Google and the H1 tag...

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Sham, Dec 20, 2005.

  1. #1
    Hey,

    I was just wondering what happens to text in between tags which are children of the H1 tag.

    i.e. would Google/AdSense "understand" that my page was about dieting if I had:

    
    <H1> 
      /
      <a href="linktohealth> Health </a>
      /
      <a href="linktodieting> Dieting </a>
      /
    </H1>
    
    Code (markup):
    So, on my page the text appears as:

    / Health / Dieting /

    Where each word is a link, but contained within the H1 tag?...
     
    Sham, Dec 20, 2005 IP
  2. mdvaldosta

    mdvaldosta Peon

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    #2
    h1 tags around links are no-no

    h2 on the otherhand seem to be acceptable.
     
    mdvaldosta, Dec 20, 2005 IP
  3. frankm

    frankm Active Member

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    #3
    I agree with mdvaldosta,
    a standard (without CSS) page looks like this
    <body>
    <h1> main subject A </h1>
    <h2> subject A1 </h2>
    content about A1
    <h2> subject A2 </h2>
    content about A2
    etc.


    put your links in the content blocks and if you must in the h2 tags (but even that I would advise against as there are no reasons for them being there if you removed your style sheet)
     
    frankm, Dec 20, 2005 IP
  4. rrajan

    rrajan Peon

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    #4
    Google adsense takes a overall view of your page before targeting ads. Whether its your H1 tags or H2 tags what was your content?

    I will say no..no..no..to links around H1 tags
     
    rrajan, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  5. Web Gazelle

    Web Gazelle Well-Known Member

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    #5
    I agree that links in any h tag but h1 seem to be acceptable. h1 tag is used for the main title of the page.
     
    Web Gazelle, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  6. Sham

    Sham Peon

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    #6
    Hmm ok, thanks for the tips - I have devised a workaround...

    I have a line of text at the top of my page which says / Health / Dieting for example where each word is a link, and takes you to the index of the catagory.

    Slightly lower down, I have a small heading which says:

    Showing articles in your category: Health, Dieting :

    Here, "Health, Dieting" is a small font so it doesn't actually look like a heading (thanks to css) but is actually a heading for the table of content that I display to the user....

    Is this a legitimate use of the H1 tag?...

    The content that follows below that H1 in the table is a list of articles on dieting...
     
    Sham, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  7. discoverclips

    discoverclips Peon

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    #7
    yes that's a legitimate way of using H1, as long as you don't stuff it with links
     
    discoverclips, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  8. noppid

    noppid gunnin' for the quota

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    #8
    Adsense in fact looks at your search cookies too. I've been served ads based on my searches on sites that had absolutly nothing to do with the ads I was shown. The site was about widgets and I was served ads for my previous searches on google.

    Adsense likes to key in on out bound links too. I think more so then "content" if you have any. They try to compete with your advertising. There is no question about this in my mind what so ever.
     
    noppid, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  9. Coupons

    Coupons Active Member

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    #9
    Are you really sure it read cookies? That would raise serious privacy questions. It would be really risky for Google's image, so that's a bit hard to believe :/
     
    Coupons, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  10. noppid

    noppid gunnin' for the quota

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    #10
    Why would google reading a google cookie be a privacy issue?

    The evidence is my own. I/my wife were researching real estate on google, when we stopped and visited some sites I frequent, the ads stayed real estate. These are not real estate sites that I visit.
     
    noppid, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  11. Cristian Mezei

    Cristian Mezei Notable Member

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    #11
    1. This code Is Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional!

    2. You could use a link for the title of a page, created with H1. I use this on www.seo-xperts.com.

    Web Gazelle, after all, i know H1's are made for page titles, but page titles, can be linked right ?

    3. For an ethic thing, you could put normal text in that breadcrumb (pathway). H's are usually used in content.

    Cheers.
     
    Cristian Mezei, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  12. Coupons

    Coupons Active Member

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    #12
    Hope we don't turn this offtopic :) I was just saying that reading your cookies, to learn your search habits, isn't a thing many people would like, and hence, bad publicity.
    Some years ago, wasn't filled a lawsuit against Alexa, for doing something like this (because of the toolbar)? I remember something...

    As to the H1 code, it seems very nice, and it's valid, but is it engine friendly? Or in another words, will search engines be friends of pages with that?
    Or if they don't mind, does that really help giving more "power" to the links?
     
    Coupons, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  13. Cristian Mezei

    Cristian Mezei Notable Member

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    #13
    More power to the links no. But this is just my opinion.

    It helps the overall rating of the page, but not that specific link, that's inside the tag.
     
    Cristian Mezei, Dec 21, 2005 IP
  14. Web Gazelle

    Web Gazelle Well-Known Member

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    #14
    Yes, the title could be a link. The question is will google look at it as an honest link or a spamming method?
     
    Web Gazelle, Dec 22, 2005 IP