Multilingual Website SEO: The Complete Guide to Using hreflang Tags (For Shopify/Wix/Custom Websites)

Why Do Multilingual Websites Require Special SEO Considerations?

When businesses expand into global markets, multilingual websites become crucial bridges to connect with users across different regions. However, many website administrators find that despite investing significant resources in content localization, their search engine rankings don’t meet expectations. For instance, English content might rank well in Chinese-speaking regions, while carefully prepared Spanish versions struggle to reach Spanish users. This often stems from improper multilingual SEO configuration.

Search engines face two core challenges when processing multilingual content: first, how to identify relationships between different language versions to avoid misclassifying them as duplicate content; second, how to ensure the most appropriate language version is presented to users. Major search engines like Google rely on page signals (such as content language, user location, browser settings) to determine the best match, but without clear guidance, misjudgments can easily occur.

A common misconception is equating multi-regional websites with multilingual websites. Multi-regional websites may offer the same language content with different pricing or products for different countries/regions (e.g., US and Canadian sites both using English), while multilingual websites focus on providing content in different languages (e.g., English, Chinese, Spanish). These two types require different SEO strategies.

Three Core Values of Multilingual SEO

1. Avoid duplicate content penalties: When search engines find multiple similar content pieces, they may only index one version, leaving others with little exposure
2. Enhance visibility in target markets: Properly configured multilingual SEO helps websites secure favorable positions in search results for specific languages or regions
3. Optimize user experience: Users immediately see content in their familiar language, significantly reducing bounce rates and improving conversion rates

hreflang Tags Explained: The Core Technology of Multilingual SEO

The hreflang tag is the golden key to solving multilingual SEO problems. It’s an HTML attribute that clearly tells search engines: “This page has alternative versions for other languages or regions.” Essentially, it establishes relationships between different language versions of pages, enabling search engines to intelligently distribute traffic.

From a technical perspective, hreflang tags consist of two key components: language code (ISO 639-1 format) and optional region code (ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 format). For example, “en-US” targets English content for American users, “zh-CN” targets Simplified Chinese for mainland China, while “es” applies to all Spanish speakers without regional restrictions.

Three Implementation Methods for hreflang Tags

Depending on website scale and platform characteristics, there are three main implementation approaches, each suitable for different scenarios:

The Special Role of x-default

x-default is a special value in hreflang tags that specifies the default version to display when a user’s language/region doesn’t match any defined hreflang. For example, a globally-oriented website might use English as its default language. When Vietnamese users visit (assuming no Vietnamese version exists), the system automatically displays the page specified by x-default.

Multilingual Website Structure Design and URL Strategy

Website structure forms the foundation of multilingual SEO. There are three common URL organization methods: subdirectories, subdomains, and country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs). Each approach has its SEO advantages and limitations.

Subdirectories (e.g., yourdomain.com/es/) are the most recommended approach, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Their advantage lies in consolidating SEO value across all language versions under a single domain, facilitating authority accumulation. They’re also low-maintenance, requiring no additional server configuration or SSL certificates. Google has explicitly stated it can understand and process this structure well.

Subdomains (e.g., es.yourdomain.com) have advantages in specific scenarios, such as when different language versions are managed by completely separate teams or require isolated technical environments. From an SEO perspective, search engines treat subdomains as relatively independent entities, requiring more time to establish relationships.

ccTLDs (e.g., yourdomain.es) are typically suitable for large multinational corporations looking to strengthen local brand identity. Country-code top-level domains themselves serve as strong geo-targeting signals but require more resources for separate operation and maintenance.

Google Search Console International Targeting Settings

Beyond hreflang tags, the “International Targeting” feature in Google Search Console is another important tool. Here, webmasters can explicitly specify target countries for particular subdirectories or subdomains. This setting complements hreflang tags, working together to ensure search engines correctly understand a website’s international targeting strategy.

Multilingual SEO Practices for Major Platforms

Different website platforms vary significantly in their support for multilingual SEO, requiring tailored optimization strategies.

Shopify Multilingual SEO Configuration

Since introducing its Markets feature in 2021, Shopify’s multilingual support has improved significantly. Through Markets, merchants can configure language, currency, and domain settings for different regions, with the system automatically generating corresponding hreflang tags. For merchants using third-party multilingual plugins (like Langify or Weglot), it’s crucial to ensure these plugins correctly implement hreflang functionality.

One common limitation with Shopify is its relatively fixed URL structure, making fully customized multilingual URL schemes difficult. The solution is to optimize hreflang implementation through theme templates or plugins while maintaining Shopify’s default structure.

Wix Multilingual SEO Considerations

Wix’s built-in multilingual feature automatically adds basic hreflang tags, but several key points require attention: First, Wix implements language switching through subdirectories (e.g., yourdomain.com/es/), which aligns with SEO best practices. Second, Wix automatically handles bidirectional linking between language versions, reducing manual maintenance burdens. Finally, Wix’s SEO settings include a “hide language pages” option—be sure not to enable this, as it would prevent that language version from being indexed.

Custom Website Multilingual Implementation

Custom websites offer maximum flexibility but require the most technical investment. Beyond proper hreflang tag implementation, considerations include:

1. Language detection and redirection strategy: Intelligent redirects based on user browser language settings, while ensuring search engine crawlers can access all language versions
2. Content Delivery Network (CDN) configuration: Ensuring users in different regions can quickly access corresponding language versions
3. Structured data markup: Deploying language-specific structured data on different language pages

Common Multilingual SEO Pitfalls and Solutions

Even after understanding hreflang tag principles, various issues can arise in practice. Here are the most common mistakes and their solutions:

Broken hreflang Chains

hreflang requires all related pages to reference each other, forming a complete chain. If Page A links to Page B but Page B doesn’t link back to Page A, a “broken chain” occurs. Search engines might consequently ignore some or all hreflang signals. Regular comprehensive scans using hreflang checking tools effectively prevent this issue.

Mismatched Language and Region Codes

Incorrect use of region codes is another common problem. For example, using “zh-TW” for Simplified Chinese (correct should be “zh-CN”), or confusing “en-GB” (British English) with “en-US” (American English). Maintaining a standard language-region code reference sheet and sharing it across teams is recommended.

Machine Translation Traps

Many businesses use machine translation to convert website content directly, aiming to cut costs. While fast and inexpensive, this approach often produces content that doesn’t conform to local language conventions or contains semantic errors, severely impacting user experience and SEO performance. Professional human translation or at least human proofreading is essential for ensuring multilingual content quality.

Monitoring and Optimizing Multilingual SEO

Establishing a multilingual SEO monitoring system forms the foundation for continuous optimization. Here are several key monitoring dimensions:

Essential Tool Recommendations

1. Google Search Console: Check hreflang errors in the “International Targeting” report and monitor indexing status across language versions
2. Screaming Frog: Crawl entire websites to validate hreflang tag completeness and accuracy
3. Google Analytics: Set up language dimensions to analyze traffic quality, user behavior, and conversion rates across language versions
4. SEMrush or Ahrefs: Track keyword ranking changes across language versions to identify new optimization opportunities

Multilingual SEO Health Checklist

We recommend conducting comprehensive multilingual SEO audits quarterly, checking these items:

• Are all language versions indexed by search engines?
• Are hreflang tags complete and error-free?
• Content synchronization between language versions (are some versions lagging in updates?)
• Are localized elements (currency, contact information, legal terms) adapted to local markets?
• Technical SEO performance (loading speed, mobile-friendliness) across language versions

Multilingual SEO is a systematic project requiring close collaboration between content, technical, and operational teams. Proper hreflang tag implementation is just the first step—continuous content localization optimization and user experience enhancement are the keys to long-term success. As businesses increase their international presence, the ROI on multilingual SEO investments will become increasingly significant.