SEO Meta Tags Issue: Default Language not Displayed in Search Engines

This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problème:
The client noticed that search results on Google would show English texts for French URLs.

Solution:
The client was using "Automatic redirection according to the browser's language" which can greatly impact Google indexation and SEO. Because Google crawler will be redirected to the English content by default. For more details read the link below.

Documentation:
https://wpml.org/forums/topic/seo-meta-tags-issue-default-language-not-displayed-in-search-engines/#post-13701447

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Tagged: Documentation request

This topic contains 2 replies, has 2 voices.

Last updated by hiboouD 1 year, 10 months ago.

Assisted by: Nicolas V..

Author	Posts
May 23, 2023 at 11:38 am #13698237
hiboouD	Hello WPML Support, I am reaching out in relation to an issue I have been experiencing with the WPML plugin on my WooCommerce-powered website. I have my website's default language set to French, and have added English and German translations through WPML. However, when I conduct a search for my site in France, I noticed that the meta title and description are displayed in English, rather than the expected default language, French. Furthermore, upon analyzing my website through Google Search Console, I noticed that it seems to be crawling the English version of my site as the primary one, even though French is set as the default language. I believe these issues are leading to an inconsistent and potentially confusing experience for my users, and I would very much appreciate any assistance you could provide to help me ensure that the correct language versions are displayed in line with user expectations and the default language settings of my site. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Best Regards, Evren
May 23, 2023 at 3:52 pm #13701447
Nicolas V. Supporter Languages: English (English ) French (Français ) Timezone: America/Lima (GMT-05:00)	Hello Evren, Welcome to the WPML support forum. My name is Nicolas and I will be happy to help you today. That's a common question: there are two settings in WPML that can affect your site's indexing and SEO so let's start with those: 1 - The use of "language as parameter" (?lang=en), that's not the case here since you are using directories (/en). Ref: hidden link 2 - Automatic redirection according to the browser's language, that's the case on your site!. In "WPML > Languages > Browser language redirect" when you activate this option, we have a pop-up warning about the effects of this option (see screenshot). As you already have activated it, let me provide you two informative links from that window in case you want to understand better how it works: - https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/automatic-redirect-based-on-browser-language/how-browser-language-redirect-affects-google-indexing/ - https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/automatic-redirect-based-on-browser-language/ At the bottom of these pages there are also links to Google's documentation if you wish to deepen your research. I recommend disabling this option. Note that disabling the option will not have an immediate impact. Google will need to crawl your site again and properly re-index the site (we have no influence on this process). Finally, I see that you are using RankMath SEO but you have not installed our "WPML SEO" add-on yet which makes WPML and RankMath 100% compatible. You can download all of our plugins directly into your WPML account. - Go to https://wpml.org/fr/account/downloads/ - and click on "Download WPML manually" to view and download them - Then in your backoffice, go to "Extensions > Add" and use the button at the top of the screen to upload the .zip file Documentation: https://wpml.org/documentation/related-projects/using-wordpress-seo-with-wpml/ PS: Regarding your search on Google: Google is personalizing search results more and more. There are many factors that go into Google's algorithm such as your geolocation, your browsing history, browser language, etc. When do those tests, try from another browser and in incognito mode and, if possible, use a VPN to change your geolocation. Nico
May 23, 2023 at 7:10 pm #13703001
hiboouD	Hello Nicolas, I want to express my gratitude for your thorough and explanatory response. The information you provided was extremely helpful in understanding the issues I was experiencing and the steps I needed to take to address them. I've followed your suggestions and made the necessary changes on my site. Specifically, I have: Disabled the automatic browser language redirection option in WPML. Installed and activated the WPML SEO add-on to ensure full compatibility with RankMath. In addition to this, as advised, I've submitted my site map to Google Search Console to expedite the re-indexing process. Now, I understand that it might take some time for these changes to fully take effect and for Google to re-crawl and re-index my site. I will be patient and monitor the results closely. I really appreciate the clear and comprehensive advice you provided. It has made a significant difference to the way I manage my site's multilingual SEO. Thank you once again for your support.