hreflang annotations are added as link elements in the head, HTTP headers, or sitemap entries. Each annotation pairs a language-region code (such as en-GB) with the corresponding URL, and each version must reciprocally reference every other version.
Common mistakes
- Missing reciprocal tags — every URL must link back to every alternate.
- Wrong region codes (using UK instead of GB).
- Pointing hreflang at redirects or non-200 URLs.
- Forgetting the x-default annotation for a fallback URL.
Example
A brand serving en-US, en-GB, and en-AU visitors adds three hreflang tags per page plus an x-default that points to the en-US site for unmatched regions.
How SEM Optimiser reports it
The international-SEO audit validates every hreflang cluster, checks reciprocity, and lists broken pairs.
Related terms
- Canonical Tag
A canonical tag is a link element that tells search engines which URL is the preferred version when the same or similar content appears at multiple URLs.
- XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file that lists a website's important URLs to help search engines discover and crawl them efficiently.
- On-page SEO
On-page SEO is the practice of optimising individual web pages so their content and HTML signals match what search engines expect for the queries they target.