Hreflang
Hreflang is an HTML attribute (and HTTP header equivalent) used to specify the language and, optionally, the geographic region that a web page is intended for. It tells search engines which version of a multilingual or multi-regional page to serve to users based on their language preferences and location. For example, an English-US page would reference an English-UK and French-CA version, and vice versa — creating a self-referencing set of annotations.
Hreflang implementation can be done in the `<head>` of the page, in the XML sitemap, or via HTTP headers. Common implementation errors include missing return tags (the annotation must be reciprocal), incorrect locale codes (must use ISO 639-1 language codes and ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 country codes), and pointing hreflang tags to URLs that return non-200 status codes. Errors are visible in Google Search Console's International Targeting report.
Why it matters for SEO
Without hreflang, search engines may serve the wrong language version of a site to international users, resulting in high bounce rates and lost conversions. Correct hreflang implementation ensures the right content reaches the right audience and prevents international duplicate content from splitting authority across language variants.
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