Get Higher Rankings with Keyword-Rich Headings and Subheadings
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, author of Guide to Search Engine Optimization (3rd Edition), of which this article is an excerpt.Oct 2, 2007, 13:45
Getting your webpages ranked higher requires a number of strategies -- carefully written titles, description meta tags, keyword-rich body text, and lots of incoming links. One important, but often neglected, element is the use of keywords in your headings. The most important heading on a page is the name of the article or page. This isn't the same as the Title Tag which shows up on search engines. Headings are the large font headlines that tell what's on a webpage -- the main headline as well as subheadings.
Headings
Headings offer important clues to the search engines -- H1, H2, H3 in HTML-ese. Since headlines often contain important hints to the content of the webpage, search engines take note of any keywords found here. Begin with the main headline of the webpage (typically article title or product name), usually found between H1 or H2 tags, and work down.
The Lone Ranger Fan Club. My Hero! (Sigh)
I've found that writing with subheadings helps me organize my work and gives clues to the search engines. Each of my subheadings (H3 in my case) is likely to contain an important keyword for that section of the document.
Faithful Native American Scout Tonto
Writing with subheadings also makes it easy for readers to scan the document for meaning.
H1, H2 and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
One warning. This may seem a bit technical, but it's important. These days most website designers don't use FONT tags within the webpage to indicate the typeface. Instead they create "classes" that are defined in detail in a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS). All the sizes, indenting, typefaces, colors, etc. are determined by the CSS. So far, so good.
However, it's common for website designers to invent their own classes for the page heading and subheadings (like "HeadlineMain" or "SubHead1") rather than use the HTML standard H1, H2, H3, etc. Since search engines don't read CSS, they can't tell that a heading is a heading unless it is designated by H1, H2, H3.
Important clues to your webpage can be lost unless your website designer uses H1, H2, and H3 tags for headings and subheadings. Each can be tweaked in the CSS to please your designer. But don't accept from your designer, "It isn't important to use H1 tags anymore." If he says this, he is ignorant and just doesn't want to redo his work. Unfortunately, many website designers are trained only in design and HTML, not in creating websites that obtain higher search engine rankings.
Insist that the headings and subheadings on your site are keyword rich using the H1, H2, H3 standard. This won't skyrocket you to the top of Google, perhaps, but it's one important strategy on your way up the rankings ladder.
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson is Editor of Web Marketing Today and author of the recently-revised Guide to Search Engine Optimization (Third Edition, 97 pages), available in both e-book and spiral-bound printed versions. www.wilsonweb.com/ebooks/seo.htm
