Heading Tags and Search Engine Optimization

Header tags are used to describe the structure on a page, simplify page navigation for readers and to ultimately do what it is supposed to do, allow search engines to crawl your site to find relevant keywords to be shown properly in s

What is A Heading Tag?

Heading tags are used to describe the structure on a page, simplify page navigation for readers and to ultimately do what it is supposed to do, allow search engines to crawl your site to find relevant keywords to be shown properly in search results. Heading tags range from <H1> to <H6>, when using an <H1> tag this "simplifies the highest level of hierarchy in a post", the lower the number, the less important it is to search engines. These tags should be used wisely and not be manipulated, they support the pages overall keyword theme. Let's take a look at what heading tags look like:

HEADING 1-Most Important

HEADING 2

HEADING 3

HEADING 4

HEADING 5

HEADING 6-Least Important

When you take a look at the source for your post (where you can actually see the HTML code for your content), this is what the heading tag will appear to look like:

<H1>What Is a Heading Tag?</H1>

Using A Heading Tag to Rank Higher with Search Engines

Heading tags when used properly can have either a good or bad impact on your page ranking with search engines depending on if you use the the correct way or not. Here are a few rules to abide by when writing a heading tag:

Use your most important keywords-Keywords are important here to help search engines find relevant information on your site.
Make sure your keywords come first-The text inside of your heading tags should be arranged in sentence form. Search engines may use heading text to describe what a specific pages contents are in their search results.
Use heading tags to emphasize text instead of enlarging or bolding-Web Workshop can explain exactly what this means.
Don't use the same keyword multiple times-Doing so may cause search engines to assume that this is "spamming".
Use only keywords that are relevant to the body text-Nuff said.
Have at least one heading tag on each page-Each page on your blog has different content on it, using a <H1> tag on each page will help search engines crawl your site for new content and pick up on the keywords you are using.
Use only one <H1> tag per post-It is not necessary to have more that one.

READ ALSO these other great websites with more pointers for ya:

Long tail, short tail and coat tail searches
SEO Autopsy: see your site like Google does
Canonicalization: is it killing your website?
The differences between search engines
Stop Word List

http://www.rsspieces.com/000D55

http://www.rsspieces.com/header-tags-and-search-engine-optimization

Posted on August 20, 2007 14:22:38

Comment from: Marc Rasmussen [Visitor]

· http://www.luxurysarasotarealestate.com

Great post. I love all of these attractive women posting about SEO stuff. ;-)

Permalink August 20, 2007 19:24:17

Comment from: Marc Blasi [Visitor]

· http://www.palmbeachrealestateandloans.com

Good Morning-

Thanks for the tips and the link to Web Workshop - I hadn't heard of it before, but it's in the 'Favorites' now.

Permalink August 21, 2007 08:07:30

Comment from: maureen [Visitor]

· http://www.rocklandhomestaging.com

Thanks for this post, whenever I run my website through a site analizer I get an error that there are no heading tags. I never really understood what they were. Thanks for the clear explanation.

Permalink August 21, 2007 09:11:13

Comment from: Sue Argue [Visitor]

· http://www.stagedfirstimpressions.com

Very helpful info--thank you.

Question: Does all of the info here and in the Web Workshop pertain to blogs as well as website pages?

Permalink August 21, 2007 09:45:49

Comment from: The Old Vic [Visitor]

· http://www.sharescity.com

Thanks for the tips - the blog looks excellent - I'll be visitng often I would think

Permalink August 21, 2007 10:46:51

Comment from: homes [Visitor]

· http://homes.relatedlistings.com

Great balls of fire. Thanks for posting this.

Great balls of fire. Thanks for posting, attractive women..:).

Permalink August 22, 2007 00:49:31

Comment from: Hotel and destination review and booking [Visitor]

· http://naady.com

I think i have a problem with my head tag. My site is set such that i reads African Safari: africa travel. africa vacation... now what happens is as i make a post, these are repeted. I think google might consider it as spam! by i want to keep the titile relevant to the posts i make.

Would someone know how many times a word is considered spam if repeated?

Permalink August 22, 2007 03:17:50

Comment from: Jessica.Malinowsky [Member]

Thanks Marc! I love to be of some kind of assistance! :)

Marc B...You know I am here to help you! We have been through a lot of training and I hope all is well.

No problem Maureen, just curious what site are you using to get your stats?

Sue-You may take the information that we have on our site and apply it to a website however you will not get the same results as you would on a blog. If you have any questions about this feel free to email me.

Old Vic-Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you come back everyday!

Homes-I appreciate the comment and I hope in some small or big way I was able to help you with this post.

Hotel and Destination-The words you are giving me is not your heading tag, it is your title tag two total different things, with different SEO value. But your answer would be no. You want to make your posts keyword rich. I will shoot you over an email and give you more of an explanation.

Permalink August 23, 2007 09:22:38

Comment from: Hotel and destination review and booking [Visitor]

· http://naady.com

Thanks i'll be waiting for the email.

Permalink August 24, 2007 00:52:58

Comment from: Austin Real Estate Guy [Visitor] · http://www.austinrealestateguy.com

Good points. Another is that many template websites like Point2 and AA make using header tags very easy. You just need to know where to look to change text into a header.

Permalink August 26, 2007 15:53:43

Comment from: Myproperty [Visitor]

· http://1realestateinfo.blogspot.com/

Hi Blog Diva,

Thanks for sharing.

I have added your site as my del.icios favourite. Please check my blog which talks about real estate's career. If you found it interested, please add my blog your favourite as well.

Thank You

Regards

Permalink August 27, 2007 03:57:56

Comment from: John Slocum [Visitor]

· http://www.clarkcountyexpert.com

Thanks for the great post.

I do have a question for you: I have an ActiveRain blog, and AR gives the title of the post an "H2" designation. Is it acceptable for me to put a longer title at the top of the actual post with a "H1" tag -- which would mean the search engine would see the H2 prior to the H1?

Thank you.

Permalink September 13, 2007 11:35:25

Comment from: Kevin Tomlinson [Visitor]

· http://www.southbeachrealestateblog.com

Very good info! Question: why would you use and h3,4,5 or 6 tag?

Permalink September 14, 2007 18:28:14

Comment from: Jessica.Malinowsky [Member]

Kevin,

You would use the other header tags to mark other important areas in a post. They have a very small amount of SEO value, search engines look at the main header and then the following H2 tag for keywords the most.

Permalink September 21, 2007 09:09:23

Comment from: Consultant SEO Services [Visitor]

· http://www.consultantseoservices.com