Ultimate Guide to Header Tags For Higher Rankings
What the H? How to use header tags so that they really make an impact?
Yes, we hear it all the time that “Content is king” but, what if your content is totally up to the mark but not visible for the audience?
The more you attract search engines to see your pieces of content, the more audience’s eyes you’ll have.
So, the key is to make it easy for the search engine to see your unique content and for that purpose you must use header tags.
This is your go-to guide on how to use header tags (H1 to H6) for SEO. We’ll have a detailed discussion about the header tags, their importance and use.
So, let’s not wait and dive deeper into it!
1.
What Are Header Tags?
In simple words, the HTML elements that represent the headers (major title as well as the subheadings) are called the header tags.
Let’s look closely at the types of header tags!
Types of Header Tags
There are 6 types of header tags:
- H1
- H2
- H3
- H4
- H5
- H6
H1 tags represent the main title of the blog or the page.
However, we use all the other tags (H2 to H6) as sub-headers for the main title (H1).
Each header tag from H1 to H6 falls under the one preceding it.
For example, H2 appears as a subheading under H1, H2 would be a subheading under H3 and so on till H6.
To make it simpler, let me explain it in the context of this blog post. For the content we have covered until now:
Our H1 is:
“Ultimate Guide to Header Tags For Higher Rankings”
H2:
“What Are Header Tags?”
H3:
“Types of Header Tags”
Other than the search engines, the use of header tags also make your content convenient for humans to go through and understand.
Moreover, it not only makes your page more readable but gives it a proper structure as well.
The heading structure is as follows:
H1 heading tag is the title in a WordPress blog.
However, in the body text you will use more H2 tag and H3 tags for important heading.
The H2 H3 heading tags give the blog a clean look.
You do not need to use the HTML tag or source code in WordPress while writing in the visual format.
Though you will require HTML code and heading elements in text format.
This will be a ranking factor when Google indexes your page and brings organic traffic.
Want to know more about the kind of impact header tags have on your blogs and posts?
Let’s find out in the next section!
2.
Purpose of Using Header Tags
There are two main purposes of using header tags, especially in the context of SEO:
- To improve the structure of page (for better readability)
- Make the page more relevant (by improving relevance to keywords)
Let’s dig in more!
1. Making Your Page More Readable
Distributing your content appropriately and giving it a proper structure by adding headings and subheadings makes it convenient for humans as well as bots to understand your content better.
Here’s a scenario! Imagine you are writing a blog post but it’s getting a bit wordy.
Moreover, it seems like a lot of information in a paragraph format.
As a result, your reader might start losing interest despite you offering them the best content on a particular topic.
So, feeling overwhelmed by so much information at a time, your reader might just switch to another post.
You don’t want this to happen, right?
This is where you should stop and ask yourself: “Um, should I be adding some headers in my article/blog post?” And, the answer would always be yes!
The screen reader should remain interested in your blog.
2. Making Your Page More Relevant
In comparison to the rest of the content on your page, google counts the text in your header tags as more valuable.
Therefore, while analyzing the relevance of your page to the audience, Google weighs the words you use in header tags higher.
Especially, the H1 tag is most important when it comes to using and placing keywords.
For example, in context of this blog post, the target keyword is “header tags”.
So, we have used it in our H1 tag “Ultimate Guide to Header Tags For Higher Rankings”
Moreover, we have also used topically related words in other header tags such as:
For H2:
- “What Are Header Tags?”
- “Purpose of Using Header Tags”
And, for H3:
- “Types of Header Tags”
- “Making Your Page More Readable”
- “Making Your Page More Relevant”
Moreover, you can use a keyword research tool to make your header tags more relevant to the keywords.
However, you must not stuff your headers with a particular keyword. For that purpose, you can use the related words so that the frequency of keyword doesn’t exceed.
3.
How to Use Header Tags For Higher Rankings?
Now that we have understood the meaning and purpose of using header tags, let’s explore how to use them in a proper way so that they relate to SEO.
The more relatable the header tags to SEO, the more audience you hit and subsequently, higher the rankings.
1. Use Only One H1 Tag
H1s are big and the most important of all tags.
However, it doesn’t mean you use them in abundance.
Having a lot of H1s or even having it more than once can make things look out of order and the main title loses its worth at the same time.
So, do you want to be sure that multiple H1s don’t linger on your site?
For this purpose, you may use a crawler tool such as, Screaming Frog.
To check whether any of your web pages have missing H1s or have multiple H1s, simply toggle over to the H1 tab.
Then press the Filter drop-down menu in order to export the ones who want to fix.
2. Maintain Consistency in Your Header Tags
There should be a consistent experience for your users.
When your site reaches that level, we call it remarkable.
You can impress your bot and audience by using consistent header tags.
Stick with one format across all your pages whether you use title case format or sentence case format
Moreover, keep your headers short and specific.
The remaining content under the headings is meant for all the details you want to elaborate further.
For the SEO optimization, keep the length of your headers almost same as the length of title tag (70 characters or less).
3. Use Keywords in Your Header Tags
When it comes to using keywords, be judicious but not spammy.
While going through this blog post, you’ll notice that many header tags contain keywords, but not all the header tags do.
The main aim is to keep your page readable for your audience, and naturally include keywords.
Prioritize your users, then optimize it for Google, without having to sacrifice the user experience.
The more the relevant keywords in your header tags, the more satisfactory the user experience.
4. Optimize for Featured Snippets
One place where the header tags seem to have a positive impact on SEO is featured snippets.
Moreover, for that purpose there are two possible ways:
- Optimize your header tag for a long-tail voice search keyword, then answer the query by using text within <p> paragraph tags.
- Use subsequent, smaller headings in order to outline different items of the list. Google mostly use these headers for the purpose of creating its own bulleted and numbered lists featured snippet results.
5. Make your Header Tags Interesting
Your header tags make it easy for your readers to scan through your blogs.
However, most of the time they won’t scan the blog whole way through.
Therefore, you must use header tags that are intriguing and that encourage your visitors to stop and read for a while.
Users especially notice the H1 tags. Add the element of curiosity as well as authenticity in order to get attention of your reader.
The key is to make your reader excited about reading your article and increase the dwell time.
Therefore, H1 and all the other tags must keep your reader interested and engaged.
This was pretty much it!
We have covered all the details starting from what header tags actually are to the proper way of using them.
I hope it helps boosting your rankings as well as organic searches.
If you found this blog post useful, don’t forget to go through our other posts Best SEO Tools as well as On-Page SEO in order to benefit from our site further.
For more such information and updates, stay tuned to Markfiniti.