Is there a recommended number of characters or words that we should use within the heading tags? Anyone have any examples of their optimized tags that they would like to share?
There isn't a set number of characters or words that you should be using in headers. Just try to work your main keywords into your headers. Extra words within the headers just dilute the strength of your keywords. So don't make your headers too long. You should also watch for over-optimization. It can set off red flags if your headers, title and description are all very similar.
Yes, as said above. Also it is preferred to use only one H1 tag per page, then use H2, H3, etc even if the formatting is the same.
More is not better, don't overuse! Limit each page to one H1 & 1-2 H2s, then use H3s. Limit length of heading tags; less words to take away weight from your target phrase.
no no no, the size of the font is crontrolled by the css file, if the css file has not defined the font size then there is a default size which is normally too large for most website. Google pays no attention to the size of the font as it is a computer program and just looks for the <h1> element and not at the size so you can make the h1 element to be 11 pt in size and your would not get into any problems, however going below 9 pt google may say you are trying to use invisble text and in this case you may be punished by google. the number of words/characters in a h1 enclosed element is dependant upon your page layout and how the page looks to the visitor, if it looks spammy then they may leave immediately.. as perviousl;y mentioned on h1 tag per page, I stick to also 1 h2 per page and then use h3 and h4, as most sites I design then the side bar does not have any header tags at all
h1 should be different as per website keywords, still h1 is useful once it cover the keywords along with nice text message, so should be around 5-7 words.