7 replies to this topic

[JeremyH]

I'm revisiting how I've done things in the past and seeing if I can do it better.

In the past I've always used my <h1> tags for my website's name and subsequent header tags for smaller sections:

Page 1
<title>Widget World</title>
...
<h1><a href="/">Widget World</a></h1>
<h2>About Us</h2>
...
<h2>Process</h2>
...
<h2>Ordering Information</h2>
...

Page 2
<title>Media Kit - Widget World<title>
...
<h1><a href="/">Widget World</a></h1>
<h2>Media Kit</h2>
<h3>Biographies</h3>
<h4>Person 1</h4>
...
<h4>Person 2</h4>
...
<h3>Fact Sheet</h3>
...

I've always made my <h1> a link back to my homepage and I used CSS to style it with my logo. Also, I've always used only one <h1> per page.

I'm wondering if it might be more appropriate for each page on my site to have different <h1> headers, maybe something that better correlates to the title tags. Also, if I change up how I handle my h1 headers, how best should I incorporate my website name and link to my homepage?

[torka]

Header tags aren't as important as you seem to think. Use them however you see fit, really.

That said, personally, I think the H1 should relate to the content of the page, with the H2s as subheaders highlighting sub sections within the content (and so forth through H2s, H3s, etc.).

Most times the website name is in a logo at the top of the page, which is linked to the site home page, and there's usually a "home" link somewhere in the navigation.

--Torka

[Jill]

I'm wondering if it might be more appropriate for each page on my site to have different <h1> headers, maybe something that better correlates to the title tags. Also, if I change up how I handle my h1 headers, how best should I incorporate my website name and link to my homepage?

You can do it however you like, it has nothing to do with SEO.

[chrishirst]

Aye!

Using heading elements correctly to add structure to a document if far more important and useful than thinking of them in "SEO" terms, and if the SEs just happen to find the text in your heading elements useful as well, it's a winner all round.

And of course the same words in the Title + the Headings + the Alt attributes + the URL + in bold, italics, strong, emphasis and all the other usual places the "experts" suggest will very likely take your documents into "Over Cooked SEO" territory.

[JeremyH]

Thank you for your replies. I guess I'm trying to get away from SEO, instead I'm trying to make sure my code is semantically correct and logically organized. I'm not trying to optimize for the search engines but having said that I want to make sure my content is accessible, not just to the search engines but to all the users of my site. That's why I'm revisiting some of the basics, such as my headers and where to place the website name.

[qwerty]

Torka's advice bears repeating. It isn't about SEO -- not strictly about SEO, anyway, if at all. The top level heading, whether you choose to put it in an h1 tag or not (I do, personally) should reflect the overall content of the page, not the site. Putting "widget world" in every page's top heading is not the proper use of a heading. That's what the logo is for, along with the part of the page's title tag where you put some branding, should you choose to do so.

[chrishirst]

Ok if you are revisiting the basics, I'll correct some of the terminology. Yeah, sure it may seem pedantic or a bit like "nit-picking" but there is so much mis-understanding in the search and web development worlds, using the correct terms rather than the "popular" misnomers is essential if you do want to educate rather than confuse your readers.

Hn elements are actually called heading elements ( http://www.w3.org/Ma...3/headings.html ), a term which fully and correctly describes what function that they perform in a HTML document. Which should go some way to lessening the confusion that many people have with them.

Headers (in this context) are the 'messages' (HTTP Headers) that are passed in the HTTP request and response communications between a user agent and server

[piskie]

w3scools.com/tags/tag_hn.asp

The <h1> to <h6> tags are used to define HTML headings.

I always have called them Heading Tags and Always will.