A header tag, also seen as h1, h2, h3, etc, is another cool search engine optimization tip to improve your page/blog readability, for the consumer, and also a way to tell search engines what the post/page is about. Let’s not confuse this with the headline or title tag (I know, right!?)
A more in depth explanation
Headings, like h1, is a piece of HTML code that helps certain words or phrases to stand out. Usually the default settings for your website theme will set the h1 to a specific font size and style that is different from the paragraph font and style. Similarly, the h2, h3, etc will have a specific font size, but one that is smaller or different from the one “above” it. The h1 is usually the first, which is typically near the top of the page, but doesn’t have to be and the h2 or h3 are typically used to break the page up further. If you are lost now, don’t fret, I’ll provide an example for you!
What the code looks like
I thought it might be helpful to you if I geeked out for a moment to show you what the actual code looked like behind the scenes, so if you wanted to check out your competitors or see your page in code, you’d know what to look for.
Getting a little geeky with h1 tags – check it out. Click To TweetWhat it looks like on the source code:
<h1>This is the h1 heading, more likely to be a headline, since it is usually larger</h1>
<h2>This is an h2, and might likely be one of your first header tags on your blog</h2>
<h3>This is an h3, and might be a subheading to help break up your post for visibility</h3>
Another view for my visual learners:
<h1>
<h2>
<h3>
All of these are SEO mojo that tells the search engines that this text is important and think about it, it tells folks what the next paragraph 
or section is about. (Pssst, don’t forget to use your keywords, as long as it is natural – natural trumps keyword stuffing any day.)
Further, the smaller the number (1 is smaller than 3, duh right), the more important it is to search engines. Does this make sense? H1 has more klout and usually is most important to the search engines and typically only 1 on the page, whereas there may be several h2 or h3s since they are sub-headings and a nice way to organize your content.
H tags are a great way to organize your content to make it reader friendly Click To TweetLet’s see what the difference an h tag makes in this video
Now to see it in action… check out my website with the very content on this page without any heading tags and see how it looks with heading tags. Enjoy!
Hopefully this has helped explain heading tags to you in a way that you can understand and get a little geeky with me. Should you have any questions about search engine optimization, please contact me as I would love to help you be more optimized!
~Kristen
My content management system tells me when I have no H1 tags and whether they contain keywords. Good for us non-geeks and the lazy among us. But even if it weren’t imperative from a search-engine standpoint, the larger headers break up text and make the body of your content more approachable…and readable. Good stuff, as always, Kristen!
That’s awesome Jackie and so true, the layout alone makes a huge difference for the consumer, that in itself should be the top reason!
I just really got this the H1, 2, 3 this week from my coach in going over future blogs. Here you are, always on top of things, appealing to my visual learning style.
YAY Roz, so glad and thank you for the kind words… you aren’t the only one who prefers visual learning, but I have learned to offer it when I can.. thanks to you!
I’ve only been using H2’s so I guess I need to branch out! Love your value added content!
Yea Carol, and take a look at how your site looks… keep the consumer in mind!
How empowering. You made this simple enough for the novice, however, it’s very impactful.
Thanks Robin, glad it was impactful and empowering.. even for the novice you claim to be. 😉
Love the way you explained it all in the video. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks Vicky.. glad to help!
Great explanation of the H’s for those who don’t know what they are and their importance. Definitely a great tool for getting more readers to ones blogs 🙂
Thanks Mike and you know it well.. it needs to be for the reader after all!
Ok, I’ve got to admit it…. I have been writing blogs all year and have completely ignored H1, H2, and H3… Thanks for this video you made it all so clear!!! And this from someone who would typically say to you… “Don’t tell me I don’t want to know1” LOL Maybe now my blogs will get a bit more noticed!
It’s okay Lisa.. now you know and hopefully you can see the difference in just the visual appeal alone! 😉 Glad you learned something! 😉
Thanks for always filling us in on the little things we need to move up to the top!
You are welcome Stacey! 😉
Time to get my coder to add H1, H2 and H3 headings me thinks. Thank you for the super helpful video.
You can do it Denyse right as you are typing in your blogs. You’ve got this! Thanks!
You are such a good geek, Kristen.
Why spend ALL that time writing a blog without knowing how to find people to read them!
Awwww, thanks Sharon! And not only just helping folks find your blogs, but making them more readable! 😉
Great article! Can headers be used in a paragraph or only as a true header? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them used in a paragraph (i.e. first sentence or so), but when I try it, it changes all the text in that paragraph to the header.
Thanks Maria, welcome back! Yes, they can be used in paragraph… but not in the middle.. like the first line, like I have in my blog. I would be curious, why you are wanting to put an h1, h2 or other header in the middle of a paragraph? If you are saying the first line… and it changes the rest of the paragraph, it is because there isn’t a return between the header and the paragraph. The specific formatting for any h tag includes space between it and the paragraph text… so it looks nice, again, why you can’t insert it into the middle. Hope that helps.
Thanks for sharing this. It’s really helpful. I know I have them setup in my style sheet. Now I need to start using them.
Yes Sabrina, be sure you are using them!
I *know* that header tags are useful for SEO, but I never use them. I am still stuck on using bold to make sections stand out. Maybe I should switch…
I think you should utilize them, for sure Heather. It’s win win for the consumer to read and for the search engines.