{"id":1812,"date":"2019-12-11T17:25:14","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T17:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/?p=1812"},"modified":"2021-06-18T09:20:49","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T09:20:49","slug":"heading-tags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/blog\/content-creation\/heading-tags\/","title":{"rendered":"Heading tags: what they are and how to use them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is the first thing you notice when browsing a website or blog? Nine times out of ten, it\u2019s the <strong>heading<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reason is simple: the heading makes both users and Google understand the <strong>topic<\/strong> of a webpage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is crucial to use the <strong>title<\/strong>, <strong>h1<\/strong>, <strong>h2<\/strong>, and other <strong>heading tags<\/strong> the right way, so you can make your arguments clear to your readers and increase your ranking on search engines.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to use heading tags<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are the types of heading tag you should use to organize your content:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>H1 tag<\/strong>: this is the heading that more than any other is used to introduce the main topic of a page. It plays an important role when it comes to ranking, so give it extra attention: it must be consistent with the main keyword you have chosen.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>H2 tag<\/strong>: this is the heading tag for single paragraphs. It must introduce its topic. Also, they must follow a logical order.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>H3 tag<\/strong>. It\u2019s the subtitle heading of a paragraph. You should use it when the title needs more explanation. Besides, it\u2019s a good sign of credibility.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>H4<\/strong>, <strong>H5<\/strong>, and <strong>H6<\/strong> <strong>tags<\/strong> are less used and provide further information about the topic.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why use heading tags?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use heading tags is like putting titles inside a textbook: they help the reader orient herself during reading.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, there are some differences between reading a book and reading a webpage. These are the <strong>moment<\/strong>, the <strong>context<\/strong>, and the <strong>need<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the first case, we have an enthusiast who reads for pleasure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the second case, a busy and easily distracted person, who is probably reading our content while commuting. For this reason, she needs that the information would be as organized and <strong>understandable as possible<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is what headings are for: to make browsing easier, even for the most absent-minded reader.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to optimize heading tags<\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you&#8217;re writing for a personal blog or a company one, you should ask first: &#8220;what is my goal?&#8221;, &#8220;Who are my readers?&#8221;, &#8220;What are they looking for?&#8221;.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0If you&#8217;re writing to position your pages within the SERP, your heading tags should include your <strong>main keyword<\/strong> or related ones. But remember they must make sense to humans, too.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Avoid <strong>keyword stuffing<\/strong>, which is the excessive repetition of the same keyword in titles and paragraphs: spiders would penalize your page.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heading tags follow a <strong>decreasing order<\/strong>: start with an H1 tag, and go on with H2, H3, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although there are no official rules, you really should use just one H1 tag. You can ignore the rule when your page is partitioned into sections. In this case, every section can have its H1 tag. Be sure that all the tags follow a hierarchical order.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Always consider keyword prominence and keyword proximity.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is &lt;Title&gt; tag<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To create perfect and SEO-oriented titles, in addition to heading tags, you need to focus on the title tag, too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can find it on the HTML code between the &lt;title&gt; and &lt;\/title&gt; tags. Its goal is to tell both Google and users what the page is about.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The title tag is not displayed on the page, but you can find it on the snippet with the URL and the Meta Description.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3014\" src=\"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/heading-tag-snippet-example.png\" alt=\"Snippet example\" width=\"867\" height=\"329\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/heading-tag-snippet-example.png 867w, https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/heading-tag-snippet-example-300x114.png 300w, https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/heading-tag-snippet-example-768x291.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 867px) 100vw, 867px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Differences between title and H1<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both work as page titles. In fact, they can coincide. Anyway, you should keep in mind that the tag title appears on the <strong>SERP<\/strong> (the search result page), while the second is <strong>visible on the page<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The title must be <strong>65-70 characters long<\/strong>, so it will not appear as truncated on the snippet. Actually, Google calculates the <strong>pixel length<\/strong>, not the characters (i.e., an\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">m<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0will take more space than an\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">l<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anyway, 65-70 characters sum up to the number of allowed pixels (<strong>400px<\/strong> circa).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the H1 heading, in its turn, you don&#8217;t have to fit into this limit. You can add more to the H1 title&#8217;s meaning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To take advance of the differences between the two titles, make them different but consistent with each other. It can increase your chances to rank your page for different keywords and attract more traffic to your website.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to use H2 and H3<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To use the textbook metaphor, the H1 is your book&#8217;s title, the H2s are <strong>chapters&#8217; titles<\/strong>, and H3s are <strong>paragraphs&#8217; titles<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It makes no sense then to ask what is more important between the two. It would be like to ask what is more effective between a chapter&#8217;s title and a paragraph&#8217;s title.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to build an internal index of headings<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An important aspect of headings is that they can be used as items of the internal menu. This can be done thanks to\u00a0<\/span><strong><i>anchors<\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can create them by editing the page code, or by using plugins that convert titles into links.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This can benefit your ranking in two ways:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google will make the <strong>internal anchors<\/strong> visible on the SERP and boost our ranking.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will make reading easier for users.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What not to do with headers? Let Google speak<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We talked about what you should do, but it&#8217;s also useful to talk about what you should\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In its playbook, Google says that in your headings you must not:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Put useless text;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Misplace heading tags;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use heading sizes that are inconsistent with the hierarchy (i.e., make h2s smaller than h3s);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use too many headings;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Write too long headings;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use heading tags by keeping in mind only the text style.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Are your Heading Tags optimized?<\/h2>\n<p>Making sure that the headings of your web pages are correctly optimized is a best practice when you work at your On-Page SEO. You can check if the heading tags are optimized using our SEO Checker, that will generate automatically some suggestions to improve the headings in the page you analyzed.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/suite.seotesteronline.com\/seo-checker\">Check if your Heading Tags are optimized for SEO.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is using and optimizing heading tags important to improve the positioning of your content? Find it out now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":1812,"it":1741},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1812"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4716,"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812\/revisions\/4716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}