---
title: "Hreflang"
description: "Hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and regional version of a page to serve to users in different countries."
category: "SEO Crawling & Indexation"
date: "2026-03-05"
url: "https://getbeast.io/glossary/hreflang/"
type: "glossary"
---

# Hreflang

**Category:** SEO Crawling & Indexation | **Updated:** 2026-03-05

Hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and regional version of a page to serve to users in different countries.

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## What Is Hreflang?
Hreflang is an HTML link attribute (`<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x" href="...">`) that specifies the language and optional regional targeting of a page. It tells search engines about equivalent pages in different languages so they can serve the right version to users.

## Why Hreflang Matters for International SEO
Without hreflang, search engines may treat your multi-language pages as duplicate content and only index one version. They may also serve the wrong language version to users. Hreflang solves both problems by establishing relationships between language variants.

## How to Implement Hreflang
Add hreflang annotations to every page using `<link>` tags in the head, HTTP headers, or XML sitemap. Every page must reference all its language variants including itself (with an `x-default` fallback). Annotations must be reciprocal. Validate with [CrawlBeast](/crawler/).

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## Related Terms

- [Canonical URL](/glossary/canonical-url/)
- [Duplicate Content](/glossary/duplicate-content/)
- [Indexation](/glossary/indexation/)
- [XML Sitemap](/glossary/xml-sitemap/)


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*Part of the [GetBeast SEO Glossary](/glossary/). Visit [GetBeast.io](https://getbeast.io) for professional SEO and log analysis tools.*