Indexation
Part of International and multilingual SEO
Using hreflang only for genuine equivalent pages
Decide which local pages belong in an hreflang group and check reciprocal annotations without pairing unrelated destinations.
Use hreflang to identify language or regional versions of the same page. Pair pages that help readers complete the same central task, even when local details differ. This is an editorial test for building the map; Google does not require word-for-word translations.
Match the reader task first
For each URL, record its main question, audience and next action. Then look for a corresponding page in each locale. Delivery terms, measurements and contact routes may change, but a reader should still recognise the central purpose of each page in the group.
| Proposed pair | Editorial decision |
|---|---|
| Two versions of the same service page for different markets | Consider a group if both offers are real and the central task matches. |
| A service page and another market’s home page | Leave them unpaired; the home page has a broader purpose. |
| A product page and a category page used because the product is unavailable | Leave them unpaired; they support different choices. |
| A translated guide and its source guide | Pair them when both give the corresponding useful answer. |
When a counterpart is missing, record the gap. An unrelated destination does not become an equivalent page because it is the closest available URL.
Choose a method the site can maintain
Google supports hreflang in HTML, HTTP response headers and XML sitemaps, and treats the methods as equivalent. HTTP headers can suit non-HTML files such as PDFs. For ordinary pages, choose the method the publishing system can generate and check consistently; using all three brings no Google Search benefit.
Use fully qualified alternate URLs. Each version should list itself and its alternatives. Corresponding pages need return annotations: Google says it ignores a relationship when two pages do not point to each other.
The hreflang value starts with a language code and may add a supported region code, such as en-AU. For several locale URLs targeting users who share a language, Google recommends a catchall URL for geographically unspecified users; this can be one of the specific pages.
Key facts about hreflang implementation
- Supported methods
- HTML, HTTP headers, XML sitemaps
- Google's stance on multiple methods
- Using all three brings no additional benefit
- Recommended approach for non-HTML files
- HTTP response headers (e.g., PDFs)
- Language + region code example
- en-AU
- Catchall recommendation
- One URL for users sharing a language but without a region
Check the generated map
Sample a complete group, a page without one locale and a recently changed address. Compare each target’s final URL and main task. Then inspect the generated HTML, headers or sitemap. Look for stale destinations, missing self references and missing return annotations.
Keep canonical review alongside this check. hreflang describes locale relationships; it does not force canonical selection or guarantee that a page appears in search. When an offer disappears from a market, update both the page and its alternate map.
