Hreflang
Quick Definition
Hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and region a page is intended for. It helps Google show the right version of your content to users in different countries.
What Is Hreflang?
Hreflang is an HTML attribute (technically rel="alternate" hreflang="x") that tells search engines: "This page has a version in another language or for another region — here is where to find it." It is Google's official method for handling multilingual and multi-regional websites.
The tag is placed in the <head> of your HTML and looks like this:
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/about/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="nl" href="https://example.com/nl/about/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://example.com/de/about/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/about/" />Each hreflang tag uses a language code (ISO 639-1) and optionally a country code (ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2). Common examples:
en— English (any region)en-us— English for United Statesen-gb— English for United Kingdomnl— Dutchfr-ca— French for Canadax-default— The fallback page for users whose language or region does not match any specific version
Without hreflang tags, Google might show your Dutch page to English-speaking users, or your US-targeted page to Australian visitors who should see a local version. This leads to poor user experience, lower click-through rates, and duplicate content issues — because Google sees multiple pages with similar content and does not know which one to prioritize for each market.
A critical rule: hreflang tags must be reciprocal. If page A links to page B with hreflang, page B must link back to page A. Missing return tags are the most common implementation error.
Hreflang in Practice
For WordPress, you almost never add hreflang tags manually. Multilingual plugins handle it automatically:
- Polylang — Generates hreflang tags for all language versions of each post and page
- WPML — The most popular premium multilingual plugin, with comprehensive hreflang support
- GTranslate — Adds hreflang for auto-translated pages
- Weglot — Cloud-based translation with automatic hreflang injection
SEO plugins like Yoast and Rank Math also generate hreflang tags when paired with a multilingual plugin. Rank Math includes multilingual hreflang support even in the free version.
To verify your hreflang implementation, use Google Search Console's International Targeting report or the free hreflang Tags Testing Tool by Technical SEO. Common errors to check: missing return tags, incorrect language codes (using "en" when you mean "en-us"), and pointing to non-existent pages.
Why It Matters
If your WordPress site serves content in multiple languages — or targets visitors in different countries — hreflang is essential. Without it, Google guesses which version to show, often incorrectly. With it, the right visitors see the right content, your organic traffic is properly attributed per market, and you avoid the duplicate content penalties that come from having similar pages in different languages competing against each other.