Question 1

What is hreflang and when do I need it?

Accepted Answer

Hreflang is an HTML attribute (rel="alternate" hreflang="...") that tells search engines which version of a page to serve to users based on their language or regional settings. You need it whenever you have the same content in multiple languages (e.g. English and Spanish) or region-specific versions of the same language (e.g. en-US and en-GB). Without it, Google may show the wrong language version to users or consolidate your international pages in ways that reduce organic reach per market.

Question 2

What is x-default and should I always include it?

Accepted Answer

x-default is a special hreflang value that marks the fallback page — the version Google serves to users whose language or region does not match any specific hreflang tag. You should include it whenever your site has a language-selector page or a version that works for all users not covered by a specific locale (often your homepage or the English version). If every user has a dedicated page, x-default is still best practice as a catch-all.

Question 3

Does hreflang go in the HTML head, HTTP headers, or sitemap?

Accepted Answer

All three methods are valid, but the HTML head is the most reliable and easiest to implement for most sites. Place the hreflang link elements inside <head> on every version of the page — each URL in the set must reference all other URLs in the same set (including itself). The HTTP header method works for non-HTML files (PDFs, etc.). The sitemap method can handle large sites without modifying every HTML file, but the HTML or HTTP approach is recommended unless you have thousands of URLs.

Question 4

Do I need to include hreflang on every page in the set?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Hreflang requires full reciprocal annotation. If page A points to page B, page B must also point back to page A (and every other URL in the language set). Omitting reciprocal tags means Google may ignore the entire set. This generator outputs the tags for a single page — you must paste the same set of tags onto every URL in the set, with each page also pointing to itself via its own hreflang.

Question 5

What format should the hreflang code use?

Accepted Answer

Use BCP 47 language tags: a 2-letter ISO 639-1 language code (e.g. "en", "fr", "de") optionally followed by a hyphen and a 2-letter ISO 3166-1 country code (e.g. "en-US", "pt-BR", "zh-CN"). Google recommends lowercase for the language part and uppercase for the region part. You can also use 3-letter ISO 639-2 codes for less common languages. "x-default" is the only special value allowed.

Question 6

Can I use hreflang on a single-language site?

Accepted Answer

If your entire site is in one language and targets one country, you do not need hreflang. Add it only when you have distinct pages for different languages or regions. Applying hreflang to a monolingual, single-region site adds complexity with no benefit and can introduce errors if the tags are mismatched.

Question 7

What are common hreflang mistakes?

Accepted Answer

The most frequent issues are: (1) Missing reciprocal tags — each page in a set must point to all other pages and itself. (2) Using relative URLs instead of absolute URLs with the full domain. (3) Mismatched URLs — the href must exactly match the canonical URL of that page (same protocol, trailing slash, etc.). (4) Pointing to non-canonical or redirecting URLs. (5) Using hreflang with 301-redirected URLs. (6) Wrong BCP 47 code casing or invalid codes (e.g. "EN-us" instead of "en-US").

Hreflang Tag Generator

Configure your hreflang tags

Your hreflang tags

Tell Google which page to serve, to whom

Match language to user

Prevent duplicate content

x-default catches the rest

Frequently asked questions

Hreflang is step one. Revenue attribution is the point.