Changing Existing Sub-headings to Use H Tags - Good or Bad Idea?

[bouncybunny]

I have a large (about 80 pages) Q & A style section on one of my websites.

Each page has between 5-10 Q&As each comprising of a subheading, followed by a few lines of plain text.

For example:

What is a Widget?
A widget is a metaphorical concept used to describe… etc.

I designed this section a few years ago (before I really understood H tags and information hierarchy). Currently, each of those headings has its own CSS style, which visually makes it clear to the user that these are headings.

But what I was thinking of doing is to assign an H tag (probably H3) to each of these headings, so that search engines would also be aware of the significance of each heading.

OK. That's my rather long-winded introduction out of the way. My question therefore is;

Is this a good idea or, bearing in mind that this section does OK in the SERPS, should I not fix what is not broken?

Any thoughts?

[phranque]

how well does your page show up for searches on the question text?
you can use the H tag to increase the strength of the signal for those searches.

[commanderW]

Hi BB - I'm thinking that this Q and A is perfect for the 'dictionary list' (dl). There's the (dt) or title part and the (dd) or definition part. The dt is justified left by default I think, and the dd is placed below like a paragraph.
I'm no SEO expert, but i just have a 'gut feeling' that search engines are looking for some meaningful 'paragraphs' or 'lists' below those 'h' headings.
Using a dictionary list for what it's supposed to be used for, with 'h' tags to subgroup the questions and title each page, would be a great way to go, I think.

[edited by: commanderW at 2:12 am (utc) on Dec. 2, 2008]

[bouncybunny]

Hi

Thanks for the replies and sorry for my tardy reply.

phranque

The pages show up OK, but being a Q&A knowledge base for numerous issues - some with competitive keywords - I don't get miracles.

commanderW

Thanks a lot, I've never used the dictionary list tags, I'll have to look that up. (Wonder where I can find them in Dreamweaver?)

One query I have is whether suddenly changing the formatting of all of this section might cause ranking problems, bearing in mind it has remained the same for a few years. Is it being too 'obvious' suddenly shouting out "look at all my brand new H tags Google!"?

Or is it just common sense to use H tags for sub-headings?

[Receptional Andy]

Just as a clarification, those are actually definition rather than dictionary lists. See Lists in HTML documents [w3.org] from the W3C.

[bouncybunny]

OK, here is what I have been experimenting with, which seems to fit my format. Does anyone have any thoughts as to the code here.

<dt>
<h4 class="my_CSSstyle_name">Question/concept 1</h3>
</dt>
<dd>Here is the answer to question 1.</dd>
<dt>
<h4 class="my_CSSstyle_name">Question/concept 2</h3>
</dt>
<dd>Here is the answer to question</dd>

[Receptional Andy]

I don't think headings are all that suitable for being within the definition type element - indeed I don't think this is valid HTML.

I would imagine a structure more like:

<h1>Q&A</h1>
<h2>Questions about widgets</h2>
<dl><dt>question</dt><dd>answer</dd><dt>question</dt><dd>answer</dd></dl>
<h2>Questions about wodgets</h2>

etc.

[bouncybunny]

Thanks.

Hmmm. I'll have to think about the structure of this a bit more.

Thing is, there is only one main heading (H1), followed by the Q&As. That's why I thought of using H tags for the 'questions'.

[Receptional Andy]

If the questions are narrow in focus, and the answers are short, then a definition list might be a good approach. Otherwise, I'd go for headings and paragraphs myself.

[bouncybunny]

Thanks again.

Heh, of course it is an annoying mixture of the two. ;)

Of course it depends on what short is...

The answers range from about 20 words to about 150 words.

[Receptional Andy]

As the name implies, a definition list is primarily concerned with lists of things and their definitions - a pretty narrow focus. However it does seem like the most suitable markup for Q=>A style pairings - if you consider an answer to be a "definition" of sorts. It seems slightly more meaningful than just headings and paragraphs, anyhow.

[bouncybunny]

Once again, thanks.

[commanderW]

Hey, thanx for clearing that up Receptional. Bouncy would have had a hard time searching for the wrong term! Every time I write something, i seem to make a mistake.

Antway, I thought of it because somewhere on this website ( I think...) there is a discussion on definition lists in which it is said that they are often used in script writing or plays, the 'dt' being used for the character name and the 'dd' being used for the spoken line. And it seems to me I've also read of their use for recipes, with an ordered list nested in the 'dd' for the ingredients. It's all a bit fuzzy though. Either I'm getting old or I'm just discovering how little I actually know :-/

I'm thinking that if it's okay to use a 'ul' for a navbar, then these kinds of uses for a 'dl' aren't the kind of abuse that, say, using a table for layout is :-) But I'm far from being an expert on this stuff. especially when it comes to SEO or semantic code.

[bouncybunny]

Thanks commanderW. It's OK, I found it just fine in Google - they are quite good at this searching stuff ;).

Just a quick question on the formatting of definition lists (I'm a Dreamweaver muppet), the W3C code examples [w3.org]don't seem to close the tags at the end of each line like Receptional Andy did in the above example. I.E. they only seem to close the </DL> tag and not the <DT> or <DD> tags.

I know this is a more of a general HTML question, but if there's a quick answer, I'd appreciate it.

(I'm currently wading my way through dozens of pages getting my hands dirty with raw HTML, as Dreamweaver doesn't seem to have a stress-free way of applying this.)

[Receptional Andy]

As per the W3 page: "Start tag: required, End tag: optional". So it will validate if you skip the closing tags - I've just got into good habits, I reckon ;)

[bouncybunny]

Thanks :)

[pageoneresults]

That Definition List rocks! I use them all the time, especially for Glossaries and FAQs, they are the perfect tool for the job.

Your <h> elements would come into play when separating out the Q&A. You might have 5 <h> elements with 4 <dl> elements below them. And, you might even have some nested <h3>, <h4> in there depending on the complexity of the Q&A.

Look at that page like a table of contents. When you are done, use the Outline option at the W3 Validation Service to see how it sees the structure of your page.

P.S. Always use end tags. Even if the W3 say they are optional, it is good practice to use them at all times.

[phranque]

as discussed in this thread [webmasterworld.com], the definition list tags can also be used to mark up dialogs, which is pretty much what a Q&A formast is.
some w3c references:
[w3.org...]
[w3.org...]

[g1smd]

Run your page through the W3C HTML validator and select the "Show Outine" option.

Does the indented list of headings look like a sane and sensible summary of the document?

[bouncybunny]

I decided to use the definition markup.

As I didn't use H tags for the definitions in the end, the outline option in the W3C validator didn't help much. But I ran it through the Semantic Data Extractor, and that was interesting.