SEO fix guide
Region Selector Crawlability
Region or language selector uses JavaScript-only navigation without crawlable links, preventing search engines from discovering language variants.
Issue ID: INTL-REGION-SELECTOR-001
Severity: minor
Impact: Med
Effort: M
Use this article when
- You need deeper remediation guidance than the issue card can show.
- You want CMS-specific steps before handing the fix to a developer.
- You want a repeatable re-check path after shipping the change.
What this issue is
Region or language selector uses JavaScript-only navigation without crawlable links, preventing search engines from discovering language variants.
Why it matters
Region or language selector uses JavaScript-only navigation without crawlable links, preventing search engines from discovering language variants. This affects how clearly search engines understand the page and how persuasive it looks in search results.
How we detect it
- FreeSiteAudit flags this issue when the rule for INTL-REGION-SELECTOR-001 fails and the page evidence points to Dom body.
- You can usually confirm this by checking the page source or the relevant page settings inside your CMS.
Evidence examples
Check the affected page source, rendered output, or relevant CMS setting to confirm the missing or incorrect element.
How to fix it
- 1Ensure language/region selector uses real <a> links, not just JS onclick handlers
- 2Add hreflang tags as a machine-readable alternative to the selector
- 3Include language variants in the sitemap
How to re-check it
- Language selector links are crawlable HTML <a> tags
Related tools
This issue is best verified with the full FreeSiteAudit crawl rather than a single-point mini tool.