Definition
Hreflang is an annotation that tells search engines which language or regional version of a page to show to users in different languages or countries.
Hreflang explained
If you have versions of a page for different audiences, such as English for the US, English for the UK and German for Germany, hreflang links them together so each searcher sees the right one. Google accepts hreflang in HTML link elements, in HTTP headers, or in the XML sitemap.
Google's rules include:
- Language codes in ISO 639-1 format, optionally followed by a region in ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 format, such as en-GB.
- Return links: if page X lists page Y as an alternate, page Y must link back to page X, or the annotations may be ignored.
- Each version should list itself as well as the other versions.
- The x-default value marks a fallback page for users whose language or region doesn't match any version.
Hreflang is a hint about which version to show, not a way to rank a page in a new country, and it doesn't replace genuinely localized content, prices and contact details.
Example
Your brand's UK visitors keep landing on the US pricing page with dollar prices. Adding hreflang annotations for en-US and en-GB versions, with return links on both and an x-default for other countries, helps Google show UK searchers the UK page.
Why it matters
Correct hreflang stops the wrong regional page ranking in each market, which protects conversions for global brands.
Related service
Technical SEO
Crawlability, indexing, structured data and rendering fixes so search engines and AI crawlers can read your site.
Technical SEO servicesSources
- Google Search Central: Tell Google about localized versions of your page (updated 21 Sep 2026)
Published by Vidern, founded and led by Malhar Shah. Updated .
Find out what's holding your site back
Get a free SEO audit with prioritized fixes, delivered within 48 hours.
Related terms
- Canonical tagA canonical tag is an HTML link element that tells search engines which URL is the preferred version of a page when similar or duplicate versions exist.
- XML sitemapAn XML sitemap is a file that lists the URLs you want search engines to crawl, with optional details such as when each page last changed.
- Technical SEOTechnical SEO is making a website easy for search engines and AI crawlers to crawl, render, index and understand, separate from the content itself.
- Site migrationA site migration is any major change to a website's platform, domain, URL structure or design that can affect how search engines crawl, index and rank it.