Languages & regions
No lang attribute on the html element
One of the 136 checks Lala SEO runs on every page of a site in a free audit.
- How serious
- Worth knowing. Small, or only matters in some cases. Read it and decide.
- Based on
- Industry standard: Google does not document this one, so the check follows established practice.
What is wrong
Your website's HTML code lacks a `lang` attribute on the main `<html>` tag. This attribute tells browsers and search engines what language your page is written in. Without it, systems cannot reliably identify whether your content is in English, French, German or another language.
Why it costs you
When the language is missing, search engines may struggle to serve your pages to the right audience in the right region. Visitors using accessibility tools may also encounter problems, as screen readers need to know which language to use for pronunciation and grammar rules. In some cases, Google may simply show your page to fewer people because it cannot confidently match it to language-specific searches.
How to fix it
Add the `lang` attribute directly to the opening `<html>` tag at the top of every page template. For example, change `<html>` to `<html lang="en">` for English, or `<html lang="fr">` for French. If your site uses a template system, edit the main template file rather than individual pages, so the fix applies everywhere at once.
What the audit tests
- The page declares its language with a lang attribute on the html tag
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