues — crawlers may not see the tags at all.
Unique to SEO Pulse
Outside <head> detection
Hreflang tags declared outside the <head> element are invalid. SEO Pulse detects placement and flags tags in the wrong location as a warning in the Issues Tab.
Language and region mapping
All declared language and region codes are listed and mapped. x-default fallback detection included. Full list of alternates shown with their status side by side.
Common mistakes
Hreflang errors SEO Pulse catches
Missing reciprocal links
The most common hreflang error. If page A lists page B as an alternate, page B must also list page A. Without mutual confirmation, search engines may ignore the hreflang signals entirely.
Broken alternate URLs
Hreflang tags pointing to 404 pages or redirecting URLs are invalid. Search engines cannot process signals for URLs that don't return a 200 response.
JS-rendered hreflang
Hreflang injected by JavaScript after page load may not be seen by crawlers on first-pass crawls. Common on React and Next.js sites. Results in international targeting signals being silently lost.
FAQ
Common questions
What is hreflang? +
Hreflang is an HTML attribute used to signal to search engines which language and geographic region a page targets. It helps search engines serve the correct language version of your content to users in different regions. For example, you might have separate English pages for the UK and US, or separate language versions in English, French, and German.
What is a reciprocal hreflang link? +
A reciprocal hreflang link means that if page A declares page B as an alternate, page B must also declare page A as an alternate. This mutual confirmation is required for hreflang to work correctly. It's also called a "return link" or "confirmation link". Missing reciprocals are one of the most common hreflang implementation errors — and one of the hardest to spot manually on sites with many language versions.
Why does it matter if hreflang tags are JS-rendered? +
Search engines do not always execute JavaScript on every crawl pass. If your hreflang tags are injected by JavaScript after page load — common on React, Next.js, and Nuxt sites — crawlers may not see them on first-pass crawls. This means your international targeting signals could be silently lost. SEO Pulse flags each hreflang tag as SSR or JS-rendered so you can identify this risk.
What is x-default in hreflang? +
x-default is a special hreflang value that designates a fallback page for users whose language or region doesn't match any of the declared alternates. It typically points to the homepage or a language selector page. It's optional but recommended for international sites — SEO Pulse detects whether x-default is declared and included in the reciprocal chain.
Does SEO Pulse check hreflang in sitemaps? +
SEO Pulse primarily reads hreflang tags from the page's <head> element and HTTP headers. Sitemap-based hreflang is a separate implementation method. The Sitemap Explorer in SEO Pulse can help you inspect your sitemap structure, but dedicated sitemap hreflang validation is outside the current scope of the hreflang tab.
Check hreflang on any page instantly
Install SEO Pulse, open a page, open the Hreflang tab.
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