What is Hreflang?
Hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and regional variations of a page to show users based on their location and language preferences. This technical implementation prevents duplicate content issues across international sites while ensuring users see the most relevant version of content for their market.
Ecommerce SEO Glossary > Technical SEO > Hreflang
What You Need to Know about Hreflang
Language and Region Targeting
Hreflang uses ISO language codes (en, es, fr) and optional region codes (en-us, en-gb, es-mx) to specify content variations. This precision ensures users in Spain see Spanish content while users in Mexico see regional variations appropriate for that market.
Implementation Methods
Hreflang can be implemented through HTML link tags in page headers, XML sitemaps, or HTTP headers. HTML implementation is most common and easiest to audit, though sitemap implementation works better for sites with many international variations.
Bidirectional Annotation Requirement
Each language version must reference all other versions including itself, and those references must be reciprocal. If the English page points to the Spanish version, the Spanish page must point back to English for hreflang to work correctly.
Self-Referencing Tags Essential
Every page must include a self-referencing hreflang tag pointing to itself. This confirms the page’s language and region assignment, preventing search engines from misinterpreting which version serves which audience.
X-Default for Fallback Targeting
The x-default hreflang value specifies which page to show users whose language or region doesn’t match any specific version. This typically points to your primary market page or a language selector, ensuring all visitors see appropriate content.
Common Implementation Errors
Missing return tags, incorrect ISO codes, and conflicting signals between hreflang and content language cause most failures. Search Console reports hreflang errors, but implementation requires careful attention to detail across all page versions.
Frequently Asked Questions about Hreflang
1. When do you need hreflang tags?
Use hreflang when you have multiple versions of pages targeting different languages or regions, including variations like English for US versus UK. Single-language sites serving one market don’t need hreflang implementation.
2. How does hreflang prevent duplicate content penalties?
Hreflang signals that similar content across URLs serves different markets intentionally. Search engines recognize these as legitimate variations rather than duplicate content, preventing rankings dilution or penalties from near-duplicate pages.
3. Can you use hreflang with canonical tags?
Yes, but canonical tags should point to themselves on each language version, not across languages. Using canonical to consolidate different language versions contradicts hreflang signals and causes indexing problems.
4. Why aren’t my hreflang tags working?
Check for missing return tags, incorrect ISO codes, or non-reciprocal annotations in Search Console’s hreflang report. Implementation must be exact across all referenced pages, and crawl issues can prevent search engines from discovering the tags.
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