How to Use the Hreflang Generator — International SEO Guide

If you have a multilingual website and your international pages aren't ranking in their target regions, the culprit is almost always incorrect or missing hreflang tags. This guide covers everything you need to know about hreflang implementation.

What Is the Hreflang Attribute?

The hreflang attribute is an HTML link element that tells Google which language and regional version of a page to serve to users in different locations. It was introduced by Google in 2011 specifically to solve the challenge of multilingual websites.

The basic syntax is:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="https://example.com/fr/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />

Why Hreflang Matters

Without hreflang tags:

• Google may serve your English page to Spanish-speaking users
• Your different language versions may compete against each other for the same search
• The wrong regional version may rank in the wrong country
• Google may see your translated pages as duplicate content

With hreflang:

• Each language version gets served to its intended audience
• You capture search traffic in multiple languages and regions
• Translated pages don't compete with each other
• You build authority in multiple markets simultaneously

Hreflang Language and Region Codes

The hreflang value combines a language code (ISO 639-1) with an optional region code (ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2):

• en — English (any region)
• en-US — English in the United States
• en-GB — English in the United Kingdom
• es — Spanish (any region)
• es-MX — Spanish in Mexico
• pt-BR — Portuguese in Brazil
• zh-Hans — Simplified Chinese
• x-default — Default fallback (no language/region match)

How to Use the Hreflang Generator

Step 1: Add Your Pages

For each language/region version of your content, add an entry with:

• The full URL of that language version
• The language code
• An optional region code

Step 2: Set the x-default

Mark one URL as the x-default — this is shown to users whose language/region isn't covered by your other variants. Usually this is your main English or global page.

Step 3: Generate

Click "Generate Hreflang Tags" and get the complete set of HTML link tags.

Step 4: Add to Every Page

The critical rule: every language version must include hreflang tags pointing to all other language versions, including itself. If you have 6 language versions, each page has 6 hreflang tags.

The Bidirectional Requirement

This is the most common hreflang mistake. Each page must point to all other versions AND include a self-referencing hreflang:

<!-- On the English page (en) -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />

<!-- On the Spanish page (es) — MUST also have both tags -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />

Hreflang in XML Sitemaps

As an alternative to placing hreflang in every page's HTML, you can specify hreflang relationships in your XML sitemap. This is often more manageable for large sites:

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/en/</loc>
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/"/>
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/"/>
</url>

Common Hreflang Mistakes

1. Broken bidirectionality: Page A points to Page B, but Page B doesn't point back to Page A
2. Incorrect language codes: Using en-uk instead of en-gb
3. Missing x-default: Every site should have an x-default fallback
4. Using relative URLs: Always use absolute URLs including the protocol
5. Only adding to some pages: Hreflang must be consistent across all language versions

Conclusion

Hreflang tags are essential for any website targeting users in multiple languages or regions. They ensure the right content reaches the right audience and prevent duplicate content issues across translations. Use our free Hreflang Generator to create perfectly formatted hreflang tags for all your language variants.

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