Hreflang Tag Generator

Search engines keep showing the wrong language version of your page

When you publish the same content for different languages or countries, hreflang annotations tell Google which URL suits which audience. Writing those lines by hand for five or six versions invites typos. This generator lets you pick each code from a list, attach its URL, and get finished link elements to paste into your HTML head. It formats; it does not crawl, so nothing about your live pages is checked.

Step by step

1. Set the first Language-Region Code dropdown and type that version's address in Page URL.
2. Press + Add Language to open another row, and repeat until every version is listed.
3. Include one row set to x-default (Default/Fallback) for visitors whose language you do not target.
4. Press Generate Tags. Rows with a blank URL are left out.
5. Press Copy and add the block to each listed page, not just the original.

What to watch for

Return links are where most setups fail. Each page in the group must carry the same set of annotations, its own line included; otherwise Google may disregard them. Since this tool never loads your pages, you will need a crawler or Search Console to confirm the reciprocal tags are in place after you deploy.

The dropdown covers 21 common options, from en and en-US to zh-TW and ar. Anything outside that list has to be typed into the output manually. Codes combine a two letter ISO 639-1 language with an optional ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country, so the United Kingdom is GB. A region by itself is not a valid value.

You cannot remove a row once added. Empty its URL box instead and it will not appear in the result. Nothing stops you from choosing the same code twice or entering a relative path, so scan the result before copying. Use full https:// addresses that return a 200 and are canonical.

Questions people ask

Does every page need its own tag set?

Every page needs the full set. Paste the identical block on all versions; each one lists itself and its siblings.

What is x-default for?

It names the URL to show when no listed language or region matches the searcher, often a language selector or your primary version.

Can I use a sitemap instead of head tags?

Yes. Google accepts hreflang in HTML, in HTTP headers, or in an XML sitemap. This tool only writes the HTML form.

Further reading: Where to Declare Hreflang: HTML, XML Sitemap, or HTTP Header (and Why You Should Never Use Two) and Missing Reciprocal Hreflang (No Return-Tag): How to Fix It.

The same tool is also published on the static mirror at seoprocheck.github.io, and the rest of the set is on the free tools page.