WPLANG

WordPress Multilingual

How To Add Hreflang Tags in WordPress

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The implementation of hreflang attributes in a WordPress website can be a complicated process without a specific plugin. In this post I show you how to add hreflang tags in WordPress using translation plugins and specific plugins.

Insert Hreflang WordPress

1. What are hreflang attributes?

In 2010 Google introduced new SEO attributes for multilingual sites: rel=”alternate” and hreflang=”x”. Google uses these attributes to serve the correct language in search results.

Example of hreflang in header:

hreflang tag wplang

In Google Webmasters Tools you can check if your hreflang tags have been indexed correctly. Go to Search Traffic > International Targeting > Language:

International Targeting Section Hreflang tags

You can insert hreflang tags in one of three ways:

2. How can you add hreflang tags in WordPress?

2.1. Using translation plugins

WordPress SEO by Yoast does not allow you to add hreflang tags, but some translation plugins can automatically add these attributes in your website as an HTML link.

For example, if you’re using WPML (premium plugin), you have an option in settings to display alternative languages in the head section using hreflang attributes. WPML is a great plugin for multilingual SEO because you can use it with WordPress SEO by Yoast (article: Using WordPress SEO with WPML).

WPML Display hreflang in head section

Other plugins like Polylang, Multilingual Press or Multisite Language Switcher also allow you to add hreflang attributes.

2.2. Using specific plugins

Also you can add hreflang attributes using two plugins:

  • Language selector related (free plugin). This plugin allows you insert hreflang attributes in your posts, pages, categories and tags, even if your websites are located in different hostings. You’ll have to install the plugin on each language version. Also, you can include a language selector as a widget in sidebar, header or footer

Language Selector Related Plugin

  • Hreflang Manager Codecanyon (premium plugin). With a menu in the WordPress dashboard you can connect pages and posts of your different websites. The plugin will automatically add the proper html markup in the HEAD section of the selected pages and post. It costs $ 14.

Hreflang manager WordPress

 

 

How do you add hreflang tags to your multilingual WordPress website?

 

 

Comments

  2. Thank you for information, exactly i am looking for the information above.
    I will try to put on my website.
    Best all
    Yuventius, the owner of Megatours.co.id

  3. Thanks for the great information!! 🙂 I wanted to ask you if you had experience when Google still doesn’t pick up your hreflang tags even though the settings in WPML are to “Display alternative language in HEAD section”is checked? Thats actually how I stumbled across your post here, is to find a way to get google to pick up my second language. Any ideas?

  12. Hi Irena,

    Thank you for this vakluable information.

    I have a question: I am creating a wordpress website to promote my day tours business in Portugal but since i speak german and am planning to have a german version of the website I would like to have the german version of the site ( http://www.example.net/de) to target Germany ( or german speaking countries) in google.de while keeping the English version ( http://www.example.net/en) targeting visitors from all over the world, is that possible?

    Thank You
    David

  13. it should be automatic , when you select the sites language in your wordpress settings no?

    because with yoast, there is no option to select a site language

    but if you go to the wordpress settings>>>>general
    you can set the site language there

    is that not the same thing as your talking about?

  14. Based on this concept, is there an additional blog or any information that would best suggest the means to translate?

    Meaning which plugin serves as the best solution to make a website truly recognized in their respective languages. Or they all work the same?

  16. Hi Irena,

    Do you think there is a difference between the hreflang tags.
    I have seen two different versions:

    First hreflang= or first href=
    Most likely they are both usable.

    I made my website with domainname.nl and I now know it would by better with .com. I hope the hreflang tag will help.
    Thanks for the useful post.

  19. Hello,
    thank you for useful link. But I have question, will adding hreflang work? I have national domain, but I would like to add post in English. In GWT is country added to national domain and to my country.

    Other option is buy .com or .net domain for blog. I have no monetization ambitions with blog, trying to rewrite useful stuff. But now google do not see any my English content.

    Thank you one more time.

    Vaclav
    http://blog.vaclavmalek.cz

  21. Very informative and easily understandble. Is there a difference in the way HREFLANG should be used if the single-site multi-lingual wordpress installation is using a subdomain or subdirectory for each language?

  22. It is not working for me languages tags are not showing in my website 🙂

    i added the Language Selector Related plugin i got in add/edit post page but in my website it is not showing

  24. Hi, Thanks for every thing you have shared in this post..

    I was searching to add lang tag in my wordpress site and just tapped on your link.. It helped me..

    Thanks again..

    Regards: Duryab Aziz

  26. Hi Irena,

    You mentioned about a plugin “Language selector Related” in your post. This plugin is almost 2 years old and has not been updated ever since. Your post is over a year old as well now. I was wondering if you came across any new good plugin that is similar to this? Because from the screenshots it looks like that this plugins actually allow you to add the hreflang links on every post and pages itself. Not like the hreflang manager where you have to put the links and hreflang links in a separate screen. Actually I’m working on a website that is in a specific language in wordpress, but the English version is hosted somewhere else and is not even wordpress. So I need to create a linking between them.

    I would be grateful if you can help me out.

  28. Hi, thanks for the info.

    The “problem” with my site is that there are 2 versions of the same language: PT-PT and PT-BR, is there any way to have both? (the text is absolutely the same and it makes no difference at all for the readers)

    I am having another “problem” with the localization, this may be off topic if so please apologise.

    My tld is .co.uk but the website is in Portuguese because is a portal for the Portuguese speakers living in the UK. http://www.lusotimes.co.uk

    On webmaster tools “international targeting” they advise to use “unlisted” if we don’t want a specific country however that option is not showing. (I want every country where people who speaks portuguese to be targeted, not just the UK)

    Any tips would be more than welcome.

    Thanks

    • It should probably be at the end of the list. It was translated in my language as “Out of list”, while it should be translated as “Unlisted”, and it was in the very bottom of the list.

  30. I have a new blog with wordpress and was looking for these information to target my audience.

    If my site wrote in only one language then, should I need to mention hreflang for a better ranking in local lavel?

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