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This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.

Problem:
You are trying to set up hreflang tags for your organization's websites to direct users to the appropriate regional site. You have a main site and two regional sites, and you want users in specific regions to see the corresponding regional site. However, the current hreflang tags do not direct users to the correct regional sites as intended.
Solution:
We recommend understanding that WPML includes a redirect option based on the detected browser language, which can be found here: https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/automatic-redirect-based-on-browser-language/. However, hreflang tags only inform search engines which regional version to display and do not redirect users. WPML automatically sets hreflang tags for each language according to the configured language codes. If you need automatic redirects by region, you will need a separate geolocation plugin. You can find compatible third-party plugins here: https://wpml.org/plugin-functionality/geotargeting/.

If this solution does not resolve your issue or seems outdated, we highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins. If further assistance is needed, please open a new support ticket at WPML support forum.

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This topic contains 1 replies, has 0 voices.

Last updated by Marcel 3 months ago.

Assisted by: Marcel.

Author Posts
November 11, 2025 at 9:15 pm #17568368

stephenS-28

Background of the issue:
I am trying to set up hreflang tags for our organization's websites to direct users to the appropriate regional site. We have a main site (edify.org) for North American supporters, and two regional sites for East Africa (ea.edify.org) and West Africa (wa.edify.org). I want users in East Africa to see the ea.edify.org site, in West Africa to see the wa.edify.org site, and all other regions to see the main edify.org site. I believe I need to use specific hreflang tags to achieve this. The current hreflang tags on the site are not set up correctly for this purpose.

Symptoms:
The current hreflang tags do not direct users to the correct regional sites as intended.

Questions:
How do I update the current hreflang tags to achieve the desired outcome of directing users to the correct regional sites?
Is adding custom languages the right solution for my hreflang tag issue?

November 12, 2025 at 11:29 am #17570099

Marcel
Supporter

Languages: English (English ) Spanish (Español ) German (Deutsch )

Timezone: Europe/Madrid (GMT+01:00)

Hi,

WPML only includes a redirect option based on the detected browser language: https://wpml.org/documentation/getting-started-guide/language-setup/automatic-redirect-based-on-browser-language/. The hreflang tags only tell search engines which regional version to display — they don’t redirect users.

This means the redirect feature and hreflang tags are not the same.
WPML automatically sets hreflang tags for each language according to the configured language codes.

If you need automatic redirects by region, you’ll need a separate geolocation plugin — hreflang alone won’t handle that. You can find compatible third-party plugins here: https://wpml.org/plugin-functionality/geotargeting/

Best regards,
Marcel