About Hreflang Language Specific Attribute

Code Sample

<link rel="alternate" href="http://example.com" hreflang="en-us" />

hreflang attribute informs search engines as to which language you are using on the page. The code introduced by Google is placed in the head sections of website along with other attributes, title, keywords and description.   

Different language pages are created whence local audience is targeted. The page could be in any language and the attribute informs the search engine about it. This is essential in order not to confuse the search engine. 

Hence designers can create pages in different languages as per the audience targeted and literally make it more conversant as well as decrease the bounce rate. The visitors land on the right language page whence the algorithms detect their IP address as pertaining to a particular country where that language is in popularity.     

Even variants of a single language can be targeted using the attribute by adding annotation hreflang="es-es"/> to hreflang="es- mx"/> the latter being Spanish in Mexico. But this targeting is limited to countries only and not continents, unions of subcontinent.

Google and Yahoo support this attribute while Bing supports language meta tag. Coding should from ISO 639-1 and for regional targeting ISO3166 -1 Alpha 2. 

This tag generator tool is also available online making your work easier.  On one page depending upon the relevancy multiple attributes can be placed.

This attribute is preffered for International targeting in place of cannonclization. 

Understanding International Seo - Language Targeting

Relevancy is the key to search engine optimization brought about by the right contents, right submission process and equally matched by design and functionality. 

The search engine offer relevant answers to queries submitted by the user. This is their job..provide what the users seek.      

In the complex process of indexing and ranking the website is evaluated using hundreds of matrix many of which are not known to webmasters let alone the users. But a common sense approach is what furnishes results to the web owners made possible by webmasters.

In local search the website internal architecture and contents point towards a specific region. Most of the submissions are made in local directories. The site is further aided by the use of meta data and snippets.In this case it is good idea to host the website on local IP provided by the hosting company.  

Some sites tend to be useful to local area as well as larger global audience. If the site is meant for a specific country the language used should be that used by most.  In case of a resource with pages in different languages the alternate tag below is used to inform the search engines. 

<link rel="alternate" href="http://example.com" hreflang="en-us" />   

Not all elements on page are used to augment rankings but the usefulness of the above tag is obvious. These are the element which increase relevancy and usefulness and hence increase conversion. This way one can also reduce bounce rate hence have a positive effect on rankings too.     

Using country specific TLC or domain is the best practice. But on oft occasions this may not be possible hence one can create a sub-domain in order to furnish the user with preferred language.  Creating sub directories and silos are another possible methods. 

If no solution is possible due to resource constraints  than in that case use the translator to help users read contents in language they understand.