Hreflang
Hreflang is an HTML attribute that specifies the language and optional geographic targeting of a page, helping search engines serve the correct version to users in different regions.
Implement hreflang when you have the same content in multiple languages or target the same language in different regions (en-US vs en-GB). Use `<link rel="alternate" hreflang="xx" href="...">` tags in the head, or specify them in your sitemap.
Every hreflang set must include a self-referencing tag and an `x-default` fallback. The annotations must be reciprocal — if page A references page B, page B must reference page A.
Common mistakes: non-reciprocal annotations, incorrect language codes, pointing hreflang to redirecting URLs, and missing the x-default tag. These errors can cause Google to ignore your hreflang entirely.
Example
<!-- In the <head> of the English page -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="https://example.com/fr/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/page" />Related terms
Canonical URL
A canonical URL is an HTML link element that tells search engines which URL is the preferred version of a page, consolidating ranking signals when multiple URLs serve similar content.
Duplicate Content
Duplicate content refers to identical or substantially similar content appearing at multiple URLs, which can confuse search engines about which version to index and rank.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO encompasses the server-side and infrastructure optimizations that help search engines efficiently crawl, render, index, and rank your website's content.
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