Subdomain or subfolder?

Subfolder (/en/) shares a single authority and is recommended. Subdomain (en.example.com) counts as a separate site.

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Multilingual Web Site SEO: Hreflang and Localization Guide

Hreflang, local SEO, and content localization guide for tour operators managing sites in Turkish, English, and other languages.

By Cem Bilgin · March 25, 2026 · 6 min read

If your multilingual site doesn't have hreflang, Google might mistake English and Turkish pages for the same content and demote one. Proper hreflang implementation solves this problem.

What is Hreflang?

An HTML tag that tells Google which language and region the page is for. In the form of <link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-GB" href="..." />.

Proper Implementation

Each language version should be given hreflang data showing itself and the others.
x-default: default to show when languages don't match.
Different regions of the same language (en-US, en-GB) can have separate tags.

Common Mistakes

Providing hreflang in only one language (every page must provide it reciprocally).
Wrong language code (outside ISO standard).
Hreflang on redirected or 404 URLs.

Content Localization

Hreflang is a technical problem; localization is a content problem. A German customer needs not just a translation, but cultural adaptation. Date format, currency, example scenarios should be local.

Sıkça Sorulan Sorular

Subdomain or subfolder?: Subfolder (/en/) shares a single authority and is recommended. Subdomain (en.example.com) counts as a separate site.