What are headings? How to optimize header tags for SEO

In an SEO-friendly article, Heading are not just subtitles that break up the content. They also help Google understand the structure and main topic of the article. Using heading tags sensibly gives readers clearer navigation and improves your chances of ranking for keywords in search results. In this article, MONA Media will walk you through What is a heading, why heading tags matter in onpage SEO, and how to write heading tags that are engaging, easy to understand and technically correct for SEO.

What is a heading?

Heading are the titles used to break an article's content into clear, organized sections. When you read an article on a website, the openings of each section are usually headings. They run from H1 to H6, where H1 is the largest and H6 the smallest.

An article should have only one H1. It is the main title and shows the topic of the whole article. H2 to H6 can appear many times, depending on how detailed the content is and how it is organized. The further you go from H2 down to H6, the lower the priority for search engines.

Among SEO-standard articles, splitting content with headings helps search engines understand the content structure and improves the reading experience. If you have seen an article with a table of contents by section, that's thanks to properly used heading tags.

Why heading tags matter for SEO

Over SEO, header tags play a very important role in raising the quality of an article and make it easier to reach readers and optimize for SEO. Here are the benefits of optimizing heading tags in an SEO-friendly article:

Show a clear structure for the whole article

By understanding Heading is tags, readers can easily picture the overall content of the article. They'll also know the main point of each header tag, and can jump straight to the headings they want without reading the whole article. A heading tag's job is to be clear, flexible and to convey the overall content.

Better accessibility and a friendlier experience for users

Readers can click easily from one heading to another, subheading as well. This is the best shortcut to everything in the article.

This accessibility keeps users on the article longer, helps them understand all the content, and can improve conversions such as purchases and contact requests. That friendliness and accessibility help the website win more and more potential customers.

Search engine optimization: strengthen your SEO

Using heading tags sensibly is an essential part of optimizing SEO Onpage. Every article should be clearly divided with heading tags, with the main keyword, secondary keywords and related keywords placed strategically.

An article should have at least two H2s and two H3s. This helps readers follow along and helps search engines understand the content. Articles that are poorly organized or overuse header tags are often rated low during crawling and ranking.

For a website to improve its ranking in a lasting way, it has to start with content. Optimizing heading tags is the important first step. Keyword research has to come with a plan for placing keywords in header tags sensibly. Then the article is friendly to users and also scores higher on SEO.

In short, getting heading tags right is the foundation of a strong content system that is easy to read and competes well on Google. It is one of the technical factors to prioritize in any professional SEO strategy.

-> Read more:What is an SEO Title? A guide to writing SEO-friendly heading tags

Basic ways to check H tags on a website

Finding and checking H tags on a website is simple. Here are a few easy ways to find headings quickly.

Find heading tags in the website's source code

Follow these steps to find heading tags in a page's source code.

• Step 1: Open the page you want to check in your browser.
• Step 2: Right-click the page and choose “View page source” or press the key combination Ctrl + U.
• Step 3: A new window appears showing the page's HTML source code.
• Step 4: In the source window, use the search function (usually opened with Ctrl + F) and enter heading tags such as “<h1>”, “<h2>”, “<h3>”, “<h4>”, “<h5>”, “<h6>” to find the heading tags on the page.
• Step 5: When you find a heading tag, you can check its content to see the page's heading structure.

Note that heading tags are usually inside the “body” of the HTML source and wrapped in an opening and closing tag. For example: “<h1>Heading 1</h1>”.

Check header tags directly on the page with an SEO tool

The 3 SEO tools for checking that we want to introduce here are: SEO Quake, Web Developer and Screaming Frog. Below are the detailed steps for each tool.

Check H tags with SEO Quake

To check heading tags on a web page with SEO Quake, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Install and activate the SEO Quake extension in your browser (for example Chrome or Firefox).
• Step 2: Go to the page whose heading tags you want to check.
• Step 3: Right-click the page and choose “Audit with SEOquake” in the menu that appears.
• Step 4: A new window shows SEO information about the page.
• Step 5: In the SEO Quake window, find the tab “Page Info” or “On-page” and find the section “Heading”.
• Step 6: In the section “Heading”, you'll see a list of H tags (H1, H2, H3, …) and the page's H tag structure.
• Step 7: Check the content and structure of the header tags to make sure they follow SEO rules and give users a good experience.

Note that using SEO Quake requires installing and activating the browser extension on your computer.

Check header tags with Web Developer

To check heading tags on a web page with Web Developer, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Install and activate the Web Developer extension in your browser.
• Step 2: Go to the page whose H tags you want to check.
• Step 3: Right-click the page and choose “Inspect” or “Inspect Element” in the menu that appears.
• Step 4: The Developer Tools window appears, letting you view and edit the page's source code.
• Step 5: In Developer Tools, find and choose the tab “Elements” or “HTML”.
• Step 6: Find the section “Heading” in the page's HTML structure. H tags are usually marked as h1, h2, h3, …
• Step 7: Click the heading tags to see their content and check the page's header tag structure.

Check with Screaming Frog

To check H tags on a website with Screaming Frog, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Download and install Screaming Frog SEO Spider on your computer.
• Step 2: Open Screaming Frog and enter the URL of the website you want to check in the toolbar.
• Step 3: Click the “Start” button to start crawling the website.
• Step 4: Wait for Screaming Frog to finish crawling and collecting data.
• Step 5: When the crawl finishes, find and choose the tab “Headings” in the “Internal” or “External” window (depending on your choice).

• Step 6: In the tab “Headings”, you'll see a list of H tags (H1, H2, H3, …) and the website's header tag structure.
• Step 7: Check the content and structure of the heading tags to make sure they follow SEO rules and give users a good experience.

Note that Screaming Frog is a paid tool for analyzing heading tags and must be installed on your computer.

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How to create and optimize H tags for SEO

You now understand What is a heading Next, learn how to optimize heading tags. To optimize header tags for SEO, writers should pay attention to everything from H1 to H6 and put effort into engaging heading titles. Specifically:

Heading 1 tag

Heading 1 should be simple, short and sum up the whole content of the article. The H1 tag is the article's title, and each article has only one H1. Make sure the H1 contains the article's main keyword.

For better website SEO, put the keyword at the start of the H1. If that's hard to do, place it as close to the start of the title as you can.

Also keep the heading tag a moderate length: not shorter than 50 characters but also not longer than 72 characters. And use broad, easy-to-understand wording that makes the content stand out and draws readers in when they see the title (H1).

Heading 2 tag

H2s are children of the H1, and an article can have any number of them. An H2 usually contains the main keyword and can carry additional LSI keywords. For a logical, well-organized article, aim for 2 or more H2s. They shouldn't be longer than the H1, and each should sum up the paragraphs beneath it.

Creating heading tags and optimizing header tags for SEO isn't easy for businesses that don't know SEO and Marketing Online. Beyond heading tags, building a content plan SEO-standard articles also helps your website climb the search results on Google.

MONA Media is known as a provider of quality SEO services. With more than 10 years of experience on the “racetrack” Marketing & full-scope SEO. We have completed more than 500+ SEO projects with with a 100% success rate. We've reached the TOP for thousands of keywords with extremely high competition difficulty! We're confident we'll deliver the best SEO result for you, with articles that meet standards for quality and SEO techniques.

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Heading 3 tag

If H2 is a child of H1, then H3 is a grandchild. An H3 is created to clarify the content of an H2. For SEO, as a rule each heading section should not exceed 300 words and each paragraph no more than 150 words.

Heading 2 sections that run long need H3s to break them up. In H3s you can also use secondary and related keywords, which makes the structure of the post clearer and tends to earn a better rating from search engines.

Once you have a solid outline with H tags from H1 to H6, you are already about 50% of the way to a well-optimised post. What is left is how you place the content, its length, the keywords, and how you hold the reader's attention.

Today, how well a post is optimised is judged not only on its technical SEO but also on user experience and the post's bounce rate.

Heading tags 4, 5 and 6

H4, H5 and H6 tags exist to break content down further. If your content is already clear at heading 3, you may not need them. In this article, for example, our heading 3 is: “Creating headings to improve SEO results”.

Because this section is long, and to keep it organised and easy to follow, we added heading 4s one by one: “Heading 1 tag, heading 2 tag, heading 4 tag, heading 4, 5 and 6 tags”, so you can see how heading tags are built.

SEO-friendly posts usually stop at heading 4. You only need heading 5 and 6 when the content is varied and carries a lot of information. Splitting a varied post with H1 through H6 tags keeps it well structured for SEO.

Posts under 1,000 words usually need only Heading 2 and Heading 3. Posts over 2,000 words will also need Heading 4. The longer the post and the more layers it has, the more H2 to H6 tags it may use. Plan the heading layout first, then write the content, so the post covers the topic broadly and from as many angles as possible.

Tips for writing engaging heading tags that boost website SEO

When you build content for your website, an appealing heading tag does more than draw readers in. It also matters for SEO. Here are some ways to write headings that hold attention and help your SEO:

• Choose the right main keyword: Each heading should contain a main keyword related to the page, so search engines understand your content better.
• Use creative wording that draws readers in: To catch the reader's eye, use creative, engaging wording that sparks curiosity. It makes people want to keep reading and explore your content.
• Keep headings a sensible length: Each heading should be short and to the point, and carry the main idea of the section it introduces. Overly long headings lose their effect and annoy readers.
• Use a sensible header tag structure: Arrange H tags in a logical order from Heading 1 (H1) to Heading 6 (H6). H1 is the main title and should be used only once per page. The lower-level tags, H2 to H6, must follow the order and logic of the content.
• Keep headings connected and consistent: One effective way to manage headings is to arrange the H tags logically and link them together clearly. This helps readers see the structure and how the sections relate. Use headings to connect sections and show the logic in Article Heading you project.
• Check compatibility and optimisation: Make sure your header tags work with search engines and display correctly across browsers and devices. Test your headings on mobile and confirm they are readable and laid out sensibly.
• Using title templates with attention-grabbing phrases is an effective way to improve your SEO and catch readers' attention
• Use formatting: To make heading tags more appealing and easy to read, use formatting such as bold, larger type or different colours. Use these sparingly, and only emphasise important words or phrases in the H tag.

Note: don't overuse headings. Don't use headings excessively or when they aren't needed. Use H tags only when you really need them to mark and emphasise key parts of the content. This keeps your H tags consistent and effective.

Things to note when using heading tags in articles

Here are some points to keep in mind when creating headings for an SEO-friendly post:

• Logic and connection: Make sure headings reflect the logical structure of the post and connect to the content beneath them. This helps readers follow along and understand the message.
• Use them in order: Use heading tags (H1, H2, H3, …) in the right order and don't skip any. H1 is for the main title, followed by H2, H3 and so on.
• Optimise keywords: Use keywords that fit the content and the site's main topic in your headings. This helps the post show up in search results.
• Short and engaging: Keep header tag titles short, concise and engaging to catch readers' attention. Avoid headings that are too long or unnecessary.
• Don't use too many headings: Don't overuse heading tags in a single post. Too many throws the post off balance and confuses readers.
• Mind the priority: Use heading tags by priority: H2 for subheadings, H3 for smaller ones, and so on. This helps search engines and readers understand the structure of the post.
• Reread and edit: Always reread and edit your headings to keep the quality of your content high.

In short, following the points above when using heading tags gives a clear structure, supports SEO and gives readers a better experience.

-> Read more: How to use the canonical tag optimize a website

Frequently asked questions about headings

1. What is a title heading? 

A title heading is a special kind of heading that defines the main title of a web page or post. It sits inside the <title> tag in the HTML code and appears in the browser's title bar and in search results.

2. How do you create SEO-friendly heading tags?

To create SEO-friendly heading tags, follow these rules:

• Use heading tags in the correct order, from H1 to H6.
• Put the main title in the H1 tag and subheadings in order from H2 to H6.
• Use keywords that fit the content in your H tags.
• Avoid too many headings, and make sure each one is meaningful and linked to the content below it.

3. What role do heading tags play in SEO?

Header tags play an important role in search engine optimisation (SEO):

• They help search engines understand the structure and content of a web page.
• They reflect the connection and logic of the content, helping readers and search engines understand both the main topic and the specific parts of a post.
• They help improve a site's ranking on search engines.
• Using heading tags properly also improves user experience and helps raise the accessibility and conversion rate of the site.

With the points above, you now have a clearer idea of what a heading is and how to apply heading tags sensibly to improve your website's SEO. Properly optimised, a heading system makes content easier to follow and can noticeably improve search rankings. MONA believes the knowledge in this article will help you carry out an SEO-friendly content strategy with more confidence, aiming for lasting results as your website grows.

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