{"id":2359,"date":"2021-09-29T12:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T10:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/blog\/hreflang-multilingual-sites\/"},"modified":"2024-01-23T12:25:21","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T11:25:21","slug":"hreflang-multilingual-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eurotrad.com\/en\/magazine\/hreflang-multilingual-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Hreflang tags: why are they essential for multilingual websites?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hreflang tags<\/strong> are necessary attributes that improve the recognition of multilingual websites<\/strong> by search engines and facilitate their correct indexing<\/strong>. Learning when and how to implement hreflang tags correctly on multilingual websites is a key step towards reaching international users who might be interested in browsing your website in different languages.<\/p>\n

What is an hreflang tag?<\/h2>\n

It is a specific HTML attribute,<\/strong> and its correct use is often more complex than with other HTML tags.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, hreflang insertion can mostly be automated and the process has become much simpler than it used to be.<\/p>\n

Why it matters for multilingual websites<\/h2>\n

Hreflang tags are very important attributes for search engines such as Google<\/strong> as they indicate which language a text has been written in<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, these tags indicate that web<\/strong> pages have been translated and are not merely duplicate content<\/strong>. They thus allow you to avoid being penalised by Google while helping businesses to rank well in SERPs.<\/p>\n

That being said, it is worth bearing in mind that hreflang tags are not definitive indicators. They are just one of the many data points Google and other search engines use and compare with other elements on a webpage, such as the alphabet used<\/strong>, specific cultural touchpoints<\/strong>, and any other elements that contribute to the correct localisation of web pages<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

How to insert hreflang tags<\/h2>\n

An hreflang tag consists of two parts<\/strong> and has the following syntax:<\/p>\n