WordPress Heading Tags H1, H2 - How and Why to Use Them

Headings in any  page, be it  print or screen, instantly make it  more readable. They  serve as visual cues, and the essence of an  article is immediately obvious. Many readers simply skim the content, and pay more attention only to that portion of the text  that is captured by the heading that interests them. But its not only readers who like headings, search engines too look for them. And in todays post, well see how WordPress Heading Tags can be  used to improve both readability and SEO.(Well be keeping the discussion here to HTML4 tags without venturing into HTML5 space, because its a  little more complicated there. Also, this post is more about WordPress heading tags within the WordPress Editor, and not about the title tag or  page heading.)So whats the difference? The title tag is expressed as title in HTML and this is what shows up in the address bar in the web browser. You dont see it on the webpage. The text that is contained in H1 tag is what users see as a title on the webpage. The title of this post  is wrapped in H1/H1 tag. Want to check? Click  CTRL +  U keys on your keyboard. In the page that opens (filled with code) press CTRL +  F keys and type in /H1 and youll see the H1 tags of this post title. Usually the titles and H1 headings are similar, but need not be identical.What are Heading Tags?We normally think of headings as a method of styling the fonts   bigger size font, bold fonts or italics. But while using headings in HTML, we structure it using heading tags. Heading tags are HTML markup used for differentiating headings and sub-headings from the rest of the text in your content. As Google describes it in its Starter Guide,Heading tags (not to be confused with the HTML tag or HTTP headers) are used to present structure on the page to users. There are six sizes of heading tags, beginning with h1,  the most important, and ending with h6, the least important.So you have the maximum size heading at H1 and this is u sually reserved for the first level heading of a post or page or for important content on the homepage. Most CMSs, including WordPress, add the H1 tag automatically to the title of a blog post. But sometimes a theme can alter  this setting. If thats the case, you can change it in the theme template files.H2 is used for breaking up the H1 content into easily digestible bits. This is how it appears  in the Text Editor:Use  H3 for breaking up each H2 content. Rarely do headings reach the H4 level or beyond.Why You Should Use  Heading Tags?Headings in webpages perform pretty much the same functions as they do in a print format. However, when it comes to webpages, headings are  not just about appearance. They  also help search engines to find the page. Google scans your post for content relevant to the searched words, and looks within the heading tags to see what the content is all about. We should make it easier for Google to find those words.A title tag informs  both user s and search engines what the topic of a particular page is. Ideally, you should create a unique title for each page on your site. Heading tags tell a search engine how the various text blocks are connected and their interrelation. Once you know this, its easy to understand why your keyword must find a place within the tags. Google perceives this content as most relevant for the search and this will likely improve your search engine rankings.To say that heading tags are crucial for SEO rankings would be overstating it.  To say that heading tags add SEO value is  more appropriate. In  the last few years, more weightage is  being given to  authoritative content  as a ranking factor. However, Google finds the keywords more easily, if they are wrapped in heading tags. And hence heading tags are an  important on page SEO factor that you do not want to overlook while optimizing your webpages.If youre looking for ways to improve  SEO on your website, look up our earlier pos t on Getting Started with WordPress SEO.WordPress Heading Tags Best PracticesNormally we use only one H1 tag for a page, and youll most likely find it for the heading.H1 to H3 tags should suffice on most pages. H4 H6 tags may be stretching it a bit, unless the page is really text heavy.Maintain hierarchy while using the heading tags, meaning use the tags in numerical order H2, followed by H3, H4 Dont skip a level.Ensure that your keyword is included in H2. This is because Google looks for keyword presence in the title and keyword density in the content while searching and ranking content. Theres no necessity for exact keyword match.Keep a limit for the number of words that you cram between the header tags. Dont pack in whole sentences or paragraphs.Its not advisable to  use the same keywords in heading tags across different webpages on your site.Do not use header tags simply to make some elements standout. To style any specific element on your website, use CSS.Adding Heading Tag s in WordPressYou can add header tags in WordPress in 4 ways,1. You can manually type the header tags in the Text Editor in WordPress.2. You can just as easily do it using the Visual Editor.The toolbar in the Visual Editor has many formatting options. Youll see a single row of options with the Toolbar Toggle at the extreme right.But there is second row (called Kitchen Sink!) that remains hidden. It appears only when you click the Toolbar Toggle. Youll find the option for formatting text as headings in this row.To add a heading, highlight the text and move to the Paragraph option in the toolbar. Clicking on it will bring up a menu of the 6 heading tags and you can pick any one.The text now appears as a heading.3. If youre more comfortable working with the keyboard, use Alt+Shift+Numbers 1-6.To remove the heading tag, retype the same command or use Alt+Shift+7.4. Staying with the keyboard, you can also use the octothorpe or hash keys:## followed by text for  H2 tags.### followed by text for  H3 tags.###### followed by text for H6 tags.Final wordsHeading Tags are important for webpages and can make a big difference to readability and search engine visibility. They need to be contextual, to stress the importance of content. Use them sparingly on a webpage to capture the essence of the content in a single phrase. Most of all, its so easy to practice headings, so lets  do ourselves a favor by using them.If you have any questions in relation to WordPress heading tags and how to use them, feel free to submit them in the comments below.Free guide5 Essential Tips to Speed Up Your WordPress SiteReduce your loading time by even 50-80% just by following simple tips.