HTML Heading tags are used to differentiate the heading of a webpage from the rest of its content. They are the simplest ways to divide up the content of your page into different smaller sections to make it more comprehensible.
For search engine optimization these tags inherit a lot more importance than other HTML tags. If properly used and optimized, heading tags are responsible for bringing up the keywords used in them in SERPs.
Division of Heading Tags
Heading tags range from H1 to H6, with H1 being the largest and the most important and H6 the smallest and least important. Therefore, you should always use them in top-to-bottom order: H1 for the main section including one of the most important keyword of your webpage, H2 for subheadings, H3 for even smaller headings and so on.
Tip: Try to use descriptive or long tail keywords in heading tags as they could get ranking easily if compared with one or two word phrases e.g.;
<h2>How to Audit Your Website</h2>
<h3>Benefits of Using SEO Spider Tool</h3>
<h4>How to SEO Your Website</h4>
How to Write HTML Heading Tag
HTML heading tags are very simple to write. Below is an instance.
<h1>this is your heading</h1>
For other tags just replace 1 with 2, 3 up to 6 to write remaining tags.
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Importance of SEO Heading Tags
Heading tags are important for both SEO and usability of your web page. Search engines primarily take keywords from title, content and heading tags to develop the context of a webpage. Read on to find out how heading tags impact seo of webpage.
Yes! Heading Tags Impact SEO
- Relevancy factor
Search engine spiders check the relevance of your heading tags with the contents of your page.
- Improve keyword rankings
Keywords used in heading tags are more likely to be ranked earlier in search engine result pages as compared to other locations on webpage.
Make sure you maintain keyword consistency between your heading tags and other parts of your page. This is an ideal practice for SEO. - Importance of the H1 tag
H1 tag is the most important heading tag on your web page and should never be skipped. Just like the title tag, your H1 tag should include one of your most important keywords and be descriptive of the contents of your page.
- Enrich User Experience
Heading tags provide users a clear idea about the contents of your page. Positive user experience is highly valued by search engines and therefore, the heading tags are considered important on page SEO elements.
- Use for Internal Linking
This is good to use headings to link other pages internally.
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How Heading Tags Impact Usability
- Easier Navigation
When internally linked, heading tags facilitate users to easily navigate to other important pages on website and results in lower bounce rates.
- Overview of your page
Heading tags give readers an overall idea of the contents on your page.
How Not To Use Heading Tags
- Do not stuff your heading tags with keywords
Incorporate the keywords naturally. Otherwise, search engines will consider your headings and content “spammy”.
- Do not use H1 tag more than once on a page
Although it’s not hardcoded anywhere to use only one h1 tag on your webpage but the best practice is to use one tag. This way, more importance will be given to that keyword used in heading one (h1).
- Do not break the order
Always start from H1, going all the way down to H6. Skipping any tag number results in a broken structure, which is a practice frowned upon.
- Do not duplicate your heading tags
You should have unique heading tags for every page as well as headings on one webpage should not be duplicated.
- Do not use your heading tags as hidden texts
Such practices lead to cloaking, a black hat SEO technique, on webpage. This can cause you to be penalized.
- Do not use heading tags for formatting purposes
Use them to organize the content on your page. For formatting, you can use CSS style sheets.
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