Check your hreflang tags

By using the rel = “alternate” hreflang = “x” link attribute, you can be sure that Google understands the respective geographic orientation of the website and provides the user with the appropriate language version or regional URL of a content.

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The hreflang guide for international SEO

Here you can find out everything about the correct use of Google and multilingual websites. Avoid duplicate content and learn to use the hreflang link attribute.

To the hreflang guide

When should I use the hreflang code?

Good advises the following cases for use of the hreflang code.

  • When the content on websites is identical or nearly identical
  • If only the website template has been translated
  • When the website is fully translated
  • if there is a main page for all visitors, with the exception of visitors of a certain language and / or country

Things to know about validating the hreflang code

The respective language (xx) must always be specified in ISO 639-1 format. The country code (-XX) is optional and must be specified in ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 format. The ISO codes are not case-sensitive. Google also accepts the lower case of the optional region code – the hreflang link attribute markup is then also valid. It is nicer, however, to stick to the convention and to write the ISO code of the language in lower case and the optional ISO code of the region in upper case.

How do I use the hreflang code correctly?

When using the hreflang annotation, it is important not to forget the bidirectional linking. This means that all equivalent content must be linked to one another. This is the only way for Google to understand the website’s network architecture. If the hreflang code only goes in one direction the structure is broken and not valid from Google’s point of view.

Example: All content references the relevant content on the other sites. (bi-directional linking).