Hreflang (روابط اللغة البديلة)
Hreflang is an HTML attribute or HTTP header that tells search engines which language and regional versions of a page exist, and which version to serve to which audience. Correct hreflang prevents duplicate-content conflicts and shows Arabic users the Arabic page, English users the English one.
In Iraqi dialect
الرمز اللي يخبر گوگل هاي الصفحة عربي وهاي إنجليزي
In detail
Multilingual sites publish the same content in multiple languages, which looks like duplication to crawlers. Hreflang solves this by linking alternate versions with language-region codes like en, ar, ar-IQ, or fr-CA. Each page must reference all its alternates plus itself, and every URL listed must reciprocate — a missing return link breaks the whole set. Implementation happens in the HTML head, sitemaps, or HTTP headers. Done well, hreflang routes searchers to the right language version in the right market, consolidates ranking signals across versions, and protects international SEO efforts. It is essential for any site targeting multiple countries, and pairs naturally with localized content and regional hosting or CDNs.
Practical example
Adding hreflang alternates for ar-IQ and en made Google show the Arabic page to Iraqi searchers.
Frequently asked questions
Where can hreflang be implemented?
In the HTML head with link tags, inside XML sitemaps, or via HTTP headers for non-HTML files like PDFs.
Do hreflang tags need to be reciprocal?
Yes — every alternate must point back to all other versions, or search engines may ignore the entire set.
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