Search engine optimisation experts have long used HTML heading elements as part of their optimisation routine. SEO companies dutifully add h1, h2, h3… tags to their client’s content before feeding it to the search engines. Despite the fact that the industry continues to argue over the benefits of headings, most arguments tend to be wrong because they miss the point. Webmasters should understand the theory behind why headings can help with SEO before they decide whether headers can actually benefit them and their clients.
Word Relationships on a Page
A heading tag in HTML defines the relationships between words on a page. Words in a heading should be viewed as an indicator that tells search engines that the words in the content below it are closely related. However, connecting the words in the heading with the content that follows is not enough because the headings must also follow a logical flow. For example, an h1 heading at the top of a page says that the entire page below it is relevant to the h1 text. If an author adds another h1 heading on the page, readers might understand it as a new content section, but search engines become confused.
After the h1 heading, subsequent sections on a page should instead use other headings such as h2. A subheading inside the h2 section should use an h3 heading. Search engines recognise multiple h2 headings as long as they are properly nested.
The Value of Headings
SEO Australia efforts with headings are a useful part of the optimisation process. However, when headings are not properly used, they can hurt a page by sending mixed signals. Multiple h1 tags on a page, h2 tags inside h3 tags and are just a few of the other structural problems can cause pages to lose page rank. Also, when content inside a heading does not match the heading, the page loses. Therefore, the value of heading tags in search results is far from guaranteed.
Other Semantic Relationships
Headings are not the only way an SEO company can establish semantic relevance on a page. Bold text, larger fonts, different font colours, italics and other indicators are also picked up by search engines as indications of special relationship.