SEO Tutorial:
1. Keyword Research 2. Web Site Copywriting 3. Tag Optimization 4. Site Layout 5. Link Building
Tag Optimization > Part 2: Title Tag Optimization > Part 3: Header Tag Optimization
Header Tag Optimization
We touched on header tags in Keyword Placement (part 2 of web site copywriting), now we will get into more detail.
Long before there was an Internet, headers have been used for the specific purpose of organizing copy. On the web or off, headers should still maintain their purpose. A header should tell the reader (and for our purpose, the search engines) what they can expect to find in the content that follows it.
Do not stuff header tags with mountains of text! I highly recommend that a single header tag contain no more than 8 words.
H1 or Main Header Tags
The text in the main header tag tells the viewer and the search engine the overall theme of the page. Since your keyword phrases are relevant to your page content, it is natural that you should use keywords in your main header.
To be ultimately effective, follow your main header with an introductory paragraph or so of content which is also optimized with your keyword phrases.
Remember that your main header is an introduction. Since you should only introduce your page once, you should only use one main header per page. If you need to use more than one main header to organize the content of a page, that is big clue that your content is not themed or focused enough. You will need to divide the content into more than one page for effective optimization. Placement of multiple H1 tags is unnatural and looks like spam to the search engines.
H2-H6 or Sub Header Tags
You should use as many sub header tags as necessary to organize your content. For long webpages you will probably need at least 3 or 4 sub headers. For short webpages you may not need any sub headers at all.
A good rule of thumb is to make sure there is at least a full paragraph of text after each sub header (of course that text should be optimized as well).
*Helpful Hint - Since header tags (especially H1 and H2 tags) present a HUGE font, you may want to adjust their size by making use of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). You can see an example of CSS adjustment by looking at the headers on this page. Note that the main header (Header Tag Optimization) is a large, but not huge, blue font. The H2 sub headers (H1 or Main Header Tags, H2-H6 or Sub Header Tags) have a smaller black font. This is accomplished with style. Without using style, these H1 and H2 tags would be enormous and tacky.
Tag Optimization > Part 2: Title Tag Optimization > Part 3: Header Tag Optimization
SEO Tutorial:
1. Keyword Research 2. Web Site Copywriting 3. Tag Optimization 4. Site Layout 5. Link Building
Tag Optimization is an integral part of our Website Optimization Services.
