Hreflang is an HTML attribute used to indicate the language and region of a webpage to search engines. This tag helps direct users to the correct version of your content based on their language or location. For example, if you have an English page and a Spanish page, hreflang tags guide users to the appropriate version.
Why is Hreflang Important?
- Improves user experience: It ensures users land on a page in their preferred language.
- Boosts SEO for multiple languages: Hreflang helps search engines show the right version of your page to the right audience, improving international search rankings.
- Prevents duplicate content issues: It tells search engines that similar pages in different languages are not duplicates.
How to Use Hreflang Tags?
Hreflang tags are usually placed in the <head> section of your webpage’s HTML. They include:
rel="alternate": Indicates that the link is an alternative version.hreflang="en-us": Specifies language and optional region.
For example:
<link rel="alternate" href="https://example.com" hreflang="en-us" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://example.com/es" hreflang="es" />
Key Points:
1. Use hreflang to target different languages or regions.
2. Implement hreflang in HTML, HTTP headers, or sitemaps.
3. Ensure each page references all versions, including itself, for best results.