One of the Most Over Looked SEO Techniques Heading Tags

Posted • November 9, 2009 • 1 Comment

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Proper Use of Heading Tags Will Give Your SEO Efforts More Search Engine Juice

I figured it was time for me to post on a pure SEO topic. When it comes to SEO web site architecture, one of the most over looked techniques is the proper use of heading tags. Many web designers still use the heading tags as a design element or not even use them at all (when I mention web designers I am including the fancy wysiwyg’s that are available too).

heading tags misused

In order for you to be able to use the headings properly you need to be able to monitor your work. There are many tools available for you to use to see what your headers look like to the search engines. I actually use 2.
I use the Web Developer Toolbar which is available for both Firefox and Internet Explorer. The screen shot above is one of the outline tool available in the Web Developer Toolbar.
w3c One of the Most Over Looked SEO Techniques Heading Tags
The W3C also has an outline tool connected to their validation tool.

w3c options

Document Outline

Below is an outline for this document, automatically generated from the heading tags (<h1> through <h6>.)

If this does not look like a real outline, it is likely that the heading tags are not being used properly. (Headings should reflect the logical structure of the document; they should not be used simply to add emphasis, or to change the font size.)
</h6></h1>

W3C document outline
(Post from Search Engine Optimizician.)
So use your heading tags properly. Check them with an outline tool like the W3C or the Web Developer Toolbar.

For more information on heading tags please visit one or both of the following posts.

In an earlier post HTML Basic Code for Improved Search Engine Rankings I discussed heading tags and their key factors in search engines and web site usability.

I gave my eleven rules for the use heading tags:

Each page must have at least one heading.
Each page is allowed only one H1 heading.
The H1 heading is always the first heading on the page.
The main keyword or keyword phrase is used in that H1 heading.
Use headings like you would in an outline, use CSS to style your text.
Don’t skip heading levels use them in numerical order (e.g. H1, H2, H3) although you can use multiple H2s H3s and so on.
All headings except H1 are subheadings, they should support the main heading and be thematically connected with the previous level headings.
Use headings consistently throughout the whole web site.
Headings should be simple, concise, easily scanned, and it wouldn’t hurt if they contained some of your keywords or keyword phrases.
The headings should actually represent the summary of the text.
If you actually extracted the headings and made an outline with them they should actually make sense.

In another post Heading Tags, SEO and Keyword Phrases I discussed using keywords and keyword phrases in headings & subheadings.

I gave examples of headings showing what the code for typical headings and subheadings used for SEO might look like:

<h1>The Right Keywords will Bring Traffic to Your Website</h1>
More information will go here.

<h2>Choosing the Right Keywords for Your Website</h2>
More information will go here.

<h3>Keyword Research will Make or Break your SEO</h3>
More information will go here too.

Use your heading tags properly!

Late,
Gary Pool

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One Response to “One of the Most Over Looked SEO Techniques Heading Tags”

Tweets that mention SEO : Heading Tags : Search Engines : Search Engine Optimizician -- Topsy.com
November 9th, 2009 @ 11:59 am

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gary Pool, Taylor Ellwood. Taylor Ellwood said: RT @garypool: Proper use of heading tags will give your SEO efforts more search engine juice. http://bit.ly/30yDWC [...]

@garypool

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