The document provides guidelines for expanding websites to accommodate multiple languages and regional variations using the 'rel=alternate hreflang' markup. It emphasizes the importance of sharing relevant URLs for different language and region users, ensuring proper implementation to avoid search engine confusion, and maintaining a consistent user experience. Best practices include creating shareable URLs, using UTF-8 encoding, and ensuring business adaptations for new language users while improving site performance.

1. Expanding your site to new
languages or country-based
language variations
Maile Ohye
Developer Programs Tech Lead
Google

2. Agenda
● Search issues with international sites
● Background questions before you start
● Use cases
● Signals to help Google understand your
international site
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en”
href=”http://www.example.com” />
● Best practices

3. Potential search issues
● Searchers of a particular language/region aren't
shown a URL tailored to them when one exists
Searching on google.co.uk
What if there exists an
equivalent URL for google.co.
uk searchers? :(

4. Potential search issues (cont.)
● Search results might display two very similar
URLs from your site, confusing users
● Search engines might not be aware of all
language variations

5. Self-reflection before you start
Is your team committed to...
● Developing an experience tailored to users of
a different region/language?
● Creating, reviewing, maintaining newly
written content for different users of your
site?
● Supporting customers in a new region and/or
language?

6. Ranking in one language/country
≠
Automatically ranking in a new
language/country

7. Use case: Regional variations of the
same language

8. Use case: Full translations (car, coche,
auto!)

9. rel="alternate" hreflang to help
Google understand your site

10. rel="alternate" hreflang
Several places to explain markup
● On-page markup
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="http://es.
example.com/page.html" />
● HTTP Header
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/html
Link: <http://es.example.com/>; rel="alternate";
hreflang="es"
Content-Length: 5710
(... rest of HTTP response headers...)

11. rel="alternate" hreflang (cont.)
● Sitemap with all variations for each URL
<loc>http://www.example.com/deutsch/</loc>
<xhtml:link
rel="alternate"
hreflang="en"
href="http://www.example.com/english/"/>
<xhtml:link
rel="alternate"
hreflang="de"
href="http://www.example.com/deutsch/"/>
...
● Can submit one Sitemap if all sites are verified

12. rel="alternate" hreflang (cont.)
● Specify language (en), or both language and
region (en-gb)
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en"
href="http://en.example.com/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb"
href="http://en-gb.example.com/" />

13. rel="alternate" hreflang (cont.)
Without a general language specified (imagine
you had no general “en,” only “en-gb” and “en-
us”), Google will behave as before we
supported the hreflang annotation (i.e., we'll try
to choose one of the versions that would be
relevant to the user).

14. rel="alternate" hreflang (cont.)
Specify x-default for pages (often homepages)
that
● Autoredirect
● Serve dynamic content based on IP
● Act as a language selector (where users choose
their preferred language)
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default"
href="http://www.example.com/" />

15. rel="alternate" hreflang (cont.)
Potential implementation at the Play store, both
homepage and apps vary language based on
user's IP
● https://play.google.com/
● https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?
id=com.google.android.apps.maps

16. rel="alternate" hreflang (cont.)
● For duplicative URLs, such as URLs with
sessionIDs
○ Include the proper rel=”canonical”
● On canonical URLs, specify rel=alternate
hreflang values to the corresponding canonicals
○ No need to list hreflang values on non-canonical URLs

17. rel="alternate" hreflang (cont.)
Most efficient configuration when dealing with
duplicative URLs and rel=”alternate” hreflang

18. rel="alternate" hreflang (cont.)
Specify all alternates on each page, including the
page itself (whether with on-page markup,
Sitemaps, or HTTP headers)

19. rel="alternate" hreflang (cont.)
Can be on same or different domain (e.g., www.
example.com for "en", maileohye.com for "sp")
○ Subdirectory
■ www.example.com/en/
■ www.example.com/jao
○ Subdomain
■ en.example.com/
■ ja.example.com/
○ ccTLD or gTLD
■ www.example.com/
■ www.example.co.jp/
○ Different domains
■ www.example.com/en/page.html
■ maileohye.com/ja/page.html

20. Targeting a specific country (for sites
with a gTLD)
Can still use Geographic target feature in
Webmaster Tools
● Verified subdomains or subdirectories
● Not to be used for a generic language

21. rel="alternate" hreflang (cont.)
May not be treated by other major search
engines in the same manner.

22. Use case: Country-based variations
of the same language

23. Use case: Full translations

24. Full translation and country-based
variations

25. Benefit: rel="alternate" hreflang
When implemented correctly, helps search
engines like Google consolidate several
indexing signals.

26. Benefit: Helps discovery of new URLs

27. Benefit: More targeted URL for
searchers
For searchers on google.co.uk
Yay! Appropriate localized
URL!

28. Best practices

29. Shareable URLs
Each URL should be shareable: URL gives
same information regardless of user’s IP or
language preference
● It’s fine to autoredirect from x-default URL
to language/country specific URLs
● Autoredirecting from one language URL to
another language URL may prevent the
crawling of all pages
● Dynamically serving different languages
on one URL will allow only one language
version to be indexed (whichever version
was crawled)

30. Language and region not as
parameter
● Parameters can be overloaded, more difficult
for search engines to understand
● ccTLD, gTLD subdirectory, gTLD subdomain
is fine

31. Use Unicode in URLs when necessary
UTF-8 encoding in the path, filenames, URL
parameters:
http://example.ca/fr/vélo-de-montagne.html
becomes
http://example.ca/fr/v%C3%A9lo-de-montagne.html
Be sure to test that your entire stack (server,
database, CMS, etc.) supports UTF-8.

32. Build your business with your new
language users
Finding users in the new language who can
recommend, link, and refer others to your site
can help you business gain new customers.

33. Factor page speed
Architecture must scale to new/more users
and network distances.
More Page Speed tips https://developers.google.
com/speed/pagespeed/
"Site performance for webmasters" video
http://goo.gl/kqS2

34. Power to the user
● Ability to switch a page to their language of
choice
● Enjoy a tourist experience (US English
speaker purchasing while in Germany)

35. Reference resources!
Working with multilingual sites
http://goo.gl/Nmgp
Working with multiregional sites
http://goo.gl/Fm0U
rel="alternate" hreflang
http://goo.gl/oxN0a
rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default"
http://goo.gl/WI3EI
Webmaster discussion forum for internationalization
http://goo.gl/T6IB7

36. www.google.com/webmasters
Thanks!