Every rails.com product page declares UK, Canadian, EU and French versions with hreflang tags, whether or not that product is sold there. The Flora Top - Wine, a homepage top product, points to four international pages that all return 404. In a random sample of 40 products the UK version was missing for 23%, the EU version for 30% and the Canadian version for 13%. Rails sends UK and EU shoppers to those stores for local prices and duties, and has five stores in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin.
First action
Remove the alternate tags from the Flora Top - Wine and the other sampled products today.
How to measure it
UK and EU organic product-page clicks
- Now
- –
- Target
- +20%
- By
- 90 days
Steps
List the gaps
Every product with its status in UK, CA and EU stores.
SEO Manager 1 day
Fix the template
Print an alternate only when the product exists in that market.
Ecommerce Developer 2 days
Redirect missing URLs
International product 404s to the matching collection.
Ecommerce Developer 2 days
Re-crawl
Top 200 products in each market.
SEO Manager 1 day
Automate the check
Weekly scan of alternates that return 404.
Ecommerce Developer 1 day
Watch Search Console
International targeting and 404 reports by site.
SEO Manager weekly
Align launches
New products go live in all planned markets on the same day, or without the tag.
International Ecommerce Manager ongoing
Why it works
Change the theme so each alternate tag is printed only when the product is published in that market (from Shopify Markets or a per-market published flag), and drop the tag otherwise. For products sold in the US only, redirect the international product URL to the matching collection on that site instead of a 404. Re-crawl the top 200 products in each market, and add a weekly check that flags alternates returning 404. Watch Search Console's international targeting and 404 reports for uk.rails.com and eu.rails.com.
Search engines only trust hreflang when both ends exist and point back. Broken alternates waste crawl budget on 404 pages, can drop the whole set of country versions, and send a London or Paris shopper from Google to a dead page instead of a product they can buy in local currency.
Ready to use
ChecklistHreflang fix list
[ ] Alternate printed only for markets where the product is published [ ] x-default and en-US point to rails.com [ ] Every international page points back to rails.com [ ] Missing international product URLs redirect to a collection [ ] Weekly 404 scan of alternates [ ] Search Console checked for uk, ca and eu sites
Risks and how to handle them
Products launch in Europe later
Add the tag automatically when the product is published there.
Redirects confuse shoppers
Land them on the closest collection with a short note.
Evidence
- Your websiteEvery product page on rails.com tells search engines that a UK, Canadian, EU and French version exists (hreflang tags for en-GB, en-CA, about 30 EU countries and fr-FR). For many products those pages do not exist. The Flora Top - Wine, one of the homepage's top products, points to uk.rails.com, ca.rails.com, eu.rails.com and eu.rails.com/fr-fr product pages that all return 404 (checked October 20, 2026).Source
- Your websiteRandom sample of 40 rails.com products (October 20, 2026): the UK alternate returned 404 for 9 (23%), the EU alternate for 12 (30%) and the Canadian alternate for 5 (13%). Examples: Hepburn Skirt - Taupe Spotted (missing in all three), Montant Dress - Blue Bonnet, Nash Straight - Ranchwater and Verona Clutch (missing in UK and EU), Alder Overshirt and Mandy Cardigan (missing in UK and EU).Source
- Your websiteThe FAQ says rails.com ships internationally "with the exception of Canada, the UK, and the EU" and sends those shoppers to ca.rails.com, uk.rails.com and eu.rails.com "to shop your local currency with applicable duties and taxes included". International orders from rails.com pay $9.95 shipping under $200 plus handling fees (Australia $30, New Zealand $30, Hong Kong $25).Source
- Your websiteOur Stores: 21 stores, 16 in the US (Atlanta, Austin, Bethesda, Boston, two in Chicago, Georgetown, Houston, Manhattan Beach, Nashville, Newport Beach, SoHo, Nolita men's, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Scottsdale) and 5 in Europe (Amsterdam, Berlin, two in London, Paris), all on one page with an address, email and phone. "Book your in-store appointment for one-on-one styling" links to an Endear booking site.Source
- HiringCareers page (47 open roles on October 20, 2026): 45 in stores (keyholders, sales associates and assistant store managers across the US, London, Amsterdam and Berlin, a Store Manager for Chicago Rush Street) plus two at the Vernon, California head office in Corporate Retail: a Visual Merchandise Coordinator and a Retail Activations Coordinator. Regional Managers for the West Coast and East Coast are also listed.Source