When you optimize your website, you need to do more than write good copy and insert the best keywords. You also need to know how to format your content so it is more Google-and-user-friendly. You can do this by learning how to best structure your header tags for SEO.
What Are SEO Header Tags?
To get the basic hang of using SEO header tags, you need to define them first. An SEO header tag is just as important to the outline of your article as its inclusion. The following list gives you the format for the tags. Each header gives the reader an outline of the article, so they can better comprehend the text in the paragraph below it. Header tags can be compared to the table of contents for a report or book.
- The H1 tag introduces the web topic of the page – it is likened to the title of a book.
- The H2 tags are like the chapters in a book. They describe a page’s or article’s topics, or cover the sections contained in the content.
- The subsequent headers–H3 to H6–serve as the subheadings inside each section. They can be likened to the sub-topics that may split up a book’s chapter.
When you include the SEO header tags in your content, you make things easier for Google to decipher. The header tags give your content more authority and credibility. Get into a regular practice of using the headers to enhance your content and help people better understand what you wish to communicate.
Breaking Up the Text So It Reads Better
Probably header tags are the most underrated but important additions to SEO. Not only do they lend structure to your content, they break up the text so the reader keeps scrolling. When an article. is scannable, because of header tags, it is also more readable. A readable article will always perform better in the SERPs.
What the Research Shows
Consider this – the Nieson Norman research company says that most people, according to its data, want to get straight to the facts – no “marketese” in the content. That is why you need to make sure you always use header tags. If a piece of content is scannable, thanks to header tags, website visitors are more likely to read it than bounce back to the searches and Google. While social signals do not directly affect rankings, articles that scan well are more likely to be shared, which earns an article backlinks. Backlinks always count as a ranking factor for SEO.
Make it a point to use SEO header tags. Never write an article or web page without them.
