Correct use of H1 Tag

I was hoping someone could shed some light on the correct use and importance of the H1 tag. I recently had a developer create a template for my site and they used the H1 tag to denote the graphical header. As such, I wasn't able to use the H1 tag on my pages. I've read where the H1 tag should note the most important content on the page. I've also seen where abusing the H1 tag can depreciate your page ranking.

My current method has been to use one H2 tag and the subsequent H3 tags for other paragraphs. In some cases, such as my homepage, I have multiple H2 tags. So, my code looks like:
<h1 title="My Site"><a href="http://www.mysite.com">My Site</a><img src="http://www.mysite.com/templates/images/header.jpg" width="738" height="72" alt="My Site" /></h1>

<h2>Title of Page</h2>
<p>content</p>
<h3>Sub Heading</h3>
<p>content</p>

I'd like thoughts, opinions and any links to research on the best practices.

 

Well since no engine will ever tell you their true formula, ranking, etc. you have to rely somewhat on the past experiences of others; and we all know that opinions are like .... well, you probably know the rest ....

Personally, I following much the same principles as you've outlined.

I try to use heading in the same way I would outline a written document:

h1 - title
h2 - main point
p - content
h3 - sub points/heading
p - content

The difference for me though, is that I don't use my site name or title per se in the H1, but rather a good, descriptive title of the page; i.e. not "My Site Name" but, "Elvis Presley", then the H2 might be "Biography" etc. making use of keywords that also aid the reader/viewer in flowing easily through the page.

 

I would argue that the H1 element should be the most important or highest level subject of the page, not the site as a whole. I would structure a page like this:

[Page Header]
[H1 Header]
[content]
[H2 Sub Head]
[more content]
<repeat above 2 elements in necessary>
[Footer]

 

So, I guess the debate lies on where the H1 should be a "global" header - ie. Elvis Presley or use the Page Title, ie. Elvis Presley Box Set Released (or something along those lines).

 

I also tend to use :

h1 - title
h2 - main point
p - content
h3 - sub points/heading
p - content

but then again, I'm stuck on position 28 for my main site. I would love to know the correct formulation as well.
frank

 

Is your H1 global or is it specific to content on the page?

 

I just about never use the site title as my title or in a H1 unless the title is a KWP I care about. I use my main KWP as the site's title.

Example:

No: MJ's Pit

Yes: Discounted Blue Widgets

On sub pages, the H1 is the name of the content. Example: Featured Blue Widgets. I don't put the site name (in text) on all pages, with exception of the footer.

I use CSS more and more these days to control all the attributes and positioning of the tags.

All this is subject to change depending on what the website type is and my purpose.

 

That's an awesome point about the CSS marketjunction ... I think some people don't like to use h tags because of the size and it can detract, but you can render them various sizes, colors, positioning, etc. with css.

 

The heading tags display text in sizes ranging from the largest, h1, to the smallest, h6. These specifications are intended to denote the importance data below the heading.

 

Content specific!

 

<h1> Web Site Title<h1>
<h2> main point<h2>
<p> Web Content<p>
<h3> sub points/heading<h3>
<p> content<p/>


So that is the correct format?

My question is... with our site www.RTDesignGroup.com, we dont have a lot of text. So how many H1 tags can we take advantage of.

Can someone please help me with this?

THanks,
-C

 

use <h1> tags for page headings, and <h2> for section headings. It certainly assists Google in understanding the essence of the page.