Hreflang

Hreflang is an attribute placed in the page code (or in the sitemap) that links versions of the same content in different languages or countries. With it, people searching in English see the English page, people searching in Spanish see the Spanish one, and Google does not treat translations as duplicate content.

How it works

Each page lists all of its versions, including itself, with the language code (pt-BR, en, es, de) and, optionally, an x-default version for anyone who fits no language. The relationship must be reciprocal: if the Portuguese page points to the English one, the English page must point back. Common hreflang errors make Google ignore the markup and show the wrong version.

Practical example

An engineering firm with a four-language site was showing up in Portuguese for searches made in Germany. With reciprocal hreflang on every page and in the sitemap, each country started seeing its own language, and the German pages began earning clicks of their own.

Common mistakes

• Pointing to another language version without it pointing back.
• Using wrong codes, such as “br” instead of “pt-BR”.
• Linking pages that are not translations of each other.