Three output formats
Tags for the page head, a complete XML sitemap and HTTP headers, updated as you type, with download.
Technical SEO
Generate Hreflang Tags and Check Every Page Links Back
List your language and region versions and get the tags for your page head, an XML sitemap or an HTTP header, with the code checks done for you. Then check the live pages for the return links search engines need.
- Free, no sign-up, no credits
- HTML, XML sitemap and HTTP header
- Live return-link check
What Are Hreflang Tags?
Hreflang tags tell search engines which language and region each version of a page is for, so a visitor in France gets the French page and a visitor in Canada gets the Canadian one. Without them, the wrong version can show up, or your own versions can compete with each other.
The idea is simple. The execution is not. Every version must list itself and every other version, the language and country codes must be valid and in the right order, and the set needs a default. Miss one return link and search engines can ignore the whole set. This product builds the set, checks the codes, and can read the live pages to find the links that are missing.
- 184language codes validated (ISO 639-1)
- 249region codes validated (ISO 3166-1)
- 3output formats: page head, XML sitemap and HTTP header
- 20live pages checked for return links in one run
How It Works
4 steps, and you stay in control of the result.
Start from a template
One language in several regions, several languages, or both. Or start empty.
List your versions
Add each page version with its URL, language and region. Mark the default for visitors who match none.
Read the checks
Codes in the wrong order, such as ca-EN for en-CA, a missing self-reference or a single version are flagged in plain words.
Copy the output, then check the live pages
Copy the head tags, the sitemap or the headers. Signed in, run the live check to confirm every page links to every other.
What You Get
Code checks that explain
Invalid languages or regions, the wrong order, duplicates and a missing default are named with the fix.
Templates to start from
The most common setups are one click away, so you edit instead of starting from a blank form.
A real return-link check
The most common hreflang failure is a page that does not link back. The live check reads each page and names the exact missing tags.
Honest about its limits
The live check reads tags in the page head. It cannot see tags published in a sitemap or an HTTP header, and it says so.
No placeholder leaks
Example addresses are marked and not copied into your output as if they were real.
What You Get
You give it: An English page, a French page and a default for everyone else.
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="https://example.com/fr/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />An illustration. Each version in your set carries the full list.
Hreflang Product vs Writing Tags by Hand
For two languages it is manageable. Every version you add multiplies the number of tags, and each one has to match.
| Task | By hand | With this product |
|---|---|---|
| Writing the tags | Type every tag on every page | Generate the full set for all versions at once |
| Language and region codes | Look them up and hope the order is right | Validated against the standard lists, with the correct order suggested |
| Return links | Open each page and read the source | A live check lists the pages with missing tags |
| Sitemap version | Hand-build an XML file | A complete sitemap generated from the same set |
| Keeping it right | Retype when a page is added | Add one row and every output updates |
Where doing it by hand goes wrong
Missing return links
If page A points to page B but B does not point back, search engines can ignore the pair. It is the most common failure.
Wrong codes
en-UK is not valid; the region code for the United Kingdom is GB. Small errors are easy to miss.
No default
Without an x-default, visitors who match no version get whichever page the search engine chooses.
Set grows, mistakes grow
Ten versions mean ten tags on each of ten pages. Hand edits drift out of sync.
Get Your Hreflang Set Right the First Time
List your versions, copy the tags and check the live pages.
What It Does Not Do, and Its Limits
So you know what to expect before you start.
- The live check reads tags in each page's head. It cannot see hreflang published in a sitemap or an HTTP header.
- It checks up to 20 pages per run, 20 runs a day, and needs a free account.
- Generating tags needs no account. The live check reads only the addresses you give it.
- It cannot tell which versions are good translations, only that the annotations are consistent.
- Search engines decide how to use hreflang. Correct tags make it possible, and do not force it.
Who Uses It
- International SEO managersProduce and verify the full set for every market, and prove it works.
- DevelopersGenerate the tags or the sitemap for a multilingual launch.
- Ecommerce teamsHandle one catalogue sold in several regions without versions competing.
- AgenciesAudit a client's hreflang quickly and hand over exact fixes.
Hreflang Rules Worth Knowing
These follow Google's guidance on localized versions of a page.
- Every version lists every version
- Including itself. Each page needs the full set, not just the other versions.
- Return links are required
- If page A lists page B, page B must list page A. Without it, the annotation may be ignored.
- Language first, then region
- Use a language code, then optionally a region: en, en-GB. A region alone is not valid.
- Add x-default
- It names the page for visitors who match none of your versions, often a language selector or your main page.
- Use full URLs
- Hreflang takes absolute URLs, including the protocol, and they should match the canonical address of each page.
- Choose one method per page
- You can use the head, a sitemap or HTTP headers. Using one consistently is easier to keep right.
Where the Rules Come From
The checks follow these official documents. Read them, and check your result with the ones marked Test.
With a free account
Your Domain Is Ready
Signed in, your site's domain is filled in for the URLs, and the live check can read your real pages. With one site it is picked for you; with several, you choose once.
- Your domain filled in for every URL
- Live return-link check on up to 20 pages
- Pick a site once and every product uses it
What Is New
- Signed in, your domain is put into the templates. The output stays marked as an example until you edit a row.
- Live return-link check that names the exact tags each page is missing.
Questions, Answered
What are hreflang tags?
Annotations that tell search engines which language and region each version of a page is for, so the right version is shown to the right visitor.
Do I need x-default?
It is strongly recommended. It names the page to show visitors who match none of your versions. The product checks for it.
What is a return link?
If page A lists page B as an alternate, page B must list page A. Without return links, search engines may ignore the annotations.
Should I use the page head, a sitemap or HTTP headers?
Any works. The head is the simplest for HTML pages, a sitemap suits large sites, and HTTP headers suit files such as PDFs. Use one method consistently.
Why is en-UK flagged?
The region code for the United Kingdom is GB, so the correct tag is en-GB. The checks catch code mistakes like this and suggest the fix.
What does the live check do?
Signed in, it reads each page in your set and reports which ones are missing links to the others, with the exact tags to add. It reads tags in the page head only, so it cannot see hreflang published in a sitemap or an HTTP header.
Is it free?
Yes. Generating tags uses no credits. The live check needs a free account and is limited to 20 checks a day.
Page checked against the product on 4 October 2026.
Built by an Agency That Uses It
Skymoon SEO Suite is made and maintained by Skymoon Infotech, a digital growth agency founded in 2023 in Ahmedabad. Each product started as a task the team repeated on client work, and is used there before it is released here.
- 408, Iscon Emporio, Satellite, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380015, India
- Skymoon Infotech on LinkedIn
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