Headings are a natural part of content. Chunks of text would look strange floating freely on your page. They need to be pinned down and given meaning with a short sentence that identifies what the text is about. Headlines have made the transition from print to the internet almost without changing. The only difference is that they are even more important for the internet than they ever were for print.

The importance of a heading is usually signified by its remoteness from the rest of the text. Both print and digital headings are usually a larger size font, and are generally bold or in a different colour. On your website, headings are further drawn out by use of header tags.

There is some debate in SEO circles about the importance of header tags. Disputes over their importance recede a little when you consider what the tags were created for in the first place. Like many SEO tools, header tags were created to help sites to be coded for best presentation. They rose in importance because search engines noticed that header tags contained important content. Since then, the equation has turned on its head: header tags are important and therefore can be used to highlight content.

Just as headings and subheadings sit within a kind of architecture, header tags should be applied according to hierarchy. The H1 header tag indicates the main headline; H2 indicates the first subheading, and so on down to H6. The header tag number will determine the size of font used for the text and the importance given to it by the search engines.

Header tags have two main functions. The first is aesthetic, and the original reason for their use. Header tags pull out text in a bold or otherwise noticeable font, making them more noticeable. The trouble is, the fonts denoted by header tags are often too big and clunky for a site designer’s taste. This can lead to the header tag being skipped over in favour for other formatting methods. Well-formatted header tags are eye-catching. Users notice them, and are more likely to stop and read your content if they see the keyword they searched for in your headline.

The second and main modern function of header tags is to highlight the content for search engine spiders. This is the main reason they are included as part of a search engine optimisation strategy, and the weight search engines give to header tags is the source of debate. Regardless, most SEO firms will recommend that you optimise your header tags with your keywords.

Header tags are a way to pull out important information within your web page. As this information is noticed both by users and search engines, the way you word your header tags is important. Despite the debate, header tags are still a big part of most sites’ optimisation strategies and your SEO firm should pay some attention to this area. You can discuss your header tags with our experts at SEO Consult.

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