This occurs when the URL in question features one or more self-referencing hreflang tags, each specifying distinct hreflang values, thereby causing a conflict.
Why is this important?
While not strictly necessary, self-reference hreflang was initially recommended by Google to simplify the implementation process across a network of translated pages.
Nonetheless, conflicting hreflang tags for the same URL can be problematic, potentially leading search engines to disregard the hreflang directive altogether.
What does the Optimization check?
The Optimization is activated when any URL has various self-referencing hreflang tags for the same URL that are not consistent with one another.
Examples that trigger this Optimization:
Take the URL: https://example.com/en/page-a/
The Optimization would be triggered if the URL had incompatible self-referencing hreflang tags:
<link rel="alternate" href="https://example.com/en/page-a/" hreflang="en-us" /><link rel="alternate" href="https://example.com/en/page-a/" hreflang="de-de" />
How do you resolve this issue?
Multiple self-referencing hreflangs, especially conflicting ones, are redundant and unhelpful.
To resolve the issue, one must either manually adjust the URLs to eliminate extraneous self-references or correct the script generating the hreflang tags. Alternatively, eliminating all self-referencing hreflang instances is also a viable option, as they are not a compulsory element.
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