Hreflang
Hreflang is an HTML or sitemap annotation that tells search engines which language or regional version of a page should be shown to different users.
What is hreflang?
Hreflang is an annotation that tells search engines which language or regional versions of a page belong together. It helps Google serve the most appropriate URL to a user based on language or location when a site has equivalent localized pages.
Hreflang does not translate a page and it does not replace a canonical tag. Canonicals indicate the preferred version of duplicate or near-duplicate URLs; hreflang connects valid localized alternatives.
How does hreflang work?
You can implement hreflang in the HTML head, HTTP headers, or an XML sitemap. Google treats these methods as equivalent, so choose the method that is easiest to maintain. Every localized page should reference itself and the other corresponding variants.
A value such as en targets English generally, while en-US combines a language with a region. The optional x-default value can identify a fallback URL for users who do not match a specified locale.
When do B2B websites need hreflang?
Hreflang becomes relevant when a B2B site publishes equivalent content for different countries or languages, such as English pages for the US and UK or Dutch and English versions of the same service page. Without clear localization signals, search engines can select a less appropriate regional URL.
This is especially important when international expansion creates similar page sets. A clear website architecture and consistent localized URLs make the relationships easier to manage.
What are common hreflang mistakes?
Frequent issues include missing reciprocal references, invalid language or country codes, linking to redirected or non-indexable pages, and combining hreflang with conflicting canonicals. Large international sites should validate these relationships as part of technical SEO rather than treating hreflang as a one-time setup.
For sites using localized sitemaps, a well-maintained Webflow sitemap can also carry hreflang annotations.
How does hreflang work in Webflow?
Webflow Localize can automatically generate localized page-level hreflang tags and hreflang entries in the auto-generated sitemap for enabled locales. Teams can control the generation settings in the Localize SEO configuration.
Overflow recommends using the native localization setup where possible and manually auditing the output after major locale, slug, or domain changes. That keeps international implementation aligned with broader Webflow SEO instead of relying on custom code that can drift out of sync.
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