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How to use hreflang for an alternate link?
link rel=“alternate”: The link in this tag is an alternate version of this page. hreflang=“x”: It’s alternate because it’s in a different language, and that language is x. href=“https://example.com/alternate-page”: The alternate page can be found at this URL.
In plain English, that means that every page should have a self-referential hreflang tag—i.e., one that points back to itself. So, if we want to add a hreflang tags between an English page (https://example.com/hello) and an Italian page (https://example.com/ciao), each should have the following hreflang tags:
When to use REL or hreflang in Google search?
Hreflang, on the other hand, is a tool to show which of the different (but often similar) pages (based on language or region) should show up in a search. Google recommends not using rel=”canonical” across country or language versions of your site. But you can use it within a country or language version
When to use the hreflang x-default tag?
The hreflang x‑default tag specifies the default or fallback page that gets shown to users when no other language variant is appropriate. You don’t have to use them, but Google recommends that you do. This is what one looks like:
When to use hreflang to target a website?
Hreflang can also be used to show that you have content targeted toward variants of a single language. If that’s the case, you can target your pages even more specifically by extending the hreflang attribute with annotations that indicate which region the content is localized for, e.g. Spain hreflang=”es-es” versus Mexico hreflang=”es-mx”.
Is it good to use self referential hreflang?
Google’s John Mueller did recently say that “self referential hreflang is optional — but good practice.” This is at odds with Google’s official recommendation on the matter. So our advice is to use them. The hreflang x‑default tag specifies the default or fallback page that gets shown to users when no other language variant is appropriate.
What’s the difference between hreflang and rel?
Hreflang, on the other hand, is a tool to show which of the different (but often similar) pages (based on language or region) should show up in a search. Google recommends not using rel=”canonical” across country or language versions of your site.