HREFLANG

Hreflang and Cogo Site: Where We Stand Today

Hreflang tells search engines which language version of a page to show to which searcher. Cogo Site supports multilingual content, AI translation drafts and a visitor language switcher, but does not yet generate hreflang tags or sitemap alternates for the sites you publish, and switching language does not change the page URL.

What hreflang actually does (and why it breaks)

Hreflang is a hint attribute that tells search engines which locale and language version of a page to show in which region's results. Get it right and your English page shows on google.com, your Chinese version on google.com.hk, your Spanish version on google.com.mx — without duplicate-content cannibalization.

Get it wrong and the worst happens silently. Google ignores the alternate URLs entirely. Your Chinese page shows up on US searchers' queries and gets bounced. Your English page ranks in Hong Kong and tanks engagement. You see traffic fall but cannot trace why.

The most common breakage is incomplete bi-directional tags. If page A declares page B as its Chinese alternate, page B must declare page A as its English alternate. Miss one direction and Google ignores both. Other common mistakes: wrong locale codes (zh-tw vs zh-TW, fil-PH vs tl-PH), missing x-default, hreflang on canonicalized pages, and hreflang URLs that don't match canonical URLs exactly.

What Cogo Site supports today

Today, Cogo Site gives you multilingual content editing, AI translation drafts that you review, and a language switcher for your visitors.

Cogo Site does not yet generate hreflang tags or sitemap alternates for the sites you publish, and switching language does not change the page URL.

Is Cogo Site the right fit today?

If visitors choose their language on the page and you want to write and translate content in one editor, Cogo Site works today.

If your SEO plan depends on separate language URLs with hreflang, Cogo Site is not the right fit yet.

What Cogo Site offers for multilingual sites today

Multiple locales managed inside one site, not duplicated websites
AI translation assistance drafts; you review and publish
A language switcher so visitors can change the site's language

Frequently asked questions

What is hreflang and why does it matter for a multilingual website?

Hreflang is an HTML link attribute that tells search engines which language and region version of a page to show in which searchers' results. Without hreflang, Google may show the wrong locale to the wrong searcher (e.g., your Chinese page to a US searcher) — causing bounces and lost rankings. With correct hreflang, each locale version gets a fair shot at ranking for its target audience.

Does Cogo Site generate hreflang tags automatically?

Cogo Site does not yet generate hreflang tags or sitemap alternates for the sites you publish, and switching language does not change the page URL. Today, Cogo Site gives you multilingual content editing, AI translation drafts that you review, and a language switcher for your visitors.

What happens if I get hreflang wrong?

Google ignores incorrect hreflang. Symptoms are subtle: traffic to your alternate-locale pages falls without an obvious ranking drop, Search Console shows fewer indexed alternates, and engagement metrics (CTR, dwell time) on locale-specific landing pages decline. The most common mistakes are wrong locale code casing (zh-cn instead of zh-CN), missing return tags, missing x-default, and hreflang URLs that don't match canonical URLs.

Related multilingual resources

Multilingual website builder overview AI translation website builder How to make a website multilingual (guide)Multilingual website best practices (guide)

See what Cogo Site offers for multilingual sites

Today, Cogo Site gives you multilingual content editing, AI translation drafts that you review, and a language switcher for your visitors. Free to start — no card required.

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