How to Use Hreflang and Canonical Tags Together for International SEO

In international SEO, you use hreflang and canonical tags to help Google understand your pages. Hreflang identifies which versions are intended for different languages or regions. Canonical tags indicate your preferred URL when pages contain the same or very similar content.

Using both tags can sometimes cause confusion. Should each country version point to itself, or should you designate one page as the canonical? And what does that choice mean for the visibility of the other versions?

In this article, we explain how to use hreflang and canonical tags together, which approach suits your website, and how to avoid common mistakes.

What are canonical tags?

A canonical tag identifies the URL you consider the preferred version when the same or very similar content appears at multiple URLs.

Suppose a product page is accessible at two addresses:

• https://example.com/product/
• https://example.com/product/?utm_source=newsletter

Visitors see the same product at both URLs. By adding a canonical tag to the second URL, you can indicate that you prefer the clean URL:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/product/" />

Google can then treat the pages as a group and consolidate signals, such as links to the different URLs, under the selected canonical.

Does this tag also appear on https://example.com/product/ itself? That makes it a self-referencing canonical: the page identifies its own URL as the preferred version.

What does a canonical tag not do?

A canonical is a strong signal, but Google ultimately decides which URL to treat as canonical. It will not always follow your stated preference.

The tag is not a redirect either. Visitors are not sent elsewhere and can continue using the other URL.

That is why “canonical means index this page and never show the other one” is too absolute. On international websites, the URL Google selects as canonical can differ from the regional URL displayed in a search result.

What are hreflang tags?

Hreflang annotations identify pages that belong together as alternative versions for different languages or regions.

Do you have Dutch and English versions of the same service page? You can connect them using hreflang. The same applies to two pages in the same language that target different countries.

An annotation might look like this:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-AU"
      href="https://example.com/aus/services/" />

This line tells Google that the specified URL is an English-language version for Australia.

If you use a language code alone, such as en, you are not specifying a particular country. Use en-GB for English intended for the United Kingdom and en-AU for English intended for Australia.

What does hreflang not do?

Hreflang does not create a translation or automatically redirect visitors. It helps Google choose an appropriate version, but it does not require Google to index every listed URL independently.

The explanation “hreflang means index all these pages” is therefore incorrect.

You can add the annotations through HTML, an XML sitemap, or HTTP response headers. Whichever method you choose, you are connecting corresponding pages.

Need the markup for your own pages? The free hreflang generator creates valid hreflang tags for HTML, an XML sitemap or HTTP headers, including x-default.

How do hreflang and canonical work together?

You can remember the difference this way:

A canonical does not simply say, “The other page must never appear in Google.” And hreflang does not say, “Google must index all these pages separately.”

You are giving Google two types of information that help it process the content and show an appropriate URL to the searcher. The following example explains the choices you can make.

Example: the same content for the UK and Australia

Suppose you have a website for UK customers and a separate version for Australian customers:

• https://example.com/uk/ for the United Kingdom.
• https://example.com/aus/ for Australia.

Both websites contain the same English text. Nevertheless, you want visitors to reach the appropriate version. An Australian customer should, for example, order through the Australian website and contact the Australian customer service team.

Hreflang identifies which version is intended for each country. But because the text is the same, Google must also decide how to handle the duplicate content. That is where the canonical comes in.

You have two options.

Option 1: you want to offer both pages as separate versions

With this approach, each page has a canonical pointing to its own URL.

The UK homepage contains:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/uk/" />

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-GB"
      href="https://example.com/uk/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-AU"
      href="https://example.com/aus/" />

In plain English, you are saying:

This is my UK homepage. I want to use this URL as the preferred version. There is also an Australian version at another URL.

The Australian homepage contains:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/aus/" />

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-GB"
      href="https://example.com/uk/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-AU"
      href="https://example.com/aus/" />

Here, you are saying:

This is my Australian homepage. I want to use this URL as the preferred version. There is also a UK version at another URL.

The canonical on each page therefore points to its own address. The hreflang annotations are the same on both pages: they tell Google where the UK and Australian versions are located.

Why might Google still choose just one version?

A canonical expresses your preference. Google does not have to follow it.

If the content on both pages is the same, Google may decide:

These pages contain the same information. I will choose the UK page as the main version of that content.

This can happen even when the Australian page has a canonical pointing to itself. The tags tell Google how you want to present the pages, but they do not change the content.

Do you want Google to assess the Australian page as a separate version? A self-referencing canonical is a sensible starting point. Also provide information that genuinely differs for Australian customers, such as the local offering, delivery times, terms, and support.

Option 2: you choose one main version of the shared content

You can also deliberately choose one preferred version of the identical English content.

The UK page keeps its self-referencing canonical. The Australian page then contains:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/uk/" />

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-GB"
      href="https://example.com/uk/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-AU"
      href="https://example.com/aus/" />

In plain English, you are saying:

The content on this page also appears on the UK website. Use the UK page as the main version of that content. For Australian visitors, this Australian URL is the regional alternative.

The Australian page still exists. Visitors can still open and use it. The canonical does not redirect them to the UK website.

You are simply identifying which page you consider the main version of the duplicate content.

Google describes this combination for duplicate or very similar regional pages in the same language. Pointing an Australian page to a UK canonical is therefore not automatically a mistake.

Can Google still show the Australian page?

Yes. Google can select the UK page as canonical and still show the Australian URL to someone searching from Australia.

That may seem contradictory, but Google is making two different decisions:

1. Which page should I use as the main version of this content?
2. Which regional address is appropriate for this searcher?

Google uses canonical signals, among others, for the first decision. Hreflang can help with the second.

The UK page can therefore be the main version of the content while an Australian visitor reaches the Australian page through Google.

Google has explicitly explained this possibility. However, hreflang does not guarantee that the preferred regional URL will appear for every search query.

Which option should you choose?

Do you want to offer the same content through two regional URLs? Deliberately consolidating the content under one canonical while using hreflang may be appropriate.

Do you want Google to assess the Australian page as a separate content version? A self-referencing canonical better matches that goal. Make sure the information is genuinely tailored to Australian visitors.

The fact that the UK site is older or more commercially important is not, by itself, a reason to canonicalize every Australian page to its UK counterpart.

When should you use each combination?

Make this decision for each group of related pages. You do not have to use the same approach across the entire website.

A fully translated page is a different situation from two identical English-language pages. Do not automatically canonicalize every translation to the original language. Google recommends choosing a canonical in the same language when one is available.

Not sure which combination fits your page groups? In an international SEO audit, I review canonical and hreflang choices per group of pages, alongside URL structure, indexing and localization.

What roles do en and x-default play?

Alongside en-GB and en-AU, you can also use en and x-default.

The value en identifies an English-language version without a specific country restriction. With x-default, you designate a fallback page when the other language and regional versions do not match.

In our example, both can point to the UK page:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en"
      href="https://example.com/uk/" />

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default"
      href="https://example.com/uk/" />

This is not necessarily a mistake. You are also using the UK URL as the general English version and the fallback.

Another option is a country selector page:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default"
      href="https://example.com/choose-country/" />

Choose the destination based on the experience you want to offer visitors. Google identifies both a selector page and an existing default version as possible uses.

Can x-default change Google's canonical selection?

There is no basis for expecting the Australian page to be indexed independently simply because you point x-default to Australia.

You are changing the fallback destination. That does not automatically resolve the similarity between the pages or conflicting canonical signals.

My recommendation is to use a consistent fallback within the same group of pages. Change it when you want a different destination for visitors, rather than to force a particular canonical selection.

What if Google chooses the UK page despite a self-referencing canonical?

Start by investigating what Google has seen and whether its canonical selection actually corresponds with lower visibility. Avoid changing tags at random.

1. Compare the declared and selected canonical

Inspect an Australian URL in Google Search Console. Check the user-declared canonical, the Google-selected canonical, and the date of the last crawl.

Also check the UK counterpart. Use the available crawled HTML to see which information Google has processed.

A live test can check current accessibility, but it cannot predict which canonical Google will choose during indexing.

2. Check the actual tags and page accessibility

Review the source code, rendered HTML, and response headers. Check whether a theme, SEO plugin, or custom implementation is publishing conflicting canonicals.

Can Google open the Australian URL without a login or cookies? Does the URL remain accessible when the visitor is in another country? Automatic redirects can make it harder to access and process regional versions.

To see whether your versions send visitors or Googlebot elsewhere based on their language, run the free Multilingual SEO Checker. It requests your pages as Googlebot and as browsers set to different languages.

3. Align internal links and sitemaps with your strategy

Do you want the Australian pages to be treated as separate versions? Make sure the Australian navigation links to those URLs and include your preferred URLs in the sitemap.

Use the same URL format in internal links, canonicals, and hreflang annotations. Pay attention to HTTPS, trailing slashes, and old URLs.

4. Examine the content differences

If both pages have the same main text, Google may continue grouping them together. Consider which information actually differs for the local visitor.

These are suggestions for useful localization, not conditions that guarantee independent indexing. Add differences when they genuinely exist.

5. Check performance from Australia

Google Search Console usually attributes search performance to the canonical URL. If Google uses the UK page as canonical, performance may be reported against that URL even when a regional variant is displayed.

A low number of reported clicks on the Australian URL therefore does not automatically mean that nobody visits that page through Google.

Also check:

• Search performance from Australia, including performance attributed to the UK canonical.
• The pages Australian visitors actually land on.
• The inquiries or orders those visitors make.

Compare Search Console data with analytics and conversions. This helps you distinguish a reporting difference from an actual decline in visitors or customers. A report showing a different canonical does not, by itself, prove that the Australian URL never appears.

Common mistakes with hreflang and canonical tags

Automatically pointing every country version to the main website

Base the decision on the pages themselves. A translation or a regional page with different content needs a different assessment from an identical copy.

Assuming self-referencing canonicals guarantee independent indexing

A self-referencing canonical expresses your preference. Google may still consolidate very similar pages.

Using hreflang to fix every duplicate-content warning

First investigate what the warning means. Regional duplication does not automatically mean a penalty, and rewriting every page is not always necessary.

Including technical duplicates in the hreflang group

Use your chosen regional URLs. Tracking parameters, old addresses, and alternative protocol versions do not represent additional language or country versions.

Forgetting return links and self-references

Each version should list itself and its counterparts. If the UK page points to Australia, the Australian page should confirm that relationship.

Connecting pages that do not correspond

A UK product page belongs with the Australian version of the same product. An Australian homepage is not an appropriate substitute just because that product is unavailable there.

Using incorrect language and country codes

Use en-GB for the United Kingdom and en-AU for Australia. The URL folder can be named /uk/ or /aus/; the folder name does not determine the hreflang code.

Pointing to inaccessible or excluded pages

Check for errors, redirects, robots.txt restrictions, and noindex. Hreflang does not make a blocked or excluded page eligible for search results.

Publishing conflicting tags

Check whether your CMS, plugins, and server configuration use consistent destinations. For an HTML implementation, the tags belong in the <head>, with separate link elements for canonical and hreflang.

Screaming Frog can identify issues such as missing return links, invalid codes, and unexpected canonical references. Assess warnings within your chosen strategy, particularly when regional content is deliberately consolidated.

Frequently asked questions