Complete technical guide for implementing hreflang tags correctly on multilingual websites. Learn best practices, avoid common mistakes, and boost your international SEO.
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SEO & Web Development Expert, Meirra
Master multilingual SEO with confidence
The hreflang attribute tells search engines which language you're using on a specific page, so they can show the right version to users searching in that language.
Introduced by Google in 2011, hreflang is now a critical component of international SEO, helping avoid duplicate content issues and ensuring users see content in their preferred language.
The attribute uses ISO language codes (like 'en' for English or 'es' for Spanish) and optional regional subtags (like 'es-ES' for Spanish in Spain or 'es-MX' for Spanish in Mexico).
This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to properly implement hreflang tags for international websites. Hreflang implementation is one of the most technically challenging aspects of multilingual SEO, but when done correctly, it ensures search engines serve the right language version to the right users. Our platform tracks hreflang performance in real-time.
We'll walk through multiple implementation methods, provide tested code examples, offer specific guidance for international expansion, and help you troubleshoot common errors. All with live dashboard monitoring.
HTML link elements in the head section
<head>
<!-- Other meta tags, title, etc. -->
<!-- English page (example.com/page) would have these tags: -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/page/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/page/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/page/" />
<!-- Spanish page (example.com/es/page) would have these same tags: -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/page/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/page/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/page/" />
</head>Explore valid language codes to use in your hreflang tags.
enEnglish
en-USEnglish (United States)
en-GBEnglish (United Kingdom)
en-CAEnglish (Canada)
en-AUEnglish (Australia)
esSpanish
es-ESSpanish (Spain)
es-MXSpanish (Mexico)
es-COSpanish (Colombia)
es-ARSpanish (Argentina)
frFrench
fr-FRFrench (France)
fr-CAFrench (Canada)
ptPortuguese
pt-BRPortuguese (Brazil)
pt-PTPortuguese (Portugal)
zhChinese
zh-CNChinese (China)
zh-TWChinese (Taiwan)
deGerman
de-DEGerman (Germany)
itItalian
it-ITItalian (Italy)
jaJapanese
ja-JPJapanese (Japan)
koKorean
ko-KRKorean (South Korea)
ruRussian
ru-RURussian (Russia)
arArabic
Language codes follow ISO 639-1 standard. You can use language-only codes (e.g., 'en') or language-region combinations (e.g., 'en-US').