When it comes to on-page SEO, there are so many factors to talk about and each one has its importance. Be it image alt tags, heading, SEO-friendly URLs, every aspect of the on-page search engine optimization plays a pivotal role and one such element is the H1 tag of the pages and the complete website. There is a lot of debate on the topic that if the H1 tag matters or not. So, in this article, we will break down the things and understand how H1 headings are important for search engine crawlers and the readers. Whenever you will use SEO services from an agency, they will also stress more on H1 tags.
What are these H1 tags and how these tags look?
The H1 tag is generally the biggest and most prominent tag on any web page of a site. This H1 tag can be utilized to present the main heading of the page which tells the readers what this page is all about. H1 tag can convey multiple things like the title of the page, some product name, a quote, or anything that instantly catches the readers’ attention.
It is not important that all sites use the H1 tag in the same way. Sites can use their H1 tags differently to deliver their purpose of the page that they have made for readers. Some may keep their H1 tags short and crisp, and on the other side, some write long sentences. But the ideal length of any title as per standard SEO practices is between 55 to 60 characters.
There are many SEO advantages to using the H1 tag as a way to add keywords that are most suitable to the content of the page and as expressive as possible. When you opt for SEO services from any agency, the very first thing they do in content optimization is correcting the H1 tag.
Why do H1 tags matter for good and professional SEO?
Remember, first it’s about the readers and then about the search engines. H1 tag helps the readers to know the exact purpose of the web page they are visiting. If you are missing the H1 tag on your pages, you need to add them as it brings more clarity and improves the search engine understanding of the page.
For those who don’t know, there are a total of six heading tags that you can use for formatting the content of the site. From all six, H1 is where you will place the main keywords, your content hook, and an attractive welcome line that users will read and click on your page.
It’s important to spend time optimizing your H1 tags because of the direct advantages they bring to your site. To give you a better perspective, leveraging H1 tags on a website can enhance the user experience, which can help to increase your search result rankings over a period of time.
The right combination of targeted keywords at the head of the page and the availability of all important information in this section make the H1 tag unmissable.
For example— You are the owner of a website that sells car parts and you have used the ‘Where to Buy Toyota Car Parts’ H1 tag. Then it will not only help the users to understand the purpose of the page but also tells search engines including Google that the web page is about where to buy Toyota Car Parts. This little difference creates a significant impact on both the people and the bots. So before you search for advanced SEO services, make sure your all H1 tags are properly optimized with the relevant keywords that will match with the users’ search query.
Using more than H1 Tag on your website
Many people have the confusion of whether they should use one or more than one H1 tag on their web page. The answer is— if you need, you can. As such Google and other search engines have not given any rules for this. But, from the perspective of user experience and overall readability, you should only have one H2 per page. If you need more, then you can stick to H2 or H3 for highlighting other important points of your content.
H1 tags could help in driving huge traffic to your website, and you only need to make sure you have used them correctly and you are not repeating them. If you are not sure how to optimize your complete website considering the heading tags, it’s better to opt for professional SEO services and they will get the on-page optimization done for your website. If you use CMS like WordPress, it comes with a dedicated placeholder where you can write your H1. The title of the post or the page is generally the H1 tag in WordPress and for optimization, you can also install dedicated SEO plugins.
