Hreflang

Hreflang is an HTML attribute used to indicate to search engines the language and geographic targeting of a webpage. It helps serve the correct version of a page to users based on their language or region (e.g., English US vs English UK). Implemented via HTML link elements, HTTP headers, or XML sitemap annotations, hreflang tags must be reciprocal—each page must reference itself and all alternatives. Common format: <link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-US" href="https://example.com/us/" />. Incorrect implementation can cause indexing issues or duplicate content problems. Note: hreflang is not a ranking factor but improves international SEO relevance.