Is <H1> better then <H4> for SEO

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by benjF, Mar 30, 2009.

  1. #1
    I have heard that SEO can be affected by text that you have in header tags. But I am wondering whether Google sets different importance to the different headers.

    For example, normaly and by default H1 is bigger and bolder then H4. So does Google consider a H1 header as more important then H4?
     
    benjF, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  2. RockyMtnHi

    RockyMtnHi Active Member

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    #2
    Yes, you should make good use of h1 - h3 tags.
     
    RockyMtnHi, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  3. vansterdam

    vansterdam Notable Member

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    #3
    I personally don't think the h1 tag itself is very important. I think what is more important is which words on a page use stronger fonts, whether it be through bold, italics, headers, etc. The search engine spider could look through a page and see what words are more important than others. Using a h1 probably still is a good idea, but I don't think it is crucial.

    Regardless of whether h1 is better than h4, backlinks are more important than any headers or fonts. So worry more about things like backlinks instead.
     
    vansterdam, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  4. joebert

    joebert Well-Known Member

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    #4
    <h1> is designed to display the main topic of a page. <h2-6> are designed for subsections of the main topic.

    <h2-6> text should be considered within the context of the <h*> elements before them.
     
    joebert, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  5. nickjason

    nickjason Peon

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    #5
    after your title, your web page's header tags are the nest most important placement for your keywords. header tags are specified with the following HTML code: <h1>,<h2>,<h3>,<h4>,<h5>. generally speaking, an <h1> tag is considered more important than an <h2> tag which is more important than <h3>tag, and so on. since your header tag will become the headlines on your web pages, it's important that they look natural and appeal to customers who visit your site.
     
    nickjason, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  6. qazu

    qazu Well-Known Member

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    #6
    Yup, but only as long you don't use <h1> for everything. It should only be the main topic of your page, others should be <h2>, etc
     
    qazu, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  7. trosquin

    trosquin Active Member

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    #7
    You should at the very least follow the google webmaster guidelines an have 1 <h1> tag per page. I find them as important as any other onpage factor!
     
    trosquin, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  8. seosapien

    seosapien Peon

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    #8
    H1 is the title of the page
    H2 are the subtitles
    H3 are the subtitles of the subtitles is any
    so on.

    Do not use H1 in the entire page and for subtitles or it will look weird to googlebot!
     
    seosapien, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  9. Canonical

    Canonical Well-Known Member

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    #9
    I agree w/ nickjason. IMO Order of importance is:

    - <title> - Most important ranking factor
    - <h1> - 2nd most important... <h2> 3rd most important...down to <h6> 7th most important... although you should rarely go past <h3>

    Then comes stuff like (importance gets fuzzy here):
    - Page content
    - strong, bolding, italics, etc.
    - keyword rich URL
    etc.

    I like to make my pages as focused as possible, typically targeting 1 major keyword phrase (I'll target 2 or 3 keyword phrases on a single page if they are vary similar and overlap).

    The most important keyword phrase will appear 1st in the <title> element... 2nd most important next if applicable and 3rd most important next if applicable.

    I only use a singe <h1> on each page. It summarizes what the page is about which means it always contains the keywords from 1st keyword phrase in the <title> element.

    If applicable, I use <h2> elements to target the 1st, 2nd, and/or 3rd keyword phrases from the <title>.

    I rarely have a need for <h3>...

    I never use <h4>...<h6>...
     
    Canonical, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  10. JessieJames27

    JessieJames27 Active Member

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    #10
    I just focus to H1 and H2 :) Other header tags are not anymore useful to SEO.
     
    JessieJames27, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  11. silverf0x

    silverf0x Well-Known Member

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    #11
    Yes....H1 better than H4.

    As I know, Google Bot will assume that important if you use it H1 - H3. So, I never use H4 and so on
     
    silverf0x, Mar 30, 2009 IP
  12. benjF

    benjF Peon

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    #12
    This is great information. Thanks. I have not created a website for many years. I was still under the assumption the h1-h6 was about text size. I guess now it is about importance. H1 being the most important. Most of my headers were h4, only due to the size in CSS. Via CSS I have made h1-h3 smaller and changed my website with the information provided. Thanks again.
     
    benjF, Mar 31, 2009 IP
  13. leafracing

    leafracing Peon

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    #13
    Really? So Google doesn't care about any other header tag than H1 and H2??
     
    leafracing, Mar 31, 2009 IP
  14. DKS404

    DKS404 Greenhorn

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    #14
    I always use h1 tags for the main header of the page, and it normally includes a keyword. The following headers or titles recieve h2 tags. I don't use H3 + tags very often at all.
     
    DKS404, Mar 31, 2009 IP
  15. koan

    koan Well-Known Member

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    #15
    Don't use the H1, H2, H3 for the default text size presentation, you can deal with that using CSS, use them for their semantic meanings, H1 being the most important title, H4 being the less important subtitle.
     
    koan, Mar 31, 2009 IP
  16. bigcat1967

    bigcat1967 Active Member

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    #16
    Yes, <h1> tags are important, but remember, if it looks crappy on your site because it looks to big, go w/ <h2> or <h3>. I've been tempted to use <h1> tags in the past, but since it looked kind of bad from a visitor standpoint, I used maybe an <h3>. Google will still think they are important, and give you some value for it.

    My two cents anyway.
     
    bigcat1967, Mar 31, 2009 IP
  17. Whitey

    Whitey Active Member

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    #17
    You can always change the size/weight of the header text using CSS :)
     
    Whitey, Mar 31, 2009 IP
  18. internetmarketingiq

    internetmarketingiq Well-Known Member

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    #18
    Who really knows?

    Think of it this way. If Google's Algorithm were a recipe for minestrone soup and H1's were Tomatoes, and H4's were oregano would your soup be any better if you added more tomatoes or more oregano?

    Depends on the recipe. And Google's recipe is "secret". Maybe the real trick is more diced carrots, or less, or maybe it's the cabbage.

    There is really no way to know for sure unless you are one of the people "in the know" that works for Google.

    So all you can really do is what everyone else does... follow the basic recipe, and experiment with the ingredients until you find what works for you.
     
    internetmarketingiq, Mar 31, 2009 IP
  19. freno_money

    freno_money Peon

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    #19
    I only put h1 with my main keywords and only go to h2 and possibly h3 if ever depending on the style and how many secondary keywords are worth trying to seo on a single page.
     
    freno_money, Mar 31, 2009 IP
  20. koan

    koan Well-Known Member

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    #20
    :eek:

    If you're a newbie, maybe you shouldn't be giving advices about topics you don't know much about, it just adds to the confusion.
     
    koan, Mar 31, 2009 IP