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The signal that tells Google which version of your website to show in each language
You'll end up with both versions of your website pointing to each other in the code, so Google shows each visitor the one in their language.
By Yodai · Published on September 6, 2026 · Updated on October 12, 2026
A customer searching in English types the service you offer into Google. You have your site in Spanish at yourbusiness.com and the English version at yourbusiness.com/en/. But Google shows her the Spanish page, because nobody ever told Google the English one exists for her.
That's not happening because your English is poorly written. It's happening because you never told Google that those two pages are the same thing in two languages. A well-translated page isn't a duplicate in Google's eyes: according to its own documentation, translated versions only count as duplicates if the main content is left untranslated. But without that clarification, Google has to guess which version to show each person, and it doesn't always get it right.
That clarification has a name: the hreflang tag. It's a line of code that each page carries in its header, invisible to visitors, and it says this: this same content also exists in this other language, at this other address. Installing it correctly, on both pages, is the piece that's missing.
What Google does without that signal
Without hreflang, Google has to figure it out on its own. It detects each page's language by itself, but it doesn't know that both pages are the same page in two languages, so for a given search it might show whichever one has more history behind it, even if that's not the searcher's language.
There's a second case where this tag matters even more: if someday you have two pages in the same language for different countries, say one for the US and one for the UK. Those pages look so similar that Google might keep one and drop the other if you don't tell it which is for which country. With one page in Spanish and another in English, that risk doesn't exist.
And there's a third thing, quieter still. If someone searches in English and Google does decide to show your page, it might show the Spanish one, because it isn't sure there's an alternative built for that language. That person lands on the page, understands nothing, and leaves. It's not a translation failure. It's a signaling failure.
- 1Confirm both addresses
The Spanish one and the English one, exactly as they'll end up: folder, subdomain, or its own domain. Hreflang works the same with any of the three, as long as the address is the final one. - 2Link from the Spanish page to the English page
In the header of the Spanish page, the part visitors never see, you add a line that points to the English address. - 3Link from the English page to the Spanish one
The same operation, but in reverse, inside the English page. Without this step, Google can ignore the previous one, and you'll see why further down. - 4Have each page reference itself too
Besides naming its sibling, each page needs a line that points to itself. It's easy to forget, and Google asks that each version name both itself and all the others. - 5Repeat the block on every page, not just the home page
If you have a services page or a contact page with its English twin, each pair needs its own block. The home page doesn't speak for the rest.
The exact code
Notice that the block is exactly the same on both pages. There's no separate version for the Spanish page and another for the English one: both load the same complete list, with both addresses, and the x-default tag pointing to which one to show someone searching in a language that's neither of the two, say, someone searching in French.
The language code goes without a country unless you need one: "en" covers all English, "es" covers all Spanish, and Google doesn't care whether it's uppercase or lowercase. You only write "en-GB" or "es-MX" if you're really going to have a separate page for each country, which almost nobody needs in their first version in another language. Start simple.
If a website builder created your site and you can't touch each page's code by hand, check whether that tool lets you link both addresses when you create the English version. The end result has to be this same three-line block, no matter where it comes from.
hreflang has to be reciprocal: if one page links to the other, the other has to link back, and if it doesn't, according to Google, those tags can be ignored or misread
The other mistake that costs you
Some businesses get the reciprocity right and still lose the signal, for a different reason: the link points to an address that actually redirects to another one. This happens a lot when the English site got moved once, or when someone first built it in a folder and later moved it to a subdomain without updating the hreflang on the Spanish page.
With this, Google now knows that your English page is the same page in another language, and it can show each person the right one. Next is deciding what in that English text you translate word for word and what you rewrite, because people don't search or buy the same way there.
- Both pages carry the same block of links: to themselves, to their sibling page, and to x-default.
- Without the return tag on the English page, Google can ignore the one on the Spanish page.
- The language code stays simple, "es" and "en", unless you're going to have a page per country.
- The linked address is always the final one, never one that redirects to another.
Three cases to decide
Answer before opening each one. If one gives you trouble, go back to the section that explains it.
1. You have yourbusiness.com in Spanish and yourbusiness.com/en/ in English. You add the hreflang link on the Spanish page pointing to the English one, but you forget to touch the English page because you launched it in a rush last week. What happens?
What you added might not do anything: without the return link, Google can ignore those tags on both pages. You need to open the English page and add the same complete block before considering this done.
2. Your Spanish site has a home page, a services page, and a contact page, and all three have their English twin. Do you add hreflang only on the home pages, or on all six pages?
On all six. Each pair of pages is independent as far as Google is concerned: if you only add it to the home page, the services and contact pages are left without the signal, and Google might show the wrong one to someone searching in the other language.
3. Someone searches for your business in German, a language you don't have a version for. Which of the two versions should they see?
Whichever page you mark as x-default becomes the default version for visitors who don't match any of the languages you've declared. That's usually the Spanish version, since it's the one you already had and has the longest history.