How To Implement Hreflang Tags Correctly

Implementing localised versions correctly and reaching the right people is a key element to a successful online casino. It is important that you explicitly indicate which language, and/or region-specific pages in order for Google to understand and find alternative language versions of the same page. To achieve this, you must correctly implement hreflang tags in your websites source code, on every page and domain or sub-directory.

The hreflang attribute should be placed in the HTTP header on each page. Each tag should include a reference to itself as well as to their language or location alternative.

Example
‍For example; if you want to target Spanish speakers in Spain, with the .com version of your website you would implement the following:
‍
<link rel="alternate" href="https://website.com/page" hreflang="x-default" />
<link rel="alternate" href="https://website.com/es/page" hreflang="es-ES />

Consequences of no hreflang tags

Google will ignore your tags if they do not point to their like-for-like page

Google may consider content as duplicated if you are targeting the same language in a different location. For example, en-DE (English language in Germany), en-US (English in the United States).

Managing International And Multilingual iGaming websites

If your website offers content to users in different countries, locations and in different languages, by using hreflang tags you can include identical content in multiple languages on your website. To ensure you meet Google guidelines, here are a few ways to manage your international or multilingual iGaming website:

Use different URLs for different language versions
Google advises that you should have a unique URL for every language version of your website and pages. As advised throughout our previous articles on operating casinos at a global level. We would recommend the use of subdirectories. For example, https://website.com - https://website.com/de - https://website.com/es and so on…

Make sure the language is obvious & clear
You shouldn't rely on Google translate 100% of the time, certain regions or countries may describe things differently and the translation may not be accurate.
For example, the Spanish translation of "slots" is ranuras but translated back to English means slot, which is not in the context of "slot machines". Furthermore, the Spanish translation of slot is Espacio, but translated back into English means "space".

Let the user switch the page language
Usually online casinos will provide users with the option to switch their location/currency and language on their website. It is important to avoid automatic redirection based on the users perceived language, redirects may prevent users as well as search engines from viewing all of the versions of your website.