Hreflang: Missing X-Default

URLs missing an x-default hreflang attribute. This is optional, and not necessarily an issue.

How to Analyse in the SEO Spider

View URLs with this issue in the ‘Hreflang’ tab and ‘Missing X-Default’ filter, and export all URLs using the ‘Export’ button.

Read our tutorial on ‘How To Audit Hreflang’.

What Triggers This Issue

This issue is identified when URLs lack an x-default hreflang attribute.

For example:

https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/

Could have the hreflang annotations:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/gb/" />

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/us/" />

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-au" href="https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/au/" />


But does not include:

<link rel="alternate" href="https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/" hreflang="x-default" />

How To Fix

Consider adding a fallback page for unmatched languages, especially on language/country selectors or auto-redirecting homepages.