10. #pubcon
No Errors In GSC With Underscores
Looks like Google lets it slide, although standards and
best practices say to use “–” instead of “_”
https://twitter.com/dsottimano/status/867315538057474049
13. #pubcon
You Don’t Need Self-Referencing
Hreflang Tags
Is it essential to have self-referencing hreflang tags?
John Mueller: No.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjbaDP-P7PA&t=24m39s
18. #pubcon
Even Tools Get Things Wrong
X-default can be used for auto-redirecting, serving
dynamic content, or as a language selector page.
19. #pubcon
Even Tools Get Things Wrong
X-default can be used for auto-redirecting, serving
dynamic content, or as a language selector page.
Example 1: https://technicalseo.com/seo-
tools/hreflang/ marks a redirected x-default page as
incorrect, but it’s the tool that’s wrong.
20. #pubcon
Even Tools Get Things Wrong
X-default can be used for auto-redirecting, serving
dynamic content, or as a language selector page.
Example 2: Screaming Frog says that there are no
return links on any x-default that’s auto-redirected. Of
course there aren’t, it’s redirected, but it’s the tool
that’s wrong.
24. #pubcon
All On One Page
Googlebot crawls from the US, putting all versions of
content on one page just means they only see one
version.
25. #pubcon
Redirecting Users With Some Logic
Geo-IP, cookies, whatever is also bad. This pretty
much means Google sees only one version again, even
if you have more.
26. #pubcon
Redirecting Users With Some Logic
Geo-IP, cookies, whatever is also bad. This pretty
much means Google sees only one version again, even
if you have more.
If you see the wrong language in your titles or meta
descriptions, it’s probably this.
27. #pubcon
Check Your Stack
Encoding characters in URLs with UTF-8 is fine with
Google, but there may be a point of failure in your
tech stack where it is not supported.
28. #pubcon
Page Serves From A Different URL Than
How It’s Indexed
Sometimes pages are offloaded with a 302 and a
canonical set to the original URL to keep it indexed.
You need the indexed version in your tags.
29. #pubcon
Page Serves From A Different URL Than
How It’s Indexed
If anyone still uses an m. it looks like you will need to
point the hreflang tags on the m. to the desktop
version for the upcoming mobile-first index, maybe?
35. #pubcon
Duplicate Pages Are The Worst
For hreflang to work, A has to reference B and B has to
reference A. If 2 pages are duplicates, Google can fold
them together and only one will be indexed.
36. #pubcon
Duplicate Pages Are The Worst
How can you have A>B and B>A if Google thinks A=C
and A isn’t indexed?
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!
msg/webmasters/ezMvrlRWuDk/6XWuM1fIDgA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
time_continue=83&v=isW-Ke-AJJU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isW-Ke-
AJJU&t=27m15s
38. #pubcon
Everyone Wants A Quick Fix
No one wants to hear it’s fixed, but now you have to
wait. If the wrong version shows, it’s not fixed in their
minds.
“Can’t you call someone at Google?”
“Can’t we pay someone to fix this?”