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Getting Started
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- Server Last Update Element
- Add URL's to Ignore and Exclude
- Enable or Disable Canonical Checking
- Enable or Disable Forced Lower Case
- Enable or Disable Robots Checking
- Root Domain - Set URL for HREFLang XML Server Location
- Set URL's to Include in XML
- Set/Change Exported XML File Size
- Setting X-Default Language
- Enable or Disable URL Checking
- Error Checking Options
- Enable Mapping Tag Names
- Disable or Enable HTTPS Checking
- Disable or Enable Strip index.html in URLs
- Select User Agent
- Enable Custom Index XML File Name
- Auto Uploading XML Files
- Set URL for HREFLang XML Server Location
- Setting Global File Name Prefix – XML Site Maps
- Set Export Type
- Show all articles ( 5 ) Collapse Articles
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Managing Projects
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- Import Individual Excel or CSV files for each country/language
- Import Individual Sitemaps for each country/language
- Importing Blended (Multiple Country Version) XML Site Map(s)
- Importing Multiple XML Index Site Maps
- Importing Multiple XML Site Map(s)
- Importing XML Index Site Map(s)
- Importing Zipped XML Index Site Map(s)
- Append New URL's to Existing Country
- How to Delete or Exclude URLs
- How to Add URLs to a Country
- 200 Indexable URLs
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- AllowList HREFLang Builder
- Auto Import XML Sitemaps from Dropbox
- Screaming Frog for URL Auto Updates
- HREFLang Builder Bot
- Use Auto Update to Add New URL's
- Setting up Lumar (FormerlyDeep Crawl) API
- Lumar (DeepCrawl) API Considerations
- Setting up OnCrawl API
- Auto Uploading XML Files
- Setting up AWS S3 Bucket for XML Site Maps
- How to Add New URLs to Hreflang Builder
- Setting up Content King API
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- Mapping Different Page Names
- My Local Country Site is in English
- Using Missing Page Identification Feature
- How do I upload a custom URL mapping table?
- How To Map Alternate URLs
- Mapping URL's with Product ID's
- How do I download my custom URL mapping table?
- Building a Manual Mapping Matrix
- Image Sitemap Extraction for Product Mapping
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- Adding a new site to an existing project
- Editing Existing Projects
- Editing the Country or Language of a Site
- Import Individual Sitemaps for each country/language
- Reviewing the Update Status Report
- Setting a Global Language
- Setting or Changing the Country or Language
- What happens once my HREFlang XML is created?
- Setup Automatic Updates
- HREFLang for Regional Sites
- AllowList HREFLang Builder
- How to Remove a Country or Language Clone
- How to Clone a Country or Language
- How to Clone a Country or Language for X-default
- Removing a Country or Language
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Best Practices
- Duplicate URL's used in HREFLang Elements
- How do I Add a New Country or Language Version to an existing project
- I have localized URL's can I use HREFLang Builder?
- What are the red rows in my project?
- Why are some URLs missing from my XML?
- How do I Add or Replace URL's for a country?
- Can I use a global language like French?
- What are the red rows in my project?
- Finding Included URLs
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Troubleshooting & Errors
- Consistent URL Counts
- Downloading Non-200 Indexable Status Error Reports
- Using Missing Page Identification Feature
- Why is my country file missing?
- My Project is all Red
- Find URL Source Files
- Why do I have an Unknown_Unknown_csv File
- URL is Redirecting to Error
- Country and Language Mismatch
- Multiple Tags for this Language-Region Code
- Status 0 Code
- Finding Included URLs
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HREFLang Basics
- Are HREFLang Statements Case Sensitive?
- Can HREFlang Builder be used cross domain?
- Does HREFLang URL Order Matter?
- Does the URL order matter for HREFLang elements?
- HREFLang for Regional Sites
- When to use HREFLang Elements?
- What is the HREFLang Element?
- Using Canonicals and HREFLang Tags Together
- How to Rebuild or Update HREFLang XML Site Maps
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HREFLang Mistakes
- Error - Canonical is Self-referencing HREFLang Entry
- Error - Combining HREFLang and Canonical Tags
- Error - Combining Multiple Country or language codes
- Error - HREFLang only on Dot Com Domains
- Error - HREFLang Only on Home Page
- HREFLang Return Tags are Missing
- Mistake - Canonical Mismatch Errors
- Mistake - Incorrect Country or Language Codes
- Mistake - Too Many HREFLang Elements in a Page
- Mistake - Uploading URL's with Errors
- Mistake - Using Protocol-Relative URL's in HREFLang Tags
- Return Tags Not Matching Self-Referencing Values
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HREFLang Builder General
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Reports
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Features
Error – Canonical is Self-referencing HREFLang Entry
I have not been able to find the source for this little gem of information, but it is completely incorrect. In the majority of cases where a site has a lot of non-self-referencing errors in Google Search Console, it is caused by site owners trying to use a canonical for the self-referencing element. This is an example of this mistake when referencing the Argentina Spanish page.
Argentina Site – https://www.mysite.com/ar/
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en-IE” href=”https://www.mysite.com/ie/”/>
<link rel=”Canonical” hreflang=”es-AR” href=”https://www.mysite.com/ar/”/>
Ireland Site https://www.mysite.com/ie/
<link rel=”Canonical” hreflang=”en-IE” href=”https://www.mysite.com/ie/”/>
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”es-AR” href=”https://www.mysite.com/ar/”/>
Clarification: This is incorrect, and you must use a hreflang element for the self-referencing element. For example, if the hreflang tags are on the local pages should look like this.
Argentina Site – https://www.mysite.com/ar/
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en-IE” href=”https://www.mysite.com/ie/”/>
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”es-AR” href=”https://www.mysite.com/ar/”/>
Ireland Site https://www.mysite.com/ie/
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en-IE” href=”https://www.mysite.com/ie/”/>
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”es-AR” href=”https://www.mysite.com/ar/”/>