Last Updated on May 22, 2025
Enter each locale and URL pair on its own line, separated by a comma.
Example:en-US, https://example.com/en/
Output
What Is the Hreflang Tag Generator?
Managing a multilingual or multi-regional website presents the challenge of ensuring the right content reaches the intended audience. That’s where hreflang tags come in. Our Hreflang Tag Generator is a simple yet powerful tool designed to help you create SEO-friendly hreflang annotations for your webpages. These tags inform Google and other search engines which version of a page to display, based on a user’s language or geographic location, which is essential for international targeting and multilingual SEO.
Instead of manually coding each <link rel="alternate" hreflang="..."> This generator allows you to input locale–URL pairs and instantly generate valid, copy-paste-ready code. Whether localizing a blog, managing a global eCommerce store, or serving country-specific landing pages, this tool makes hreflang implementation fast, accurate, and hassle-free.
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How to Use the Hreflang Tag Generator
Using this tool is quick and straightforward. Follow the steps below to generate valid hreflang tags for your multilingual or multi-regional website:
- Enter Locale and URL Pairs
Type each language–URL combination in the text box on a new line. Use the format: arduinoCopyEditen-US, https://example.com/en/ fr-FR, https://example.com/fr/ es-ES, https://example.com/es/ - Click “Generate Hreflang Tags.”
After entering all your pairs, click the Generate button. The tool will create<link rel="alternate" hreflang="...">tags for each locale. - Copy the Output Code
The generated tags will appear in the output box. Copy and paste them into the<head>section of your webpage, HTML, or CMS template. - Add the
x-default(Optional)
The tool automatically includes anx-defaultThe tag points to the first URL, which helps search engines understand which page to display when no other language matches.
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Why Hreflang Tags Matter for SEO
If your website targets users in different countries or languages, properly implementing hreflang tags is a game-changer for your international SEO strategy. These tags help search engines understand which version of your content to show to users based on their language preferences or geographic location.
Without hreflang tags, search engines may serve the incorrect regional version of your content or view multiple versions as duplicate content, which can negatively impact your rankings. For example, if you have English pages for US and UK markets, hreflang annotations help Google distinguish between them and rank them appropriately in each region.
By using hreflang tags, you:
- Enhance search relevance by displaying the most relevant content to the target audience.
- Avoid duplicate content penalties across similar localized pages.
- Increase click-through rates by serving content in the user’s native language.
- Strengthen international targeting, especially for multilingual websites with global traffic.
Search engines like Google, Yandex, and Bing all support hreflang, making it a crucial component of any website’s multilingual SEO and global visibility strategy.
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Common Mistakes in Hreflang Implementation
Even experienced SEOs often make errors when implementing hreflang tags, resulting in indexing issues, ranking drops, or pages not appearing in the correct regional search results. Here are the most common pitfalls to watch out for:
1. Using Incorrect Language or Region Codes
Hreflang values must follow the ISO 639-1 language code and ISO 3166-1 country code formats. For example:
- Correct:
en-USorfr-CA - Wrong:
en-us(lowercase),eng-UK, orenglish
2. Missing Self-Referencing Tags
Every page that uses hreflang must include a tag for itself. Google may ignore the entire set if a page only references other language versions.
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3. Forgetting Reciprocal Links
If page A points to page B via hreflang, page B must also point back to page A. This two-way confirmation is essential for validation.
4. Linking to the Wrong URLs
Each href Value must be a fully qualified, crawlable URL. Avoid using relative URLs or links that redirect.
5. Mixing hreflang with Canonical Tags Improperly
Don’t canonicalize to a different language version. Each localized page should self-canonicalize to itself, not a master version.
6. Using hreflang in the Wrong Location
Hreflang tags belong in the <head> section of your HTML or in your XML sitemap, not in the body of the page.
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Supported Language and Country Codes
To implement hreflang tags correctly, you must use standardized language and region codes. These codes follow two internationally recognized systems:
Language Codes (ISO 639-1)
These are two-letter codes that specify the language. Examples include:
en= Englishfr= Frenches= Spanishde= Germanzh= Chinese
Complete list: ISO 639-1 Language Codes
Country/Region Codes (ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2)
These two-letter codes define the region or country. Examples include:
US= United StatesGB= United KingdomCA= CanadaAU= AustraliaIN= India
Example Hreflang Combinations:
en-US→ English (United States)fr-FR→ French (France)es-MX→ Spanish (Mexico)ar-AE→ Arabic (United Arab Emirates)
If you’re only targeting by language (not region), you can omit the country code, e.g., de For general German speakers.
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Where to Paste Your Hreflang Tags
After generating your hreflang tags, the next crucial step is placing them correctly so that search engines can detect and index them. There are three valid locations for implementing hreflang:
1. Inside the <head> Section of Your HTML
This is the most common method. Copy the generated tags and paste them directly into the <head> area of each page:
htmlCopyEdit<head>
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-US" href="https://example.com/en/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr-FR" href="https://example.com/fr/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/en/" />
</head>
2. In Your XML Sitemap
You can use the sitemap method if you don’t want to modify your site’s HTML templates. This requires formatting each hreflang entry using <xhtml:link> elements inside your sitemap file. (More complex, but valuable for large sites.)
3. In HTTP Headers (for non-HTML documents)
If you’re serving alternate language PDFs or non-HTML content, hreflang can be sent via HTTP response headers. This method is advanced and rarely needed for standard websites.
Pro Tip:
Do not place hreflang tags in the <body> of your HTML or within JavaScript. Search engines will ignore them. Ensure that the pages you reference are accessible (i.e., not blocked by robots.txt or behind redirects).
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FAQs
Not directly. Hreflang tags don’t boost your rankings like backlinks or content do, but they ensure the correct version of your page ranks in the right region or language, which improves click-through rates and user experience.
Yes. Hreflang supports cross-domain implementation. For example, you can reference:<link rel=\"alternate\" hreflang=\"en-US\" href=\"https://site-us.com/\" />
<link rel=\"alternate\" hreflang=\"fr-FR\" href=\"https://site-fr.com/\" />
Just make sure all pages link back to each other reciprocally.
The x-default Value is used to specify the fallback URL when no other hreflang tag matches the user’s settings. It helps direct users to a language selector or a general landing page.
No, but they’re strongly recommended for websites with similar content in multiple languages or regions. Without them, Google may show the wrong version of your content to users.
Yes. Hreflang tags should be unique per page. You must generate and place hreflang entries for every URL that has alternate language or regional versions.
