What is an hreflang tag in SEO?

The hreflang attribute tells search engines (like Google and Bing) which language and regional version of a webpage to display to searchers based on their geographic location and browser language settings.

What is the purpose of the x-default hreflang tag?

The x-default annotation specifies a fallback page for users whose language or region is not specifically targeted, such as international users or an interactive country selector page.

Are relative URLs allowed in hreflang?

No. Search engines require fully qualified absolute URLs including the protocol (https://) and domain. Relative paths like /es/ or page.html are invalid in hreflang.

What is the return link (reciprocal link) requirement?

Hreflang annotations must be reciprocal. If Page A links to Page B as an alternate, Page B must link back to Page A. The easiest way to ensure compliance is to place the exact same set of hreflang tags on all alternate pages in the group.

Why should I avoid using 'en-UK'?

In the ISO 3166-1 standard, the country code for the United Kingdom is 'GB', not 'UK'. 'uk' in ISO 639-1 is actually the language code for Ukrainian. Use 'en-GB' for British English.

Can hreflang be implemented in XML sitemaps instead of HTML head?

Yes. For large multilingual websites, adding xhtml:link elements directly inside your XML sitemap avoids page weight overhead and simplifies maintenance across tens of thousands of pages.

How do I create hreflang tags without this tool?

For HTML: in the of each alternate page, add for every language variant plus a self-referencing tag for the current page and an optional x-default tag. For XML sitemaps: nest inside each entry under the xhtml namespace.

Hreflang generator

Generate and validate multilingual and multi-regional hreflang annotations for international SEO directly in your browser. Nothing is sent to any server or crawler. Map localized pages with ISO 639-1 language codes and optional ISO 3166-1 region codes, set x-default fallback landing pages, validate against common syntax errors, and export clean HTML tags, XML sitemap markup, or HTTP headers.

Client-only hreflang generation. All tags and validation rules are processed locally in your browser. No URLs or domains are sent anywhere.

Presets:

Language and Regional Alternates

Define the language/region code (ISO 639-1 / ISO 3166-1) and full absolute URL for each alternate page.

All 5 hreflang annotations pass format and syntax validation.

<!-- Language and Regional Alternates (Hreflang) -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="https://example.com/fr/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://example.com/de/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />

Hreflang Implementation Rules:

Reciprocal Confirmation: Every alternate page in this cluster must contain the exact same set of hreflang tags, including a self-referencing tag for itself.
Canonical Alignment: Each alternate page should canonicalize to its own self-referencing URL, not to the primary language page.
x-default Purpose: Used when no user language or region matches the specific targets (e.g. international users or language selectors).

Example

Global SaaS landing page in English, Spanish, and French

Enter en (https://example.com/), es (https://example.com/es/), fr (https://example.com/fr/), and x-default (https://example.com/). The generator outputs 4 valid HTML link tags and an XML sitemap xhtml:link block with duplicate checks.

FAQ

What is an hreflang tag in SEO?: The hreflang attribute tells search engines (like Google and Bing) which language and regional version of a webpage to display to searchers based on their geographic location and browser language settings.
What is the purpose of the x-default hreflang tag?: The x-default annotation specifies a fallback page for users whose language or region is not specifically targeted, such as international users or an interactive country selector page.
Are relative URLs allowed in hreflang?: No. Search engines require fully qualified absolute URLs including the protocol (https://) and domain. Relative paths like /es/ or page.html are invalid in hreflang.
What is the return link (reciprocal link) requirement?: Hreflang annotations must be reciprocal. If Page A links to Page B as an alternate, Page B must link back to Page A. The easiest way to ensure compliance is to place the exact same set of hreflang tags on all alternate pages in the group.
Why should I avoid using 'en-UK'?: In the ISO 3166-1 standard, the country code for the United Kingdom is 'GB', not 'UK'. 'uk' in ISO 639-1 is actually the language code for Ukrainian. Use 'en-GB' for British English.
Can hreflang be implemented in XML sitemaps instead of HTML head?: Yes. For large multilingual websites, adding xhtml:link elements directly inside your XML sitemap avoids page weight overhead and simplifies maintenance across tens of thousands of pages.
How do I create hreflang tags without this tool?: For HTML: in the <head> of each alternate page, add <link rel="alternate" hreflang="[code]" href="[absolute_url]" /> for every language variant plus a self-referencing tag for the current page and an optional x-default tag. For XML sitemaps: nest <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="[code]" href="[url]" /> inside each <url> entry under the xhtml namespace.