Gary Illyes from Google indicates that while incorrect hreflang tags might not directly harm SEO, the language of your content plays a crucial role in search relevance.
Incorrect hreflang implementation is unlikely to cause significant SEO issues. The actual content language remains a vital factor for search relevance. Google’s language handling algorithms have advanced significantly over time.
In an episode of “Search Off The Record” podcast, Gary Illyes from Google’s Search Relations team discussed the potential SEO impact of incorrect hreflang implementation and addressed related concerns.
Hreflang Errors: Less Problematic Than Expected?
In an episode of “Search Off The Record” podcast, Gary Illyes from Google’s Search Relations team discussed the potential impact of mismatched hreflang annotations and actual page content on SEO.
Illyes specifically addressed situations where a page might be incorrectly labeled as one language while containing content in another. He shared:
“As far as I remember, I worked on the parsing implementation plus the promotion implementation of hreflang, and back then, it didn’t cause problems.”
However, Illyes also pointed out that his direct experience with this was from around 2016, noting:
“That’s a few years back… since we changed so many things that I would have to check whether it causes problems.”
Language Demotion & Country Promotion
Gary Illyes provided more profound insights into Google’s handling of language and country relevance during a recent podcast:
“When I introduced LDCP, I referred to it as language demotion, country promotion. For instance, if someone searches in German and your page is in English, the page would face a negative demotion in the search results.”
This highlights that while incorrect hreflang implementation may not directly cause issues, the language of the content remains an important factor in determining search relevance.
Exceptions to Language Matching
Gary Illyes highlighted that there are exceptions to strict language matching in search results:
“It’s less relevant to the query unless you’re searching for something like ‘how do you spell banana’… In that case, it still matters because you’re searching in English, so we assume you want a page that explains how to spell ‘banana’ in English, not in German.”
This suggests that while language matching is essential, specific queries allow more search relevance flexibility.
What This Means for You
Understanding how Google manages hreflang and language mismatches is crucial for refining your international SEO strategies.
While Google’s systems seem to be somewhat lenient with hreflang errors, the actual language of your content is still a critical factor in search relevance.
Key Takeaways:
- Hreflang Accuracy: Although incorrect hreflang implementation may not directly penalize your site, it’s still best practice to ensure your annotations correctly reflect your content.
- Content Language Priority: The language of your content plays a more significant role in search relevance than hreflang annotations.
- Query Flexibility: For specific queries related to spelling or language learning, Google may be more flexible in showing content across different languages.
- Stay Updated: Illyes noted that Google’s systems have evolved. It’s essential to monitor official Google documentation and updates to stay informed about the latest best practices in international SEO.
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