Hreflang Tag

The hreflang tag (rel=”alternate” hreflang=”x”) is an HTML attribute used to specify the language and geographical targeting of a webpage. In international SEO, hreflang tags are the only mechanism to prevent duplicate content penalties when publishing the same content across multiple regional domains (e.g., targeting English speakers in the US versus the UK). Implementing hreflang tags requires flawless, bidirectional coding; if Page A points to Page B, Page B must point back to Page A. A single syntax error in a hreflang cluster will cause Google to ignore the directive entirely, resulting in massive keyword cannibalization across international markets.

Hreflang Tag Simplified

A hreflang tag is a piece of code used by international companies. It tells Google, “This page is for people in the US, and this identical page is for people in the UK.” It stops Google from penalizing you for having the exact same content on two different websites.