Headers and their Influence on SEO

 

When a search engine crawls the web for results for the search query a person has placed, page headings are particularly important.  

In this post, I’ll cover the hidden and visible elements of H1 page headings and why they hold significant importance for search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

 

Heading Tags Overview

A portion of page headings are actually not visible to the searcher. The searcher sees the wording on the web page but there are also tags that tell a search engine that specific wording is part of a headline. These tags are designated within the code of a web page’s content. 

Heading tags range in order of importance from H1 to H6 with H1 covering the theme for the entire page and H6, if used, covering a minor sub-theme.  Most pages just use H1, H2, and H3 tags at most.

The H1 heading text is the most crucial for SEO. It helps the search engines understand more about the theme of the whole web page, so search engines look to the keywords in the H1 header to pull the best content for user results. 

The Importance of the Visible H1 Headline

Having the visible portion of page headings makes your page content easier for people to understand. It’s the first text someone sees on a page so if it’s relevant it provides a quality user experience, helping ensure search results rankings continue to improve.  

Without a page heading, readers would be confused about the theme of the content. This navigational cue clarifies the page’s contents, removes confusion, and prevents users from immediately bouncing from your site. The H1 header should contain the primary keywords for the page, which will help drive the audience towards reading the page’s content.

For example, a relevant page heading would be the following: 

Orthodontics for Children in (city and state the practice is in)

A title like this one helps patients know they are on the correct page when looking for an orthodontist for their child, in a city near them. 

 

By having a relevant page title for each website page that is also set correctly as an H1 you will be able to quickly show both site visitors and search engines the main theme of a given page. In short, make sure to have the heading AND designate it as an H1 in the back end. 

If you have any questions related to page headings or are in need of SEO support for your practice please contact us. 

 

—Aliah Rasmussen, SEO Specialist, Sesame Communications