Understanding and mastering the Hreflang tag in SEO

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La hreflang tag is an essential element for the referencing a multilingual site or one targeting several countries.

But what exactly is the hreflang tag? How can you use it to improve your search engine ranking? This article explains all about this little piece of code that can make a big difference.

Definition of the hreflang tag

The hreflang tag is a HTML used to indicate to search engines which language version of a web document should be displayed according to the language or region of the Internet user.

In other words, this tag enables search engines to better understand the content of your site and to offer their users more relevant results, in the right language.

The importance of this tag lies in its ability to avoid problems of duplicate content. If your site contains similar content but translated into different languages, with no clear indication for indexing robotsThis could have a negative impact on your search engine rankings.

Why use the hreflang tag in SEO?

There are several reasons for using the hreflang tag:

• • Improve the visibility of your site in search engines for targeted Internet users: the hreflang tag allows you to inform search engines of the presence of different language or regional versions of your site, so that they can index and display them correctly.
  • Help reduce the problem of duplicate content: by clearly indicating alternative versions of your pages to search engines, you prevent them from treating them as identical content.
  • Improvinguser experience With the hreflang tag, Internet users can go directly to the language or regional version that corresponds to them, without having to navigate between different versions of your site.

How do I use the hreflang tag?

There are several ways of integrating the hreflang tag into a web document. Here are three common methods:

1. In the section of each page: place the hreflang tag in the form of alink elementtag, specifying the ISO code for the language and, if applicable, the target region, as well as the corresponding URL. It is important to include a hreflang tag for all language or regional versions of your site.
2. In a file Sitemap XML: the syntax is slightly different, but the principle remains the same. You can create a Sitemap file dedicated to hreflang tags or include them directly in your existing Sitemap.
3. By using HTTP headers HTTP headers: it is also possible to use HTTP headers to indicate alternative versions of your pages, although this method is less common and sometimes more complex to set up. It can be particularly useful for sites offering non-HTML content (images, videos, etc.).

Whatever method you choose, always remember to check the accuracy of the ISO codes used for languages and regionsand to include an x-default hreflang tag to indicate the generic version of your site to Internet users whose language or region does not correspond to those targeted.

Example of using the hreflang tag

Suppose you have a site available in French, English and Spanish, with specific versions for Canada and the United States. Here's how to use the hreflang tag in the section of each page:

<link rel="alternate" href="https://example.com/en" hreflang="en" />

Note that the code 'en' represents generic English, while the codes 'fr-CA' and 'en-US' indicate the French-Canadian and English-American versions of the site respectively. The hreclang x-default tag points to the generic version of your site, which will be displayed by default for users whose language or region is not explicitly targeted.

Common mistakes and practical advice

Using the hreflang tag may seem complex, but with a little care it's easy to avoid common mistakes. Here are a few tips for optimising the use of this tag:

• Check your ISO codes regularly A mistake in a language or region code can lead to inconsistent results. Also make sure you use two-letter codes for languages (e.g. 'fr', not 'fra') and combine language and region codes correctly ('en-US', not just 'US').
• Include a self-referencing hreflang tag for each page - this means that each page must include a hreflang tag pointing to itself, in addition to the other language or regional versions.
• Consider using search engine diagnostic tools, such as the Search Console from Googleto ensure that your hreflang tags are correctly interpreted and to identify any errors.
• Finally, don't forget that the hreflang tag should not be used on its own but as a complement to other best practices SEO - make sure you comply with the following instructions Google in terms of content and quality, as well as working on your internal networking and external.

By understanding and mastering the hreflang tagIn this way, you can significantly improve the visibility of your site in the different countries or regions you are targeting, and deliver a better user experience for Internet users.

But be careful to follow the instructions and advice given to avoid common pitfalls.