Are you planning to reach out to a global audience? If yes, then it is very important to devise a well-thought international SEO strategy. If you are running a multi-lingual website, are you able to show your international consumers the right store view that matches their native language? If not, then Hreflang is the solution you need. In this blog post, we will discuss what Magento 2 hreflang tags are and how they can help your international business.
Table of Contents
What Are Magento 2 Hreflang Tags?
Magento Hreflang tags are a perfect solution for websites with multiple versions of various languages. It helps customers access your content and offerings that match their language. So, if you’re running an international business in multiple languages or want to sell products/services in different countries, you need to implement these hreflang tags.
How Do Magento 2 Hreflang Tags Work?
The hreflang attribute informs the international language you’re using on a particular page. It is also referred to as rel=”alternate“ hreflang=”x”. These tags mark up any pages with similar meanings but different languages and regions.
Hreflang tags help Google to understand what language your web content is written in. So, when a user searches in a specific language, Google will direct them to pages with the matching language.
Here are 3 ways to implement hreflang tags:
- Content that has regional variations like en-us and en-gb
- Content is written in various languages like en, de, and fr
- A combination of regional variations and different languages
Hreflang tags are commonly used to target different markets that use the same language. For instance, they are used to differentiate between the USA and the UK or Germany and Austria.
You may follow the official Google instructions to learn more about how the hreflang tags work.
Why Should You Use Magento 2 Hreflang Tags on Your Website?
To attract global customers, lots of eCommerce websites prepare pages in multiple languages. Hreflang tags are a great solution for Magento multiple language SEO with similar content. Magento 2 developers and businesses can implement hreflang tags to lead visitors to pages with a suitable language.
Let’s understand this with an example.
Your eCommerce store has ranked a page on Google’s SERPs in English and the same page in French. If a client finds your store on Google, instead of showing the French page, Google shows the client your English ranked page. Therefore, you will need to add the hreflang tags to allow Google to show him the French page.
When a Magento 2 developer applies Magento 2 hreflang tags, that French client would see the French page and when he clicks the link, he will be redirected to the French version of the page rather than the English one.
So, are hreflang tags the same as 301 redirects? No, it’s definitely better than that. How?
Hreflang tags also reduce duplicate content issues that would affect your SEO result. This happens usually when you want different prices in two countries for the same product/service within the same product pages.
So, don’t mistake Magento 2 hreflang tags with 301 or 302 redirects as it does not redirect your entire website itself.
The hreflang tags guide Google to lead users to an appropriate version of your website.
Do All Websites Need Magento 2 Hreflang Tags?
There are various scenarios that make the implementation of Magento 2 hreflang tags necessary for your eCommerce website.
Your Magento store needs to apply the hreflang tags if:
- You have similar content in different languages
- The content written is different for each region
Let’s say for example, have you ever experienced the following popular situations:
- An eCommerce website with 3 English versions, one for the USA, the other for the UK, and an international one
- A website that can be accessed in three different languages – English, German, and French
- A global eCommerce store with different variants for each continent – Asia, America, and Europe
- A website that has multiple local languages in the same country
If you have experienced these situations, then your eCommerce store needs the Magento 2 hreflang tags. You can hire our Magento 2 certified developers in India to implement the hreflang tags on your Magento 2 store.
How to Setup Magento 2 Hreflang Tags Manually?
It’s very unfortunate that default Magento 2 does not come with the hreflang tags feature. However, we can implement it either through coding or Magento 2 SEO suite. In this section, you will learn how to manually implement the Magento 2 hreflang tags. You can always take some help from Magento 2 developers to get the job done.
- XML Sitemap
You’re likely to experience some technical issues with Google Search Console when setting up the hreflang tags on the XML sitemap. It’s usually because of the nature of Google processing data.
Even though, developers choose to use XML Sitemap files when implementing hreflang tags on global websites within each page’s HTML source code. It is commonly believed that hreflang annotations tend to create issues in the XML Sitemap instead of the site header code section.
- HTTP Heading of Each Page
This method is better than the XML Sitemap files as Google is constantly collecting information from the HTTP header of pages. So, you can even set up HTTP headers for URLs that do not have native source code, including PDF files and other non-HTML files.
Although the method has many advantages, it is complicated to use and will cause only difficulties and issues. You can request an experienced Magento 2 development team to handle the process.
- HTML Header of Each Page
While this approach is quite simple to use, it comes with some disadvantages, especially when it comes to using the value of x-default. Therefore, if the main objective of your home page is to redirect users based on the language and location indicated by the browser, it is recommended to implement the first two methods.
Check out the below given example for using Magento 2 Hreflang attribute:
- <link rel=”alternate” href=”http://example.com/” hreflang=”en” />
- <link rel=”alternate” href=”http://example.com/en-gb/” hreflang=”en-gb”/>
- <link rel=”alternate” href=”http://example.com/en-au/” hreflang=”en-au”/>
Mistakes to Avoid When You Use Magento 2 Hreflang Tags
When setting Magento 2 hreflang tags, it is important for eCommerce businesses to avoid the following mistakes:
- Wrong hreflang language settings
- Invalid hreflang values
- Hreflang tags clash with the source code of the page
- Pages with no hreflang attributes
- Implement hreflang tags for a website that targets one language or one location
It is also not worth applying the hreflang tags for websites that target only one location or are not multi-lingual.
You can hire a professional Magento 2 development team for the right implementation of Magento 2 hreflang tags.
Our team of Magento 2 certified developers in India has vast knowledge and expertise with the Magento platform and can help you set the Magento 2 hreflang tags rightly.
Wrapping Up
If you want to expand your eCommerce businesses by serving international customers, then implementing Magento 2 hreflang tags is a must for your eCommerce store.
You can either set it up manually, use Magento 2 SEO suite, or approach a Magento support and maintenance team. The right implementation of hreflang tags can impact both your potential international customers and search engine results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q.1. Are there any extensions for implementing Magento 2 hreflang tags?
Ans. Yes, there are plenty of them available in the Magento Marketplace. You can find extensions offered by Amasty, MageComp, etc.
Q.2. Do you provide ongoing Magento support and maintenance service after the sale?
Ans. Yes, our Magento 2 certified developers in India are ready to take up any issue or concerns related to your Magento store after the sale.
