Google: Stick With ISO 3166-1 For Hreflang, Not 3166-2

Oct 24, 2017 - 7:46 am 0 by

google global hreflang geo

Google responded to a webmaster asking if they can use ISO 3166-2 for their hreflang files saying you should probably stick with ISO 3166-1. Google's documentation specifically says they support ISO 3166-1 and makes no mention of ISO 3166-2.

Google writes in their documentation:

The value of the hreflang attribute identifies the language (in ISO 639-1 format) and optionally the region (in ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 format) of an alternate URL.

There is no mention of ISO 3166-2, which is why Google is telling webmasters not to use it.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

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