Background of the issue:
I discovered the following errors about hreflang when I audited my website using SE RANKING, hidden link: 1. Confirmation (return) links missing on hreflang pages (86 pages) 2. Hreflang to 3XX, 4XX or 5XX (5 pages) 3. Hreflang page doesn't link out to itself (1 page). I've noticed that WPML takes care of the other tasks, while Rank Math only generates sitemaps by default.
Symptoms:
1. Confirmation (return) links missing on hreflang pages (86 pages) 2. Hreflang to 3XX, 4XX or 5XX (5 pages) 3. Hreflang page doesn't link out to itself (1 page)
Questions:
Is it possible for me to find out if this solution is reliable for fixing my mistakes?
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )Italian (Italiano )
Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+01:00)
Hello!
1) Where are you getting those errors?
2) Can you give me more details on what the error is supposed to be (I'm not fully understanding what the screenshot titles say, as in i'm not sure what is the system you're running your website through is supposed to see as "expected").
I checked your site and i don't see anything weird with the HREFLANG, but again, i'm not sure what the system you're using sees it as "expected".
We had this situation with systems like SEMRUSH and it turns out those were not "real" errors, but something on their end that flagged them as such.
Please let me know so i can better understand how to help you!
To find these errors, I used the SE RANKING tool at hidden link.
the errors are supposed to be :
1. Confirmation (return) links missing on hreflang pages
Issue description :
Versions of the page with the hreflang attribute do not link out to each other.
If page A links to page B in the hreflang attribute, page B must link out to page A in response.
If the hreflang attributes do not have any backlinks, search engines may ignore such attributes or misinterpret them.
How to fix :
To fix this error, use the same set of <URL>, rel="alternate" and hreflang values on all language or regional versions of the page. That way, all hreflang pages will have backlinks to other versions of the page.
2. Hreflang to 3XX, 4XX or 5XX
Issue description :
The URL pointed to by the hreflang attribute is not found,
unavailable due to server issues, or has a redirect.
The URL of the hreflang attribute should return the 200 OK
response code. If this is not the case, search engines may ignore
the attribute or misinterpret it. As a result, search engines will
not be able to find alternative versions of your pages and,
accordingly, direct website visitors to their correct language or
regional versions.
How to fix :
By clicking on the number of found pages, you will see URLs with
3XX, 4XX or 5XX response codes that hreflang attributes point
to. Indicate pages with the 200 OK response code instead of
these URLs.
3. Hreflang page doesn't link out to itself
Issue description :
The hreflang attribute tells search engines that the page has
versions in other languages and/or for other regions. Each page
should link out to all of its versions and to itself. If a page does
not link out to itself, search engines may ignore or incorrectly
process the hreflang attribute.
How to fix :
Check the pages indicated in the report.
Add the missing hreflang attribute and link to the code so that
the page links out to itself. For example, a German version of a
page should have the attribute rel="alternate" hreflang="de" and
link out to this version of the page.
Are you certain that you have looked over our website and have not discovered any hreflang errors ?
Languages: English (English )Spanish (Español )Italian (Italiano )
Timezone: Europe/Rome (GMT+01:00)
Hello!
1) You do have some 3XX issues, specifically a 304 redirect in some pages but only in FRENCH. that redirect doesn't come from WPML, it's actually something else on your site (maybe a manual redirect added somewhere or a dynamic one from a plugin). the fact that it only happens in french and not in german, means that it's likely you have a redirect rule somewhere that is targeting content that shouldn't. it's not a problem coming from WPML. as a next step, i'd suggest you ask your hosting for help in finding out possible redirect rules or check if you have plugins or features in SEO plugins, for example, that could create redirections on its own. also check HTACESS for possible redirection rules.
2) You have a few 5XX issues happening because at one point the page goes blank. if you enable your debug log, you'll probably start seeing errors and warnings but you could've also just exceeded your resources for a moment. that's again something that has nothing to do with WPML and more of a server situation. as a next step here, please enable your debu.log and wait a bit or browse your site as i did before, to try to recreate the problem and trigger possible errors and warnings. that will tell you what to do next.
3) There aren't issues at all with the site not referencing itself or referencing its translations, so i guess this issue appeared because of a blank page or something like that.
You can see how i tested your site here: hidden link
It's a bit long but you'll see all that i did and you can emulate it later when testing to try to figure out what happened.
 links missing on hreflang pages.jpeg "16033279-Confirmation (return) links missing on hreflang pages.jpeg")
.png "16033279-Hreflang to 3XX, 4XX or 5XX ( 5 pages ).png")
