What it is
A tag in the page code saying "the same page in another language lives over there". Thanks to it a search engine shows Russian users the Russian version and English speakers the English one, and does not treat them as duplicates.
How we use it
Every page on the studio's Russian and international sites knows its pair: /uslugi/boty ↔ /services/bots. The pairs are declared both in the page code and in the sitemap.
Where it helps a business
- The site has Russian and English versions, and an English-speaking customer should land on the English one.
- A search engine must not treat two language versions of one page as duplicates.
How we use it
- The studio website. Every page knows its pair in the other language:
/uslugi/boty ↔ /services/bots. The pairs are declared both in the page code and in the sitemap; the i18n module sets the page language and hreflang. - «Дыхание Поволжья». hreflang and a separate canonical URL for the English version on WordPress.
Common problems
- A pair declared on one side only. The link must be mutual, or the search engine ignores it.
- Pairs in the code disagree with the sitemap. They must match, or the search engine gets contradictory signals.
When you do not need it
A single-language site does not need hreflang.