{"id":2367,"date":"2025-04-07T11:51:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T11:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/?p=2367"},"modified":"2025-10-29T07:25:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T07:25:32","slug":"linking-hreflang-tags-to-301-pages-john-mueller-says-its-probably-ok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/linking-hreflang-tags-to-301-pages-john-mueller-says-its-probably-ok-2367\/","title":{"rendered":"Linking Hreflang Tags to 301 Pages? John Mueller Says It\u2019s “Probably OK”"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever managed hreflang tags during a global site migration, you know it can get messy fast\u2014especially when those tags point to URLs that 301 redirect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This week, Google\u2019s Search Advocate John Mueller weighed in on the topic, giving us a bit of clarity (and a gentle warning) on how to handle it in 2025.<\/p>\n

The conversation kicked off on Mastodon when SEO expert Matt Coughlan<\/a> asked Mueller if it\u2019s still necessary for hreflang tags to point directly to pages with a 200 status code, referencing guidance Mueller had shared way back in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matt\u2019s team had recently completed a large-scale migration and noticed that many of their hreflang tags were linking to pages that now redirect with a 301<\/a>. Understandably, they were wondering if that\u2019s still considered \u201cclean\u201d in Google\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

Mueller\u2019s response? “If they 301 it’s probably ok, but…” (Yes, there was a \u201cbut.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\"Linking<\/p>\n

He clarified that while Google can generally handle 301 redirects just fine, it\u2019s still a good idea to automate the process of cleaning up hreflang links and pointing them directly to final destination URLs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because manually managing hreflang tags is a nightmare\u2014and redirect chains make it harder for tools (and teams) to keep track of everything. Plus, cleaner links reduce the risk of \u201cmiscanonicalization,\u201d which doesn\u2019t directly impact rankings but definitely complicates how Google tracks your pages.<\/p>\n

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