hreflang tag tester

Hreflang Tag Tester

This free hreflang testing tool will help you make sure that hreflang tags are correctly implemented on your website. Hreflang tag attributes are also known as rel= "alternate" hreflang="x" and it notifies Google of the language you are using on a specific page so that it can serve it in the search results accordingly. It was introduced in 2011 by Google and it is very useful when you have content created for a local audience. The hreflang attribute sends signals to search engines to help it identify which page has content with the same language that the user's query is in.

If your website is bilingual, you will need to tag your English-language homepage as English by using hreflang=" en". This will help Google serve the English version of your domain for users who have an IP address that belongs to an English speaking country or region. Accurately applying hreflang tag attributes can reduce your bounce rate and optimize conversions by ensuring that your target audience is landing on the version of your website that is relevant to them.

Hreflang can also help show that you have content catered to target variants of a single language. You can geotarget your audience even more specifically with pages that have hreflang attributes with annotations implemented to help indicate the region. This will not only help you control the language of the content shown on the page, but it will also help you control what you show users from variations like shipping policy, currency, cultural differences and product availability in specific local markets. An example of this will be the following:

• hreflang="en-ae" for English speakers in UAE.
• hreflang= "en-sa" for English speakers in Saudi Arabia.

How to Implement SEO Friendly Hreflang Attribute Tags

Since hreflang is a signal and not a directive, this means its attributes can be overridden by other factors, causing another version of the same page to rank higher. There are tips you can follow to ensure that hreflang attributes are properly implemented on your site's pages.

To provide clear signals about each page's language and to which user language it should be served on search engine results, it is essential to make use of international SEO and other SEO practices. To get the most out of using hreflang tags, make sure you place it in one of these three locations: the on-page markup, sitemap or HTTP header. It should also include a reference to itself and all alternative pages on each page. You can also make use of hreflang attributes multiple times on the same page to show that it can be served to users in more than one region.

How Can Hreflang Attributes Enhance Your SEO Performance

Hreflang attributes can affect your SEO performance by making sure that you're serving the right content for the right audience and helping search engines determine which version of your page should go on SERPs. Check if your hreflang annotations are appropriately implemented or not with this free Hreflang Testing Tool from Bruce Clay.