« A Free (sorta) .EDU Link – New Service » 2 July 2007

I recently got to have discussions with a few other SEO’s, and there was a topic dear to my heart that became the highlight in discussion. That was the importance of H tags. It so happens that some SEO’s do not hold the header tags as important at all, even discounting their use all together. This brought on a great conversation (I don’t get to speak face-to-face with other SEO’s, so even a disagreement is exciting to me) about optimization and navigation, to which I had very different views.

Before I declare my opinion on how effective header tags are, let’s show those who are unfamiliar what they are.

A header tag is an HTML function that creates a larger, bolder font. These are delimited in HTML with

through

, with

being the largest. It’s most common to use

’s or

’s at the top of a page, giving a noticeable “header,” and using some of the lower forms for sub-headers throughout the page. There used to be a large weight (this was some time ago) given to the terms wrapped in these tags, but not anymore.

You see, there are elements of on-page optimization that have been abused in the past, and their weight reduced. This seems to be the case with the header tag. You will not get to page one in Google with good header tags. However, that is not why I say that they are important.

I argued that the use of proper header tags is important for 2 reasons. First, usability. I’m a big fan of simplicity. A user should be able to barely glance at a page to decipher their current location in a site’s infrastructure. This can be even more important the larger the site. A nice header at the top can help a

Second, there still is (in my opinion) a little weight given to their use. Even if it’s the most minute amount of credit, it is credit still, and every bit helps. The idea is to properly structure a site, with proper titles, and use the H tags accordingly to navigation and that page’s subject matter.

I suggest the use of headers for these 2 reasons. And to be quite honest, I can’t think of anyone who disagrees. But be sure to use them for their intended purpose. If it seems as if the headers are used simply for ranking (wrapping every keyword in H tags with no coherant reason) then you may actually be penalized. I’ve only seen it once, and we couldn’t be completely sure that it was the cause, but you shouldn’t optimize solely for the engines anyway.

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