I’m running into a technical SEO question I can’t quite pin down. I’ve got a site that’s entirely in Spanish — no English version, just one set of URLs. Most of the traffic comes from Mexico, but I also want to make sure I capture Spanish-speaking users in the US.
My doubt is around "hreflang" and how to handle it in both the HTML and the sitemap:
Is it enough to just use "es" everywhere, since the content is generic Spanish?
Or does it make sense to also add "es-MX" and "es-US" (all pointing to the same URL)?
In the sitemap, is it OK to include several "hreflang" annotations for the same URL, or would that be overkill?
For example, I’m debating between keeping it simple:
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/page" />
…versus a more explicit version:
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-MX" href="https://example.com/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-US" href="https://example.com/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/page" />
Has anyone tested whether mixing es-MX and es-US actually helps rankings in the US, or is it just noise?
Appreciate any thoughts or real-world experiences
