hreflang: zh-TW or zh-Hant? Language Code Settings for Traditional Chinese Sites
Learn the difference between zh-TW and zh-Hant when setting hreflang for a Traditional Chinese site targeting Taiwan, how Google interprets them, and common mistakes with checking methods.
When marking up Traditional Chinese in hreflang, there are two common options: "zh-TW" (Chinese + Taiwan region) and "zh-Hant" (Chinese + Traditional script). zh-TW combines a language with a region, while zh-Hant combines a language with a writing system. Both are valid ISO formats, but they mean different things.
Google understands both. If your primary audience is users in Taiwan, "zh-TW" is usually the clearest choice, since the region signal makes it easier for users searching from other regions to be shown a different version. If you serve Traditional Chinese users across Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, "zh-Hant" is more appropriate. When you maintain separate regional variants (such as zh-TW and zh-HK), a common setup is region-specific pages plus a generic zh-Hant version as the fallback.
Common mistakes include mixing zh-TW and zh-Hant inconsistently, mismatching x-default and alternate URLs, and getting the case of the language code wrong. After setup, use the International Targeting report in Google Search Console, the URL Inspection tool, or a third-party hreflang validator to confirm that pages link back to each other correctly and contain no invalid codes.
FAQ
For a Taiwan-focused site, should hreflang use zh-TW or zh-Hant?
If your audience is users in Taiwan, we recommend "zh-TW", since it specifies both language and region, making it the clearest signal for Google. If you want a single Traditional Chinese version to also serve other Traditional Chinese regions such as Hong Kong and Macau, use "zh-Hant" instead. When both URLs exist, list both the regional and the generic versions rather than marking only one.
Will an incorrect hreflang setup make Google show the wrong language version?
Possibly. hreflang is a signal, not an absolute directive, but when it is set up incorrectly — invalid codes, incomplete return links, or a wrong x-default — Google is more likely to serve a version that doesn't match the user's language or region. hreflang errors won't remove a URL from the index, but they can cause pages in the wrong language to appear in search results, so it's worth checking regularly in Search Console.