SEO
Hreflang explained: nl-be, fr-be and x-default for Belgian B2B
Copy for AI
Hreflang is a piece of HTML that tells Google which language and region version of a page belongs to which user. In short: think of hreflang as a signpost saying “this page is for Dutch-speaking Belgians, that other one is for French-speaking Belgians”. For a single-language B2B site you do not need it. If you run a Dutch and a French version (nl-be and fr-be), it prevents your own pages from competing with each other. One important nuance up front: hreflang is a suggestion to Google, not a guarantee, and it is treacherously error-prone.
What exactly is a hreflang tag?
A hreflang tag is an HTML attribute that tells a search engine which language and, optionally, which region a page is meant for. The value consists of a two-letter language code (following the ISO 639-1 standard, for example nl or fr), optionally followed by a hyphen and a two-letter country code (following ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2, for example be or nl).
So: nl means “Dutch-speaking, regardless of country”, while nl-be means “Dutch-speaking, specifically for Belgium”. That way the hreflang attribute works makes the distinction crucial in our country. A Dutch-speaking Belgian and a Dutch person speak the same language but live in a different market: different prices, different VAT, different references. With hreflang you can serve both without Google thinking it is duplicate content.
According to Google’s own documentation, you use hreflang to indicate that different pages are localisations of the same content. The signal helps Google pick the right version based on the searcher’s language and location.
What does a hreflang tag look like?
In practice you place the tags in the <head> of every page. A simple example for a Belgian company with a Dutch and a French version:
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="nl-be" href="https://example.be/nl/diensten/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr-be" href="https://example.be/fr/services/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.be/" />Three things stand out. Every line points to a specific URL for a specific language or region. The x-default is a safety net (more on that shortly). And this matters a lot: this entire set of tags must appear on every variant of the page, including on the page that points to itself. That is called self-referencing and it is one of the most forgotten steps.
Why is x-default so important in Belgium?
The x-default value designates the version Google shows when no language or region version matches. Think of a visitor from Germany or the US, or someone without a clear language setting in their browser. Without x-default you leave Google guessing.
For a Belgian company this is extra relevant because our language landscape is messy. You have Dutch speakers, French speakers, a small German-speaking community, and plenty of international visitors who expect English. A common approach is a neutral landing page as x-default that lets the visitor choose, or that redirects based on browser language. If you want to dig into the architecture choices (subdirectory, subdomain or ccTLD), read our guide on international SEO, because hreflang is only one part of that.
Who really needs hreflang?
Here is our honest advice, and it sometimes clashes with what agencies like to sell you. Hreflang only makes sense if you genuinely have multiple language or region versions of the same content. Concretely:
- You serve both a Dutch-speaking and a French-speaking Belgian audience with separate pages.
- You export and have separate versions per country (for example a Belgian and a Dutch site that share the same language).
- You have the same content translated into multiple languages.
Do you run a purely Flemish B2B site that earns 95% of its revenue in Flanders? Then hreflang will not win you a single extra customer. You are adding complexity and maintenance load without return. At Customer Impact we steer on customers and revenue, not on technical completeness for completeness’ sake. A tidy single-language site that converts is worth more than a multilingual construction full of broken tags.
How do you implement hreflang without errors?
There are three ways to add hreflang, and you pick one (mixing them is asking for trouble):
- In the HTML
<head>of every page via<link>elements. The most common option for smaller sites. - In the HTTP header, especially useful for non-HTML files such as PDFs.
- In your XML sitemap. Handy on larger sites because you then do not have to edit every page separately.
Whichever method you choose, three rules are non-negotiable:
- Self-referencing: every version points to itself and to all other versions. So the nl-be page must also contain a hreflang to nl-be.
- Reciprocity (bidirectional): if page A points to page B, B must point back to A. If that return reference is missing, Google often ignores the signal entirely.
- Correct codes: use valid language and country codes. A classic mistake is using
en-uk, while the correct country code isen-gb. Or specifying a region like “EU”, which is not a valid country code.
Plan in advance which pages you offer in which language. Start with a content map: which pages already exist, which ones are translated, and who actually visits your site today? A good SEO audit maps that out before you place a single tag.
Should you use hreflang and canonical together?
Yes, you can and often you must, because they do different things. A canonical tag says: “this is the official version of this specific page, index this one.” Hreflang says: “this page is the language or region variant for this audience.”
The biggest pitfall: do not let your canonical and hreflang contradict each other. If your nl-be page has a canonical pointing to the fr-be version, Google gets confused and may ignore both versions. Rule of thumb: every language version gets a self-referencing canonical (pointing to itself) plus the full set of hreflang tags. One canonical per page, no more. This kind of consistency between tags is exactly where things go wrong, and it is a fixed part of our technical SEO approach.
What are the most common hreflang mistakes?
Hreflang is known as one of the most error-prone parts of technical SEO. The recurring blunders:
- Wrong or incomplete codes: a language without a valid country code, or an invented combination.
- Missing return reference: A points to B, but B does not point back. Google then ignores the entire block.
- No self-referencing: every version forgets to point to itself.
- Tags not maintained: you delete or move a page, but the old hreflang keeps pointing to a 404. Hreflang is not “set and forget”.
- Wrong placement: tags that end up outside the
<head>or land halfway into the body.
Watch the reach too: hreflang works at Google and Yandex, but not at Bing or Baidu. If you target the Chinese market, you need other signals. If you want to check systematically whether your implementation is right, use our technical SEO checklist and check your tags after every major content change.
The guiding insight: hreflang is a means, not an end. It is not a vanity button that magically lifts your rankings. It only makes sure the right visitor lands on the right page, which indirectly lowers your bounce rate and improves your conversion, provided your content delivers on the promise with local keywords and local context.
Frequently asked questions about hreflang
Do I need hreflang if my site is only in English? No. Hreflang is only useful if you have multiple language or region versions of the same content. A single-language site gains nothing from it and you only add maintenance load.
What is the difference between nl and nl-be?
nl targets all Dutch speakers, regardless of country. nl-be targets Dutch-speaking visitors in Belgium specifically. If you serve both the Belgian and the Dutch market, use nl-be and nl-nl to separate them.
Does hreflang guarantee that Google shows the right version? No. It is a strong signal, not a hard rule. Google also takes location, language settings and other factors into account. A wrong or incomplete implementation is often ignored entirely.
Should I put hreflang on every page? On every page that has language or region variants, yes. And every variant must carry the full set, including the reference to itself. Pages without variants do not need hreflang.
How do I check whether my hreflang is correct? Via Google Search Central guidelines, a crawl with an SEO audit platform or a hreflang checker. Test after implementation and repeat the check after every major change to your content or URL structure.
Not sure whether hreflang is worth it for you?
Hreflang is powerful once you genuinely go multilingual or international, but it is also one of the places where B2B sites go wrong most often. We are a small team that gives honest advice: sometimes the answer is “do not do it yet”. We look at your markets, your revenue and your growth goal, not at the number of little flags in your menu. Want to know whether a correct hreflang setup will win you more customers, or whether your budget is better spent elsewhere? Have a look at our approach to SEO and let us take a look with you.
Free website scan
Enter your website and get an automatic scan within minutes, with concrete technical and SEO improvements. No sales pitch.
We only use your details for your scan. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.