Nextjs i18n seo

Next.js i18n SEO Fix

Multilingual Next.js sites commonly ship with a crawlability-killing bug: locale redirects that use 307 Temporary instead of 301 Permanent. This means Googlebot never transfers PageRank to the actual indexed URL. Fix this first — it's a one-line change with immediate impact.

The Core Problem

When a user (or Googlebot) hits /hexagrams/14, Next.js middleware redirects to /en/hexagrams/14. The default NextResponse.redirect(url) issues a 307 Temporary Redirect. Google does not transfer PageRank on 307s. Result: any backlink to the clean URL is wasted.

Pages Router doesn't have this problem because getStaticPaths generates pages at their final URL with no redirect hop.

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Phase 1: Audit the Site

1. Check the redirect status code

curl -I https://example.com/some-page
# Look for: Location: and HTTP/2 301 vs 307

2. Check robots.txt

https://example.com/robots.txt

• All paths should be allowed (or only /api/ blocked)
• Sitemap URL must be listed

3. Check the sitemap

https://example.com/sitemap.xml

• Are all pages listed with their final (locale-prefixed) URL?
• Are alternates.languages hreflang entries present?

4. Inspect the middleware

Look for NextResponse.redirect(url) — if no status code is passed, it's a 307.

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Phase 2: Fix the 307 → 301 Bug

File: src/middleware.ts (or middleware.ts at root)

// ❌ BEFORE — issues 307 Temporary Redirect
const response = NextResponse.redirect(newUrl);

// ✅ AFTER — issues 301 Permanent Redirect (passes PageRank)
const response = NextResponse.redirect(newUrl, 301);

Also fix any locale alias redirects (e.g. zh-hans → zh-CN) the same way — they should already be 301 if added later, but verify.

Commit message:

fix: change locale redirect from 307 to 301 for SEO PageRank transfer

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Phase 3 (Optional but Recommended): No-Prefix Default Locale

The locale prefix (/en/hexagrams/14) adds an extra path segment vs. /hexagrams/14. For English-first sites, removing the prefix from the default locale gives cleaner URLs and eliminates the redirect entirely for the primary language.

Middleware changes

const defaultLocale = 'en';

export function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
  const { pathname } = request.nextUrl;
  const pathnameHasLocale = nonDefaultLocales.some(
    (l) => pathname.startsWith(`/${l}/`) || pathname === `/${l}`
  );

  // Already has a non-default locale — pass through
  if (pathnameHasLocale) return NextResponse.next();

  // Has explicit /en/ prefix — strip it (301 to clean URL)
  if (pathname.startsWith('/en/') || pathname === '/en') {
    const url = request.nextUrl.clone();
    url.pathname = pathname.replace(/^\/en/, '') || '/';
    return NextResponse.redirect(url, 301);
  }

  // No locale prefix — serve as default (English) directly, no redirect
  return NextResponse.next();
}

generateStaticParams changes

// Layout and page components: include '' (no prefix) for English
export async function generateStaticParams() {
  return [
    { locale: '' },      // English — served at root paths
    { locale: 'zh-CN' },
    { locale: 'zh-TW' },
  ];
}

Sitemap changes

// English URLs use no prefix
const enUrl = `${baseUrl}/hexagrams/${h.id}`;
// Other locales keep prefix
const zhCNUrl = `${baseUrl}/zh-CN/hexagrams/${h.id}`;

Hreflang

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/hexagrams/14" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="zh-CN" href="https://example.com/zh-CN/hexagrams/14" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/hexagrams/14" />

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Checklist

[ ] curl -I site.com/some-page → confirm 301 (not 307)
[ ] curl -I site.com/en/some-page → confirm 301 to /some-page (if no-prefix)
[ ] sitemap.xml lists final URLs (no redirect hops)
[ ] hreflang present on all pages with x-default
[ ] robots.txt allows all content paths, blocks /api/
[ ] generateStaticParams covers all locale variants
[ ] No cookie-only locale detection (Googlebot ignores cookies)

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Why Pages Router Appeared Better

Pages Router with getStaticPaths serves pages at their exact URL with zero redirect hops. App Router with locale middleware adds a redirect layer. The framework itself isn't the problem — the redirect type (307 vs 301) and the locale URL strategy are what matter. App Router with 301 redirects and/or no-prefix default locale matches or exceeds Pages Router crawlability.

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Real-World Comparison

	sixlines.online (App Router)	bookofchanges.academy (Pages Router)
Hexagram URL	/en/hexagrams/14	/hexagrams/14
Redirect on clean URL	307 → locale URL ❌	none ✅
Sitemap entries	192 (64 × 3 locales)	64
Middleware on every req	yes	no
Fix	Change to 301 + consider no-prefix	—