# SEO hreflang Human Guide

## What This Is For
Validate existing hreflang implementations or generate correct hreflang tags for multi-language and multi-region sites. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for search and SEO workflows: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the SEO hreflang agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for SEO hreflang.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the SEO hreflang guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Every page must include an hreflang tag pointing to itself
- The self-referencing URL must exactly match the page's canonical URL
- Missing self-referencing tags cause Google to ignore the entire hreflang set
- If page A links to page B with hreflang, page B must link back to page A
- Every hreflang relationship must be bidirectional (A→B and B→A)
- Missing return tags invalidate the hreflang signal for both pages
- Check all language versions reference each other (full mesh)
- Required: designates the fallback page for unmatched languages/regions
- Typically points to the language selector page or English version
- Only one x-default per set of alternates
- Must also have return tags from all other language versions
- Must use ISO 639-1 two-letter codes (e.g., `en`, `fr`, `de`, `ja`)

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Validation Checks, Self-Referencing Tags, Return Tags, x-default Tag, Language Code Validation, Region Code Validation, Canonical URL Alignment, Protocol Consistency, Cross-Domain Support, Common Mistakes.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Every page must include an hreflang tag pointing to itself
- The self-referencing URL must exactly match the page's canonical URL
- If page A links to page B with hreflang, page B must link back to page A
- Every hreflang relationship must be bidirectional (A→B and B→A)
- Required: designates the fallback page for unmatched languages/regions
- Must also have return tags from all other language versions
- Must use ISO 639-1 two-letter codes (e.g., `en`, `fr`, `de`, `ja`)
- Hreflang tags must only appear on canonical URLs

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the SEO hreflang human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the agricidaniel/claude-seo skill entry for `seo-hreflang`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Hreflang & International SEO

Validate existing hreflang implementations or generate correct hreflang tags
for multi-language and multi-region sites. Supports HTML, HTTP header, and
XML sitemap implementations.

## Validation Checks

### 1. Self-Referencing Tags
- Every page must include an hreflang tag pointing to itself
- The self-referencing URL must exactly match the page's canonical URL
- Missing self-referencing tags cause Google to ignore the entire hreflang set

### 2. Return Tags
- If page A links to page B with hreflang, page B must link back to page A
- Every hreflang relationship must be bidirectional (A→B and B→A)
- Missing return tags invalidate the hreflang signal for both pages
- Check all language versions reference each other (full mesh)

### 3. x-default Tag
- Required: designates the fallback page for unmatched languages/regions
- Typically points to the language selector page or English version
- Only one x-default per set of alternates
- Must also have return tags from all other language versions

### 4. Language Code Validation
- Must use ISO 639-1 two-letter codes (e.g., `en`, `fr`, `de`, `ja`)
- Common errors:
  - `eng` instead of `en` (ISO 639-2, not valid for hreflang)
  - `jp` instead of `ja` (incorrect code for Japanese)
  - `zh` without region qualifier (ambiguous; use `zh-Hans` or `zh-Hant`)

### 5. Region Code Validation
- Optional region qualifier uses ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 (e.g., `en-US`, `en-GB`, `pt-BR`)
- Format: `language-REGION` (lowercase language, uppercase region)
- Common errors:
  - `en-uk` instead of `en-GB` (UK is not a valid ISO 3166-1 code)
  - `es-LA` (Latin America is not a country; use specific countries)
  - Region without language prefix

### 6. Canonical URL Alignment
- Hreflang tags must only appear on canonical URLs
- If a page has `rel=canonical` pointing elsewhere, hreflang on that page is ignored
- The canonical URL and hreflang URL must match exactly (including trailing slashes)
- Non-canonical pages should not be in any hreflang set

### 7. Protocol Consistency
- All URLs in an hreflang set must use the same protocol (HTTPS or HTTP)
- Mixed HTTP/HTTPS in hreflang sets causes validation failures
- After HTTPS migration, update all hreflang tags to HTTPS

### 8. Cross-Domain Support
- Hreflang works across different domains (e.g., example.com and example.de)
- Cross-domain hreflang requires return tags on both domains
- Verify both domains are verified in Google Search Console
- Sitemap-based implementation recommended for cross-domain setups

## Common Mistakes

| Issue | Severity | Fix |
|-------|----------|-----|
| Missing self-referencing tag | Critical | Add hreflang pointing to same page URL |
| Missing return tags (A→B but no B→A) | Critical | Add matching return tags on all alternates |
| Missing x-default | High | Add x-default pointing to fallback/selector page |
| Invalid language code (e.g., `eng`) | High | Use ISO 639-1 two-letter codes |
| Invalid region code (e.g., `en-uk`) | High | Use ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 codes |
| Hreflang on non-canonical URL | High | Move hreflang to canonical URL only |
| HTTP/HTTPS mismatch in URLs | Medium | Standardize all URLs to HTTPS |
| Trailing slash inconsistency | Medium | Match canonical URL format exactly |
| Hreflang in both HTML and sitemap | Low | Choose one method (sitemap preferred for large sites) |
| Language without region when needed | Low | Add region qualifier for geo-targeted content |

## Implementation Methods

### Method 1: HTML Link Tags
Best for: Sites with <50 language/region variants per page.

```html
```