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My default CSS and HTML-template have grown fat over time, so I decided to redo them. When I created them first I was rather new to CSS and SEO as well, so without knowing it better I did not use any Hx-tags at all, but rather defined a class .H1 which I used.
Ever since then I read about H1/H2/Hx tags being important - or NOT being important. It seems there's no clear picture right now.
So I did a bit research of my own:
- first, my own site: no H1 tags at all, but a PR5 for most pages in Google
- some pretty big guys in publishing or software: no H1 tags at all, but pretty good ratings
- the only site I found with a strict H1/H2/H3 structure was in fact w3c.org
So - shall I bother at all? Actucally I'm tending to change my template to support Hx-tags - if it doesn't hurt.
Any fresh opinions?
Remember... PR comes from incoming links and has nothing to do with onsite factors.
So what ARE Hx-tags good for, in terms of search-engines?
[edit: typo corrected - I'm not an English native speaker...]
[edited by: pmkpmk at 2:32 pm (utc) on July 17, 2004]
Hello Pmx: I'm sure you meant what ARE Hx tags good for. Personally I don't know, but I make darned sure that I have them, and properly done.
All other factors being equal, which they never are of course, they might affect your position in the serps.
As an on-page factor, it has little to do with page rank. It could have a LOT to do with your page being selected for the keywords within the Hx tag itself.
Suppose you are selling Via6ra. The V word is in your title, its in the text, are you going to leave it out of the <H1> tag? Of course not. Some people will stuff it into the <H2> tag as well, but that might be overdoing things. Just make sure its in there next to Ci@lis in some <Hx> line. Ask any florist in Ghosttown, Nevada.
I see it as one more place to make sure that your page is visible for the relevant keyword(s), that's all.
Hope this helps. - LH
Mr Leforge - take her out, warp factor one.
You need to use from h1 to h5 in the first five repetitions of your KW.
I still use hx tags, but definitely not the way Digimon describes. I think of them as structural elements, like headings in an outline... not as "cheats" to be applied to the first five uses of a word.
They can be controlled by CSS to make them attractive, but I feel they should nevertheless look like headings and serve that function. I also think that the text that follows each heading should relate to it.
Burying headings within paragraphs, in my opinion, can get you in trouble, at least conceptually, and perhaps with the engine.
For an interesting and extended discussion, take a look at...
heading 1 Tags - Still Relevant?
[webmasterworld.com...]
Incidentally, you'll occasionally see someone suggesting controlling heading sizes, not with CSS, but with font size attributes within the heading tag. I don't think this was ever the right thing to do... the font size and the hx tag cancel each other out, and I think the engines would take note of it, but this is speculation. It's generally agreed that the use of CSS is OK.
