{"id":7655,"date":"2026-05-21T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poeditor.com\/blog\/?p=7655"},"modified":"2026-05-18T08:28:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:28:20","slug":"hreflang-tags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poeditor.com\/blog\/hreflang-tags\/","title":{"rendered":"Hreflang tags and localization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Hreflang<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Do you want your localized content to reach the right audience? Then you need hreflang tags. When you implement them correctly, your users will land on the most relevant version of your content. Let us explain how they work and why you need them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are hreflang tags?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hreflang tags are HTML attributes that tell search engines which language and regional version of a page should be shown to users. Everyone that has similar or identical content tailored for different audiences should use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why we use hreflang in localization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hreflang tags make sure localized content actually reaches the audience it was created for. Without hreflang, search engines will have a hard time determining which version of a page to serve. Which leads to one of the most common issues in multilingual SEO<\/a>: duplicate content. In some cases, search engines may treat the variations of the same core content as duplicate content. Luckily, hreflang tags clarify that these pages are intentional alternatives, each targeting a different audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we look at things from a user experience perspective, hreflang ensure that your visitors land on content that is familiar and relevant to them. Often, someone browsing from a specific country expects to see the content in their language, as well as local conventions like currency<\/a> and date formats<\/a>. If you direct your users to the correct localized version, statistics say they are more likely to engage with the content and trust the brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How a hreflang tag looks like<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When a user searches for something, the search engine looks at the hreflang attributes in your site’s code to match the user’s profile with the correct URL. Hreflang annotations typically include the language code (ISO 639-1) and (optionally) the region code (ISO 3166-1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A standard hreflang tag is placed in the <head><\/code> section of your HTML. It looks like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<link rel=\"alternate\" hreflang=\"lang_code-region_code\" href=\"url_of_page\" \/><\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 rel=\"alternate\"<\/code> tells the search engine that this is an alternate version of the current page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 hreflang=\"x\"<\/code> identifies the language and optionally the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 href=\"url\"<\/code> is the specific link to that version of the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What to pay attention to when implementing hreflang<\/h4>\n\n\n\n