Page structure plays a major role in your SEO strategy. To properly tag content, it is necessary to master the use of Hn tags.
Essential to work effectively on your SEO. They are interesting for search engines but also for Internet users! So how do you optimize your Hn tags? Here are some tips to guide you.
What are Hn Tags?
First, let’s start by defining what Hn tags are.
Also called “heading,” they designate the markers or HTML tags integrated into each of the titles or subtitles of your pages. They are represented, in the code of your page, in this form:
<h1>, <h2>, <h3>, <h4>, <h5> and <h6>.
These are 6 in number and provide a hierarchy to your content. The H1 tag is more important than the H2, which is more important than the H3, and so on.
Thanks to Hn tags, writers classify information. In a way, it is a question of constructing the skeleton of each article to make the reading of the texts more apparent and accessible.
Hn tags, therefore, offer better visual identification and more relevant text. They allow you to browse an article more instinctively, especially visually.
Indeed, if the CSS code is set correctly, the font of the main titles is more significant than that of the subtitles.
Hn tags also have an SEO role. They are not only used to format the design of the titles of your site.
The Hierarchy of Hn Tags
To be effective, Hn tags must be ordered and hierarchical. Respecting this condition will make it easier for readers and Google robots to understand your text.
So, always keep in mind that:
Logically, all the tags must respond to the central theme of your content, mentioned in the H1 tag and the Title tag. They must be worked on in an SEO approach and for the user experience.
What is the Interest of Hn Beacons?
Hn tags offer many benefits for the company or writer writing the page and search engines and readers.
These are:
Simply put, Hn tags provide structure to a block of text. Without them, Internet users and robots would be faced with an indigestible patch of words that look unattractive and very discouraging.
Check out How Meta Description help to boost CTR
Thanks to Hn tags, reading is greatly facilitated. Moreover, note that this consistency also improves the duration of visits to each page. The more the pages are ergonomic and logical, the more the Internet user enjoys spending time there and consulting them.
How to Properly Write Hn Tags?
But then, how to write your Hn tags correctly? Here are the main things to consider when optimizing your markup.
A Limit Only for the H1
First and foremost, you only need one H1 tag per page. After all, you wouldn’t put multiple main titles to an article or multiple titles to a book? A good practice is, therefore, to have only one H1 tag per page.
As for the other tags, on the other hand, the question remains vaguer, and it is more a question of logic and common sense about the subject treated than of a natural condition imposed.
Indeed, there is no limit on the quantity. The H2 and H3 tags help structure a page and divide it into several sub-parts. They are precious allies in bringing more readability and better understanding to a text.
A real-time saver for readers, they allow them to glance at the content that interests them. Thus, they act as a sort of summary.
In terms of the number of H2 and H3, it will, therefore, often depend on the size of your text. If you present a travel guide on the city of Paris, your content may contain dozens of H2 and H3. On the other hand, for a product sheet, the number will be more limited.
The H4, H5, and H6 tags can help specify and structure sub-parts. Generally, they are used when the content is long. When too many are about the size of the article, they can become counterproductive and make the reading too jerky. In this case, replacing them with bulleted lists is better: the latter offers a more fluid rendering but is still hierarchical and coherent.
An Optimal Size
If the number of Hn tags is not limited, the number of characters of these tags is not defined either. About Google, you are, therefore, completely free to create more or less long tags. In practice, however, things are a bit different
Long sentences tend to put off readers, who don’t quite understand why so much information is slipped into a title. When tags are too long, they render less impactful. They aim to catch the eye and make the user want to read the part following the tag. If everything is said in the title, there is no point in reading more.
Also, be aware that, while very long titles allow you to slip in many keywords, they also tend to dilute the most important words. If you don’t want to drown your main keyword in a lot of clutter, choose short, clear, and precise tags.
They will be much more beneficial for your natural referencing while being more pleasant for your readers.
As you will have understood, as Hn tags have a certain weight in SEO, you must try to integrate your primary keywords into them. I strongly advise using your primary or related keywords consistently and naturally in your tags.
Unique Tags
Each page on your site must contain unique Hn tags. Avoid repetitions and vary your vocabulary. If you end up with two parts of your content with the same tag, your paragraphs may become one and the same.
In this sense, determine your main keyword beforehand and define a semantic field around it. From then on, you will be able to find consistent, non-repetitive, and very profitable tags for your SEO.
No Beacon Hopping
Since markup is meant to make your text consistent, skipped tags should be avoided. It would help if you did not change from an H2 tag to an H4 tag. If an H3 is missing, your text’s structure does not follow a logical flow.
No Isolated Beacon
Apart from the H1 tag, which is alone on the page, the other tags should never be isolated.
So if you add an H2, it cannot stand alone. You can only have one subpart in your text. This must include at least two H2…
And the same goes for all tag categories.
How about a bulleted list with a single dash? It’s the same when it comes to beacons. Simply put, think of these as longer, thicker lashes that help structure your text. The different subtitles mentioned always go, at least, in US etc.
An Optimized Design
It is common to end up with a design that, by default, integrates many tags in all pages without them being relevant for SEO and the user
For this reason, we have chosen MNSEO UltraPro to leave you complete freedom in creating your Hn structure.
On the home page, on the category pages, on the product sheets, or on your blog articles, it is you who mark up all the elements to bring some consistency to optimize your SEO.
Check your Hn Markup
Once your text is entirely written, and if you want to check the relevance and consistency of your Hn tags, I advise you to create a table of contents by removing all the intermediate paragraphs.
Reading your tags alone should allow you to understand the structure of your article. So even someone unfamiliar with your topic should understand it by just reading your tags.
If this is not the case, you need to rework your titles to make them more transparent. The reader and Google necessarily value a page following a logical structure.
To help you, don’t hesitate to have your structure read by completely outside people. Nothing is more valuable than an external perspective to move forward on this type of issue.
As you will have understood, Hn tags are significant for SEO and the user experience. Without qualitative and precise tags, you slow down your SEO strategy and your progress in search results.
Related Posts