To H1 or Not to H1... that is MY question...

I run NowThatsHumor.com, a funny pictures website. I'm currently ranked #3 on Google SERPs for Funny Pictures. My site is LONG over due for a rehaul, I'm almost done with the redesign but I have a question that has been bothering me.

If you view my "sloppy" html source, you'll see that my text at the top right that says "Funny Pictures" & "Random Funny Pictures....." is using <font "size"> to be displayed.

My questions

Should I use the H1 for the Funny Pictures on top? Will changing from <font> to <h1> hurt my SERPs?

Should I use H3 or H4 for the bottom text? Will changing from <font> to <h2 or 3> hurt my SERPs?

As you can see why I would debate on this is because I'm already ranked very well and would hate to see a drop for some strange reason.

Whats your opinion?

 

Any time you change an established page you may experience a temporary drop.

A change that removes (redundant) font tags is a good thing, and adding a single H1 tag to each page is a smart move. If you are using font tags at other places to have larger text, then the consideration of utilising H2 and H3 tags also makes sense.

After taking a peek at the source, if you take the time and effort to minimise the use of tables, maximise the use of CSS and make sensible use of the H1-3 tags, em and b tags any changes in the SERPS should be temporary after you make changes.

 

Ya, I got my new setup (looks the same) ready to roll, debating if I'll even see a drop or not.

 

Yeah the h1 header tags are very important in terms of SEO and I think adding them with good keywords can only help you in the long run.

 

Use of an h1 and h2 tag are good. I personally use css to make them look like regular text though.

 

One key consideration is not to abuse <h> tags by using them out of order; this can affect rendering in some browsers. But SEO experts have indeed found that adding keywords to <h> tags (or vice versa) will help in the SERP. BTW, contact me by PM to discuss your humor links.

 

Use your H tags for what they should be used for, as sub headings. Use descriptive keyword subheadings.

If you are crapping it about losing positioning try testing with one page. Watch to see if it makes a difference.

 

If its not broke...don't try to fix it. -----If you're number 3-----don't be greedy

SEO is like chess...If you don't need to move your queen...Don't

If Google updates (in the next few months) and your rankings drop....Pull the H move.

If you don't need to pull the H move now...don't

 

wow..that's pretty good ranking.
I guess it doesn't hurt to have H1 tags in the page, it would be good in the long run.

 

Technically, the use of semantic tags instead of outmoded FONT tags should give you some SEO benefit, but I'm intrigued by what SunDevil said above about not making that change unless you absolutely need to...

 

H1 tags is very important for website. The Google ranking algorithm dictates that if you're using a <h1> tag, then the text in between this tag must be more important than the content on the rest of the page.

 

For sure h1 and h2 helps in msn seo but its just my opinion/experance but i feel if you have to many it hurts you on msn.. cant say about google or yahoo..

I usually add 1 <h1> and 1 <h2> only to every page and and the same 2 phrases in normal text some where near the bottom.. and in my title and inlinks .. this has keept me near top. in past ive tried h1 h2 h3 and h4 on the same pages and dropd but just with one h1 and h2 i do good..

p.s. yea SunDevil your smart

 

Yeah, Semantic Code is pretty important for SEO.

 

H1 is much weigthed in SE. If your keyword uses H1, then it has an impact great impact to SE.

 

<h#> tags are important for on-page optimization. the way I see it, its a must for SEs of course. Now, its your strategy on where to put those tags.

 

people are saying that h1 tags are important for google but i did not get success when i used h1 tags on my web sites

 

Changing the pages will make the SE re index your pages. Chances of loosing current ranking is high.
You can use H1/H2 or so tags using css without sacrificing the look. Those tags greatly helps letting crawlers know that this is an important keyword for the page being visited.

 

Don't forget, I already make use of the Heading tags on my page, just not in the section i'm pointing out, if you scroll down you'll see what I mean near my 300x250 banner.

 

Jesus bro, why didn't you just ask me?

Bear in mind I'm not looking at the page or the code, so I'm going to try and keep this as generic as I possibly can. H1 is used for the page title (since a page shouldn't have more than one title, that alone should tell you not to have more than one H1 element). I don't see any harm in putting a keyword or two in the H1 element if it's going to reinforce the heading - don't forget that stuffing too many keywords together can result in their strength being diluted. Crap content = crap rankings afterall. Though fortunately you don't have that problem.

Look at how your page's content is structured. Do they merit having additional sub-headings, such as H2, and H3? If they do, then go ahead and use them (in moderation of course). If not, then don't worry about it.

With regard to your third question, see above, since I already answered it. If you do see a drop though, chances are it'll only be temporary.

What he said.

Generally I'd agree with you; however, ssandecki has a good chance of improving the usability and accessibililty of the site, so in this case I'd take the risk as long as the link structure does not get touched.

The only real benefits though would be the increased weight given to heading elements (especially when used properly) and the reduced code to content ratio. But if it helps, then go for it.

As I said before, H1 is like the page title - if pages shouldn't have more than one title, don't use more than one H1 element (search engines of course probably won't care, but there is a strong semantic case to be made here).

Just out of curiosity, how much content do you typically have on your pages, and how do you use your headings? Because normally you shouldn't be having the problems you're describing here.