Sep 9, 2008
Header tags are very important when it comes to search engines. The search engines like organization of content and the website as a whole. H tags are what web developers use to organize content on a page.
These h tags start at <h1> and go down <h2>, <h3>, etc. So on a website these are the main heading when you start a page and then headers for subsequent paragraphs of information. The <h1> tag is used only once at the top of a page. The lower the number the higher the weight of the information.
So for example if you have an h1 tag it shows more importance to the search engine than a h2 tag. Google has said that it is better to build a website with a heirarchy of information. The better the content is organized the easier it is for a reader and a search engine.
There is only one h1 tag per page. The h1 tag is at the top and tells what the page is about, not the site. It is also a good idea to put your keyword in the h tags if you are targeting that page for a certain keyword. Try to place the h1 tag as close to the top as possible.
The h2 tags are under the h1 tags and the h3 tags are under the h2 tags. The header tags should make a website more structural and the outline of information better.
So on a page you will start with h1 tag and then work your way down. Here is an example:
<h1>Search Engine Optimization</h1>
<h2>On-Page Optimization</h2>
<h3>Internal Links</h3>
<h3>Content Writing</h3>
<h3>Meta Data</h3>
<h2>Off-Page Optimization</h2>
<h3>Link Building</h3>
<h3>Networking</h3>
This structure will provide easier navigation for both internet users and the search engine crawlers. So why should you use these h tags. Search engines weight text on websites differently. As you use the heading tags effectively you will make the search engines love you for proper organization.
It’s amazing how many webmasters or so called “seo experts” still don’t know the proper use of heading tags. First, many people forget they aren’t just used to inject keywords onto your web page but rather to “structure” the content so a search engine and web visitor know what the web page is about. Good to see more blog posts aimed at the proper use of header tags.