Once upon a time, you could boost your ranking on search engines by adding keywords to your heading elements in h1, h2 or h3. However, that is not a rule anymore as the online businesses evolved, so did the ranking factors. Adding keywords in the heading tags is still a common SEO phenomenon among many online businesses. It has become a mechanical habit rather than one based on fact or logic. The pages that top the search engine charts will most probably not have any keywords in the headings, thus proving that it is not a necessity.
In order to get more traffic to your web page and keep them engaged, you need content and headings that are eye-catching and friendly. By doing simple things you can retain readers’ attention and keep them coming back for more.
Headings provide structure to your web pages and also communicate to your users that your website is user friendly and organised. Headings are often highlighted with a bigger font that stands out from the rest of the text. The larger font helps catch the attention of the reader when they are scouting the content of your web page. It is visually highlighted and works as a huge help for readers that have difficulty reading or suffer from other cognitive difficulties.
Headings can prove advantageous for users if it is presented with the right underlying code. Readers can go through all the headings mentioned on the page, decide what they need and choose to opt for the relevant heading and all the information given below. Headings also allow readers to avoid all the content on the web page that does not apply to the user such as menus, sidebars, etc.
Research conducted on how users liked to scout huge web pages for the relevant information showed that a majority of users choose headings as their preferred form of navigating big chunks of data. Hence, headings are a massive asset to organising your web pages and making them user-friendly and attractive.
A single page allows you only one H1 heading. The name of your page or the title of your blog/article should be your H1 heading. Your H1 is the first impression your readers get off you. So similar to the name of a book, your H1 should be thought of in the same way. For example, on a page that lists all of the different categories, the H1 would be that category’s name. Similarly, if it includes genres, H1 will be the name of that genre of books or films.
Your main category can then be divided into subcategories with H2 and H3 headings. For example, if the category is of novels, your subheadings could be the types of novels such as romance, thriller, etc. It could have further subdivisions which focus on more specific elements that could come under H3 or H4 headings. Your content could potentially include H4 tags if it is a very long piece or technical content that needs a specific map of headings to help the reader navigate it.
Various search engines have various parameters that keep on changing, which dictate the way websites are ranked. As time has passed, H1 headings have changed and so have the best ways to use them to the advantage of your web page. In today’s day and age, you don’t need to have a keyword as part of your H1 heading. Plus content creators are opting to use more than one H1 on every page along with text that is not necessarily bigger.
There are no strict dos and don’ts. You can experiment. Moreover, your content being user friendly is much more important than how many keywords it includes. You should try to use keywords naturally in your content instead of forcing them into the H1 heading where they stick out like site thumbs. Readability should always be the focus of your content and it should thereby be properly organised.
Headings and subheadings are used to help search engines and visitors navigate your content seamlessly. They help the reader understand the context of your content at a glance, thus making it more appealing. It also helps divide a long piece of content into easily understandable parts. HTML-generated headings help search engines match your website with queries that users might be having. This helps you rank further up the ladder and brings you ample traffic. Your cheap web hosting provider in India could also help you with navigating this and ranking higher in search engines.
Sarang Khedkar
Sarang is a content marketing specialist with 7+ years of experience, focused on SEO-led content strategies that drive measurable business growth.
