From 59d599275d59b9fa397c64d3c364d8a7380aab07 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Christoph Daum Date: Sun, 31 May 2026 14:49:23 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] content(hreflang): note x-default dropped in multi-locale setups Add a common-mistake bullet: some setups emit x-default only when a single alternate exists, which is backwards. x-default is the fallback for the multi-locale case. --- src/content/spec/i18n/hreflang.md | 3 ++- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/src/content/spec/i18n/hreflang.md b/src/content/spec/i18n/hreflang.md index 635b3f7a..a097fafc 100644 --- a/src/content/spec/i18n/hreflang.md +++ b/src/content/spec/i18n/hreflang.md @@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ status: recommended order: 10 appliesTo: [all] relatedSlugs: [lang-attribute, locale-content, rtl-support, international-url-structure, sitemap-hreflang, localised-metadata, language-switcher, avoid-auto-geo-redirects] -updated: "2026-05-29T18:54:03.000Z" +updated: "2026-05-31T00:00:00.000Z" sources: - title: "Google Search Central — Localized versions of your pages" url: "https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialized/international/localized-versions" @@ -63,3 +63,4 @@ A sitemap entry covers all alternates of a URL in one place: - Forgetting the self-reference. Google then ignores the whole cluster. - Mixing `hreflang` declarations in HTML, headers and sitemaps — pick one source of truth. - Setting `hreflang` on canonicalised-away pages. Each alternate should be the canonical URL of its locale. +- Dropping `x-default` once two or more locales exist. Some setups emit it only when a single alternate is present, which is backwards — `x-default` is the fallback for exactly the multi-locale case where no `hreflang` matches the visitor.