The hreflang tag is the international SEO signal that tells Google which page to display depending on the user's language and country. Without it, Google guesses — and often sends US users to your French pages or vice versa.
Hreflang tag syntax
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="https://example.com/fr/products/shoes" /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/products/shoes" /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/en/products/shoes" />
Common e-commerce hreflang configurations
Language only (fr, en)
Use
hreflang="fr" when you have one French version for all French-speaking countries. Simpler than language+region, sufficient for most stores.Language + region (fr-FR, fr-BE)
Use
hreflang="fr-FR" and hreflang="fr-BE" when you have different prices or content by country. Shopify Markets uses this model natively.x-default fallback
Always define an
x-default pointing to your main version. Without it, Google may show a random version to users who do not match any specific language.| Error | Impact | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Missing hreflang | Google guesses language targeting | Add hreflang on all alternate pages |
| Non-bidirectional tags | Google ignores the signal | Each page must reference all others |
| Wrong locale code | Tag ignored (en-UK → en-GB) | Use ISO 639-1 + ISO 3166-1 codes |
| Missing x-default | No fallback for unmatched users | Add x-default to main version |
Validate your hreflang implementation with Google Search Console (International Targeting report) or the hreflang Tags Testing Tool. Errors in bidirectionality are the #1 cause of ignored hreflang.
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FAQ
Hreflang signals to Google that multiple versions of a page exist for different languages or regions. Google uses this signal to show the correct version to each user based on their browser language and location.