We in our enterprise audit reports are always surprised to see how many SEO’s overlook or simply do not know how to use proper heading tags, such as the H1, H2, & H3 to boost their traffic efforts.
As In this article we are going to deep dive into how you can make it happen.
H1: One of the Most Important SEO Factors
As we cover in our onPage SEO guide, we make it pretty clear how important it is for your SEO efforts.
If you do not know, an h1 is generally the main title of an article such as:
The code for an h1 looks something like this:
<h1>Keyword + Catch headline</h1>
Here are some important H1 tips
- Only have 1. Lots of Programmers will mistaneky add a few for styling reasons, don’t do that. It’s a major changing signal and search engines expect only 1.
- Similar to how we outline our title tag article, you can put the keyword towards the beginning.
H2: How Should You Use it?
The heading 2 tag you can use much more liberally than the h1. Generally, the keywords you put here will be the “second” most important.
A good way to think of it is that it is “one less” powerful than the h1.
The code for an h2 looks something like this:
<h2>Enter Interesting Headline + Keyword Here</h2>
H3: Is it much different than the H2?
It’s not that much different than the h2. You can use it as much as you like. And try to include keywords where you can.
The code for an h2 looks something like this:
<h3>Enter Interesting Headline + Keyword Here</h3>
What about the rest? H4, H5, etc?
We tend to not go beyond the h4. But you can use them however you like.
Use Heading Tags to create a Hierarchy within your page
When it makes sense, it’s a great idea to structure your page in terms of “most important” to least important topics. This will show Google that you took the time to make your article understandable for both people & robots.
It actually makes more sense if we break it down into code:
<h1>Main Topic of Your Article With Most Important Keyword</h1>
<h2> Secondary Topic + Slightly less important Keyword</h2>
<h3>Topic within the topic of the H2 + keyword</h3>
<h2>Another Topic within the topic the H1 + Keyword</h2>
<h3>Important Sub-sub-topic</h3>
<h4>Sub-sub-sub topic</h4>
<h3>Important Sub-subtopic</h3>
<h3>Important Sub-subtopic</h3>
<h2>Another Topic within the topic the H1 + Keyword</h2>
<h3>Important Sub-sub-topic</h3>
<h4>Sub-sub-sub topic</h4>
<h4>Sub-sub-sub topic</h4>
<h4>Sub-sub-sub topic</h4>
<h3>Important Sub-subtopic</h3>
<h4>Sub-sub-sub topic</h4>
<h4>Sub-sub-sub topic</h4>
<h3>Important Sub-subtopic</h3>
As you can see above we have a lot of “topics within topics.” You are clearly showing both people and robots which topics are more important.
The possibilities are endless, hopefully that gives a pretty good overview of how you can create a hierarchy within your page.
Final Thoughts
We hoped you enjoyed this section of our SEO training courses. The H1 and the other heading tags is a super important Onpage factor when it comes to your SEO rankings. Learn to use it wisely and leave a comment below if you have any questions.
