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/hreflang Tag
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hreflang Tag

최종 업데이트:

Definition

hreflang is an attribute used in HTML <link> tags that tells Google about alternate URLs for the current page in different languages and regions.

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="ko" href="https://example.com/ko/page/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/page/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="ja" href="https://example.com/ja/page/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/page/" />

Google reads hreflang and shows the version matching user language and location in search results. Korean users see the /ko/ version; English users see the /en/ version.

Summary

hreflang core rules: ①Use accurate language+region codes (ko, en-US, zh-TW) ②Every version references all other versions (bidirectional) ③Set x-default as fallback ④Use consistently in HTML head, HTTP header, or sitemap. Missing even one reference causes Google to ignore it.

When hreflang Is Needed

Multilingual Content

When the same site provides the same content in Korean, English, Japanese, etc. Without hreflang, Google cannot decide which version to show which users.

Multi-Regional Content

Same language but different regional content. Example: Korean English site (en-KR) vs US English site (en-US) with different prices, laws, or products.

Similar Languages Across Countries

Portuguese (Portugal pt-PT vs Brazil pt-BR), Chinese (Simplified zh-CN vs Traditional zh-TW), Spanish (es-ES vs es-MX), etc.

3 hreflang Implementation Methods

Method 1: HTML head (Most Common)

Add <link rel="alternate" hreflang=""> tags in the <head> section.

<head>
  <!-- When current page is Korean version -->
  <link
    rel="alternate"
    hreflang="ko"
    href="https://example.com/ko/seo-guide/"
  />
  <link
    rel="alternate"
    hreflang="en"
    href="https://example.com/en/seo-guide/"
  />
  <link
    rel="alternate"
    hreflang="ja"
    href="https://example.com/ja/seo-guide/"
  />
  <link
    rel="alternate"
    hreflang="x-default"
    href="https://example.com/seo-guide/"
  />
</head>

The same tag set must appear in HTML of all language versions.

Method 2: HTTP Header (Non-HTML Files)

Used for non-HTML files such as PDFs and images.

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Link: <https://example.com/ko/guide.pdf>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="ko",
      <https://example.com/en/guide.pdf>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="en"

Method 3: XML Sitemap (Recommended for Large Sites)

Declare all language versions in the sitemap. No need to modify individual page HTML.

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/ko/seo-guide/</loc>
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="ko" href="https://example.com/ko/seo-guide/"/>
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/seo-guide/"/>
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/seo-guide/"/>
</url>

Language and Region Code Rules

ISO 639-1 Language Codes

LanguageCode
Koreanko
Englishen
Japaneseja
Chinese (Simplified)zh-CN or zh-Hans
Chinese (Traditional)zh-TW or zh-Hant
Spanishes
Frenchfr

Language-Region Combinations

When adding region, use ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes.

en-US  → US English
en-GB  → UK English
en-AU  → Australian English
pt-BR  → Brazilian Portuguese
pt-PT  → European Portuguese

x-default: Default Fallback

Specifies the default URL for users matching no language. Set to language selection page or English default page.

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />

Bidirectional hreflang Setup

Most Common Mistake: One-Way Setup

❌ Wrong example:
Korean page references English version only (→ English page does not reference Korean)

Google verifies bidirectionally. A must reference B and B must reference A for valid hreflang.

✅ Correct example:
Korean page: includes hreflang="ko" + hreflang="en"
English page: includes hreflang="ko" + hreflang="en"

hreflang by URL Structure

Subdirectory Structure (Recommended)

example.com/ko/  → Korean
example.com/en/  → English
example.com/     → x-default

Subdomain Structure

ko.example.com  → Korean
en.example.com  → English
example.com     → x-default

Separate Domains (ccTLD)

example.co.kr  → Korean
example.com    → English (x-default)
example.co.jp  → Japanese

ccTLDs send strong country targeting signals but split domain authority. See Subdomain vs Subdirectory for details.

hreflang Validation Methods

GSC International Targeting Report

GSC → Settings → International targeting shows hreflang errors. Common errors:

  • "Return tag not found": One URL is 404 or redirects
  • "Missing x-default": x-default tag missing
  • "No return tags": Bidirectional setup incomplete

hreflang Testing Tool

Google Rich Results Test or Ahrefs Site Audit can check hreflang errors.

Korea Market Application

hreflang Need for Korean-Only Sites

Pure Korean sites do not need hreflang. Without English or Japanese versions, implementation has no effect.

Korean-English Bilingual Sites

When Korean startups operate Korean + English versions for global expansion, hreflang setup is important. It prevents Korean versions appearing in English search or vice versa.

<!-- Korean main page -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="ko" href="https://example.com/ko/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/en/" />

Naver and hreflang

Naver does not officially support hreflang. Multilingual handling in Naver search is auto-detected by content language, not separate Naver Search Advisor settings. See Naver vs Google Korean SEO for details.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What happens if I operate a multilingual site without hreflang?
A. Google decides which version to show which country users on its own. Wrong language versions may appear, or multiple language versions may be treated as duplicate content. Small multilingual sites are sometimes handled well by Google, but there is no guarantee — hreflang implementation is recommended.

Q. Can hreflang and canonical tags be used together?
A. Yes. hreflang and canonical are used together. Each language page canonicalizes itself and references other language versions with hreflang. Do not set one language version as canonical for another language version. See Canonical Tag for details.

Q. Is publishing English content translated into Korean duplicate content?
A. Different language translations are not duplicate content. Google treats pages in different languages as different content. Declaring translation relationships with hreflang indexes both sides without duplicate signals.

Q. I set hreflang but the wrong version still appears.
A. Most common causes: ①Missing bidirectional setup ②Redirect or 404 on referenced URL ③Conflict between sitemap and HTML settings ④Google has not processed hreflang yet (up to weeks). Check errors in GSC International targeting report and fix.

Q. Should hreflang be used on machine-translated pages?
A. Machine-translated pages indexed as-is can cause thin content and duplicate content problems. Review machine translation quality before hreflang; if quality is low, noindex or index only professionally reviewed translations. See Thin Content for details.

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