Hreflang Demystified Course

We have partnered with International Webmastery to create a series of courses related to hreflang implementation. The first of the series is Hreflang Demystified.

It has been over 10 years since Google introduced hreflang elements, and it continues to be one of the most challenging and hated SEO techniques. The purpose of this course is to clearly explain what hreflang is, why you need it, and how to minimize the challenges of implementing it.

The first part of the course walks you through the key functions of hreflang.

• To set the language and language region of the URL
• To list any alternate (equivalent) URls with their language and language regions.

Second, we want to explain why Hreflang is difficult and how to make it easier to implement. As noted above, hreflang is very simple, and we go into detail about why it becomes challenging.

• Strict syntax rules and guidelines that developers try to deviate from
• Complex web architectures
• Complex organizational structures and the issues associated with them

Third, we will clear up misunderstandings about HREF Lang and why people do or don’t use it. Several myths need to be dunked.

• Misunderstanding – hreflang will make you rank better
• Misunderstanding – hreflang is only an SEO function
• Myth – hreflang only needs to be on the home pages
• Myth – hreflang only needs to be implemented once
• Myth – you don’t need reciprocal tags or self-referencing
• Myth – hreflang tags work better than XML sitemaps

Lastly, we just want to encourage companies to use hreflang correctly to improve traffic and sales and reduce shopping cart abandonment.

• 65% of websites have hreflang errors according to Ahrefs research
• 50% of dot-com sites using language/market folders do not have hreflang based on our research
• 57% of companies only have hreflang on home pages and category pages
• 31% have the same URL set to different markets other than what it targets
• 23% are using unusual or incorrect language codes and regions from Dan Taylor

This course will help you see why using HREF Lang is important for global marketing and search. Let’s get started!