{"id":15468,"date":"2021-05-21T14:14:36","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T14:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/?p=15468"},"modified":"2024-11-14T09:09:12","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T09:09:12","slug":"how-to-use-h1-correctly-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/how-to-use-h1-correctly-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"H1 Tag Best Practices SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">H1 heading tags have been used for search engine optimisation purposes for decades now. It is among the first things that SEOs started using to highlight important keywords and inform search engines what a web page is about.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">H1 heading tags are still used as one of the key things to optimize on a web page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, its use has some confusion. More specifically, there is an argument over how many H1 heading tags can be used on a web page. There is also some doubt regarding its importance and whether or not Google still uses the H1 heading tag to determine what a web page is about.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this article, we will:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discuss more about the H1 heading tag and its uses,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Share results of a recent survey by SEO professionals indicating their opinions on how to use the H1 tag,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">See what Google has to say about the H1 heading tag, and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Share our recommendation on what you should do in case you are not sure.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s begin.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><b>What is the H1 heading tag?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">H1 heading tag normally refers to the main heading of a web page. It is often very similar to the meta title of a web page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In normal circumstances, it is assumed that the H1 heading tag represents the title of the web page and\/or the main contents of a page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The heading tag is created as &lt;h1&gt;Heading&lt;\/h1&gt; in HTML.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><b>How do SEO professionals use the H1 tag?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As mentioned earlier, there is some doubt regarding whether or not you can have multiple H1 heading tags on a web page. Recently, Cyrus Shepard conducted an online survey on Twitter that showed the following results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/how-to-use-h1-headings-seo-768x453-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-15470\" src=\"https:\/\/improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/how-to-use-h1-headings-seo-768x453-1.jpg\" alt=\"How to Use H1 Headings SEO\" width=\"474\" height=\"280\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This survey showed that almost 57 percent of SEO professionals believe that only one H1 heading tag should be used per page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will notice that most SEO audit tools (e.g., <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.semrush.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEMRush<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ahrefs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) also recommend using only one &lt;h1&gt; per page.\u00a0 However, there is a fairly sizable percentage of people who believe that it is okay to use multiple H1 heading tags per page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, what does Google say about it?<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><b>Multiple H1 heading tags and Google\u2019s recommendation<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Surprisingly, Google does not restrict using just one H1 tag per page. In fact, Google says there is no upper bound or lower bound limit at all. You can use as many H1 tags per page you want, or you can use none at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Google\u2019s John Mueller:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou can use H1 tags as often as you want on a page. There\u2019s no limit, neither upper or lower bound.\u00a0 Your site is going to rank perfectly fine with no H1 tags or with five H1 tags.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOur systems don\u2019t have a problem when it comes to multiple H1 headings on a page.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, if a web page does not have an H1 tag, it may still rank for keywords in the H2 title.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When someone asked the same question and confirmed it with John, he responded:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOf course.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Will it still [rank for the keywords in H2]? I don\u2019t know if it will still but it can. It can, absolutely.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In response to these questions, John Mueller also provided some more context regarding the use of heading tags. He said:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHeadings on a page help us to better understand the content on the page.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Headings on the page are not the only ranking factor that we have. We look at the content on its own as well.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But sometimes having a clear heading on a page gives us a little bit more information on what that section is about.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And this is something that is certainly true. In the early 2000s, when Google search ranking algorithms weren\u2019t smart enough, they used to take strong signals from heading tags to determine the content of a page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But that was a long time ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google is now smarter than ever and is perfectly capable of understanding the contextual meaning of a web page and then ranking it accordingly for the right queries.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><b>Our recommendation<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For 99 percent of online content, we do not recommend using multiple H1 tags \u2014 despite the explicit confirmation by John Mueller.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is important to understand the role of heading tags in modern-day SEO.\u00a0 While keyword-rich heading tags may give you an occasional keyword ranking bonus, that is not the purpose of these heading tags anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Headings and heading tags on a web page should be used primarily to structure your content and to improve the readability experience of your website visitors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The right heading structure can also help search engines understand the content and various sections of your web page \u2014 especially for long-form content.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any keyword ranking bonus is just that \u2026 a bonus. Therefore, it should not be the primary focus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And most web pages tackle a single topic, which should be represented by a single H1 heading tag.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let us know what you think about H1 heading tags and how heading tags should be used in modern-day SEO.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related Posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/on-page-seo-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">On-Page SEO Guide<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/meta-description-mistakes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Meta Description Best Practices<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/4-reasons-content-headline-may-fail\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to Make a Good Headline<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/5-types-of-headlines-that-work-amazingly-well-on-the-internet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Headlines That Work<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/5-tips-to-dramatically-increase-the-performance-of-your-headlines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Headline Performance<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>H1 heading tags have been used for search engine optimisation purposes for decades now. It is among the first things that SEOs started using to highlight important keywords and inform search engines what a web page is about. H1 heading tags are still used as one of the key things to optimize on a web [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":23328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[33,18,38,35],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>H1 Tag Best Practices SEO | IMSR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Optimise your website with H1 heading tags for SEO. 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