Header tags still serve an important function – for your users and your SEO. Here are seven header tag best practices for SEO.
1. Use Headers to Provide Structure
Your header tags provide structure and context for your article. Each header should give the reader an idea of the information they can glean from the paragraph text that follows below.
A helpful way to think of header tags is by comparing them to a table of contents for a non-fiction book:
- Your H1 introduces the topic your page is all about, just as a title tells a reader what a book is all about.
- The H2s are akin to book chapters, describing the main topics you’ll cover in sections of the article.
- Subsequent headers, H3s to H6s, serve as additional sub-headings within each section, just as a book chapter may be split up by multiple sub-topics.
2. Use Headers to Break Up Text
A scannable article is a readable article, and a readable article is one that’s more likely to perform well in the search engines.
Scannability is so important to the success of an article, that publications like Forbes have gone so far to call it “the most overlooked factor of content marketing.”
3. Numbered Lists are the best
NBA Power Rankings
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Brooklyn Nets
- Utah Jazz
- Atlanta Hawks
- Portland Trailblazers
4. Optimize for Featured Snippets
One place where header tags do seem to make a positive impact on SEO is with featured snippets – in two particular ways:
- The first is optimizing your header tag for a long-tail voice search keyword, and then answering the query directly below using text within <p> paragraph tags.
- The second is using subsequent, smaller headings to outline different list items. Google uses these headers to create its own bulleted and numbered lists featured snippet results.
- Italics are useful (and sometimes necessary) in many situations when you’re writing. You might use them when you want to emphasize that your friend ate ten burritos, or to write about an interesting article you read in the New York Times. Knowing when and when not to use italics can be confusing, but don’t worry. This wikiHow will walk you through the basics of using italics, show you examples, and help you use italics effectively in your writing.