On-Page SEO Series: How Important are H1 Tags for On-Page SEO? 01.19.18

If you want your website to be found by millions of people (and who doesn’t, right?), you simply can’t afford to ignore on-page SEO.  

A successful SEO campaign begins with on-page SEO, and looks at both technical and content-related tactics. While you may not be an expert in technical SEO, it still pays to know some of the basics if you’re really looking to make a difference in web performance overall. This blog series will explore some of the most important on-page SEO elements. 

In part two of the series, we’ll talk about something that’s just as important today as it was a few years ago — H1 tags.   

For the unfamiliar, the H1 tag, or <h1> tag in HTML, is the heading at the top of the page that you first see when you land on a website (ie: Creative Experiences for the Digital Landscape).

H1: The Title of the Page 

The H1 is an HTML tag that specifies the title of the page to the viewer. This distinction improves the user experience of a web page, a factor that’s viewed very positively by search engine algorithms when deciding search ranking. Search engines like Google crawl websites for keywords and other elements when a search query is performed and, when an accurate H1 tag is found on a website matching that query, Google ranks and returns the results to the user. 

Now, when we talk about header tags, it is important to remember that it is not just a single H1 tag that does the work; it is several elements together, that make the most impact. It is recommended that you use a maximum of six H1 tags on your website.

Including H1 tags on the pages of your website allows you to use keywords relevant to your business, products or services in one of the top places search engines crawl. Utilizing H1 tags is an obvious first step in the on-page SEO strategy. 

H1 Tags for Content Marketing 

Besides being a critical SEO element, H1 tags also play a role in boosting your content marketing efforts. In the words of Neil Patel, “If you learn how to create perfect H1s, you can dominate content marketing easier, faster, and better than anyone out there.”  

Having said that, let’s delve into what the H1 tag does for your on-page SEO.  

Structures your web page 

As aforementioned, the H1 tag tells the search engine what content it should look for on the website. According to Google, “the H1 tags are important because it helps the search engine to understand the structure of the text on the webpage.” It also specifies what a webmaster believes is the most important heading and subheadings by numbering them from H1 to H6.  

To use H1 tags correctly, you should only use only one per page to specify which title is the most important on that page. Again, make it a point to use the relevant keyword(s) for that page in the H1 tag. Also, you should ensure the keyword(s) you have used in the H1 tag is consistent with the title of that page.  

In addition, heading tags are useful because they separate out topics on a page, making it easier for the viewer to understand the flow of the subject and the importance of each topic. This improves the overall viewing experience for your website. And, we all know how Google loves positive user experiences.   

Improves user engagement 

If a visitor to your website does not return to a search results page or to a previous page they were viewing (in other words, bounce off your website because it was not useful information, not what they thought, etc.), this sends out a strong signal to Google that they were happy with the result. If their session is recorded as a bounce, Google identifies this as a poor result and pushes the website further down in the search results.  

As the first page element a user sees upon entering a web page, the H1 tag assures the user they are in the right place. When this happens, they will most likely spend more time on the page, resulting in a longer session on your website. This shows how H1 serves as an indirect ranking factor by enhancing user engagement.  

If you aren’t using H1 tags for your website and on-page SEO, you are missing out on a great opportunity to bolster the performance and ranking of your website! Optimize your web pages with relevant and useful tags as the first step to rolling out a powerful SEO strategy. 

For more information regarding your current SEO strategy and the size of your Digital Footprint, request a complimentary summary now!