Using H1, H2 etc for SEO

Hi all,

I realise that H tags are part of SEO, but what i'm wondering is if my SEO is affected due to the way i use them?

I break up my content in to sections using H tags, but i use either H3 or H4 because they are formatted best to suit my site (H1 and H2 are too big)- are they ranked less important than H1?

You can see an example on one of my articles: http://www.smashsales.com/2010/12/9-voicemail-message-mistakes/

That is formatted using H3 tags - as you can see, H2 or H1 would be too big.

Should i re-format my H1 tag to make it smaller and use that instead?

 

you can use css for styling h1 as well.

for example:
h1 {font-size:14px;color:blue;}

 

Yes reformat the H1 and H2 to be smaller for your site, it's important for SEO to follow the guidelines and use header tags as they were intended, from top to bottom on a page.

 

cheers guys...

@webcosmo - i suppose i could do that inline, but it means i'd have to do it everytime i wanted to use the tags.
I guess i'll just change the master CSS file.

thanks again

 

thats what webcosmo was refering, modifiying your css file.

 

you can use css h1 and bold tags,strong tags for sub heading..

 

yeah, <H1> tag is very important in SEO............

 

When displaying content, always work for the good document structure.

H1 for the main headline - emphasizing the topic of the content
H2, H3 for sub headings

Search google with "google h1 document outline". You will find the 456bereastreet.com article. It is a good read.

 

You should keep your H1 and H2 tags, just alter your CSS to change the size of them..

 

ok cool.. thanks all - i'm off to alter my CSS

 

Yes! Using CSS, of course,

You shouldn't use H2 or H3 HTML tags to replace H1.

 

i use css for reformat H1, but do not put H1 too much on one page, i think google will mark it as spam

 

I don't think so. The only thing you have to be careful is to properly use the tags when needed and always follow the specifications:
Only one <H1> on one page an than <h2>, <h3> etc only when needed. These tags are also important for users because you can emphasize an idea or message you want to be sent to them. Structuring the articles is an important part of both on-site optimization and copywriting.

 

Depending on what i am working and if they are needed i would aim to limit the number of header tags to the following quantities:

1qty x h1 tag
2qty x h2 tag
3qty x h3 tag
4qty x h4 tag
etc

i also make sure that the wording is also keyword rich and specific... nothing says you have to do this its just my rule of thumb practice...

hth