Heading Tags

Syntax: <h1>Keyword1 in the Heading</h1>, <h2>Keyword2 in the Heading </h2>, etc.

The “Header tag” is nothing more than a headline of the page, so it should be kept short. 45 characters, including spaces, is a good target.

Each page should have a clearly defined <h1> header tag, to identify the primary subject of the page to both the user and the search engine. Be sure to use the primary search phrase you are targeting within this tag.

Note: It is important that the primary keyword is located in the first heading tag on the page, regardless of its type. Placing the keyword early in the header tag will increase its prominence.

Standard rules apply for the structure of HTML pages. Written in a document-like fashion, they should include:

i.Title

ii.Major heading, describing the main purpose of the section.

iii.Subheadings, highlighting the key points of each subsection.

Many search engines rank the words found in headings higher than the words found in the body text of the document. Some search engines will also incorporate keywords by looking at all the heading tags on a page.

Don’t try to stuff your heading tag with too many keywords, or words that are not relevant to the content in the body. Having multiple <h1> tags on the same page may cause you to be subjected to a penalty by the search engines, as it may be seen in the same light as “keyword stuffing“.

It is certainly appropriate to have multiple headlines appearing on a page, like <h2>,<h3>, etc., provided they follow a hierarchical order. The <h1> should be the first heading tag, followed by the <h2>, then the <h3>, and so on.