Google search results displayed in English instead of the default language

Technical Q&A
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1

Hello,

The store is appearing in English in Google search results ever since I translated the app using a Shopify translation app. The website’s default language is French.

This situation is very problematic because we are losing our rankings on Google for our main market, which is France.

Thank you in advance for your help.

2

Hi @Croix_Precieuse

Do you have a separate subdomain for the French language, or are you using translations on a single website?

Please review the following criteria to ensure your setup is correct:

  • Default Language: Make sure your store’s default language is set to French in Shopify Admin > Settings > Languages.
  • Theme Code: Check your theme’s HTML lang attribute (e.g., ). If it’s set to “en,” update it to “fr-FR.”
  • hreflang Tags: Ensure your French pages have the correct hreflang tags, such as . The French version should be marked as hreflang=“x-default” to prioritize it globally.
  • Canonical Tags: Verify that canonical tags on translated pages point to the French URL instead of the English version. Example: .

If you want your store to be properly indexed in French, it’s best to set up a separate subdomain for the French language and submit the sitemap to Google Search Console for indexing.

Best,

Daisy

3

Hi @Croix_Precieuse

May I know if you tried to submit the related language sitemap pages in Google Search Console? In this way, it can help Google index and crawl your web page efficiently. For more details about how to submit sitemap, you can check this guideline from Google for reference.

Meanwhile, you can give SEOAnt a try and use it to optimize page contents, so that you can find out page contents displaying in Google Search Result. Currently you can enjoy a 7-day Free Trial and a 30% discount coupon SEOAnt 30% Jeffery here after installing, thanks and hope my answer can help you!