The hreflang attribute is a powerful tool for improve your international SEO. This HTML attribute tells search engines the specific language and region of a web page.
This is crucial for websites that have content in multiple languages or target users in different regions.
By using hreflang correctly, you can make sure that users see the correct version of your content, improving the user experience and increasing the relevance of your site in search results.
What are the advantages of the hreflang attribute?
Implementing hreflang on your website has multiple benefits:
- Improve user experienceUsers are directed to the version of the site that best suits their language and region.
- Reduces duplicate contentGoogle and other search engines understand that different versions of a page are intended for different audiences, which reduces the possibility of content being considered duplicate.
- Increases visibility in search enginesBy providing the correct version of the content, your site is more likely to appear in relevant search results for users in different geographic locations.
- Facilitates internationalizationHreflang allows webmasters to manage and optimize multilingual and multinational websites more efficiently.
What is the hreflang syntax like?
The hreflang syntax may seem complicated at first, but it is essential for proper implementation. Here is a basic example:
In this example, we have three versions of a web page: English, Spanish and French. Each tag includes an hreflang attribute indicating the language and, optionally, the region.
Detailed syntax
- Language and regionYou can specify only the language (es) or language and region (es-ES for Spanish).
- Page URLThe URL must be absolute and must point to the corresponding version of the page.
Example with regions:
What tools are available for hreflang?
There are several tools that can help you implement and verify the correct use of the hreflang attribute:
- Google Search Console: This tool allows you to check if Google is correctly recognizing your hreflang tags.
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider: An SEO crawler that can analyze and report on hreflang tags on your website.
- Hreflang Tags Testing ToolSpecific tools such as this hreflang label tester can verify the correct implementation of your labels.
- Ahrefs and SEMrushThese SEO tools also offer functionalities to review and audit the implementation of hreflang on your website.
Implementing the hreflang attribute correctly may seem challenging, but with the right tools and a good understanding of its syntax, you can effectively optimize your website for an international audience.
At Geotelecomwe help you to improve your international web positioning with our service Internationalization SEOWe hope we have been helpful!
