The way you format your page content is just as important as your website design, including images, organization, or any other elements. Formatting is the best way to highlight the most important ideas to the visitor and divide your content for easy reading. It is important to remember that although you do have an editor, it does not allow all the options as a Microsoft Word program would. Keep your formatting simple and easy to read.
Understanding Headings
When formatting your page or post, you are given options to use paragraph text or 1-6 headings. It is important to understand when each style of heading is to be used and use it in a consistent manner. Always work your way down the list. Try not to mix the headings out of order and most importantly, stay consistent with your formatting throughout your site.
H1 Heading – DO NOT USE!
H1 Headings are only used as the page title. Do not use H1 within the content area.
H2 Heading
H2 Headings are used for the highest importance and usually only used once if they are used on a page.
H3 Headings
If you tend to have a lot of content on your page or post, using headings can separate the sections, announce a change in subject, or just add visual interest to the page.
H4 Headings
Sometimes H3 and H4 Headings are the same font and size just set with different color options. If so, they can be used either way to separate content on the page. However, sometimes the H4 Heading is a bit smaller and can be used to subdivide content within a section already divided with an H3 Heading.
H5 Heading
Sometimes H5 and H6 Headings are the same font and size just set with different color options. If so, they can be used either way to separate content on the page. If they are not the same, H5 Headings can be used to subdivide content within a section already divided with an H3 or H4 Heading.
H6 Heading
Sometimes H5 and H6 Headings are the same font and size just set with different color options. If so, they can be used either way to separate content on the page. If they are not the same, H6 Headings can be used to subdivide content within a section already divided with an H3, H4 or H5 Heading.
Do’s Of Using Headings In WordPress
Stick to a heading structure that makes sense
There is a reason for the order of heading tags. The numbers identify levels of importance of the content that follows it. H1 is your page title, never use H1 in your content area. The main point or subjects should use an H2- usually only one or two per page. H3’s are used to notify the reader of subheaders within the content. If the content can be divided even further use H4, H5, and H6 for subcategories within each H3 section. Always keep the heading tags in numerical order. This helps search engines identify what is the most important parts of your page or posts content.
Include keywords in your headings
The content inside heading tags is important because it gives search engines an idea of what your content is about. It is important to place keywords in your headings to help search engines and users identify what your content is about.
Dont’s of Using Headings in WordPress
Do not use H1 tags in your content
The H1 tag is one of the places search engines go to first to determine the topic of your content. Because of this, it should be the title of your post or page. At Vivid Image we set up your site so the H1 is the title of your page so you will not need to use an H1 as you create your content.
Avoid using headings for style
Headings provide structure to your pages and not to add style or make content stand out. There are many other ways you can make content stand out. You can use bolded text. Or use blocked quotes to make content stand out.
Don’t write entire paragraphs in your heading
The heading is meant for headlines that introduce different sections of content. Using a heading tag to make content stand out or look bolded creates a bad experience for users and search engines.
Don’t stuff keywords
Stuffing keywords in any part of your website is bad and should always be avoided. Doing this will lead to penalties from search engines.
Headings, Essential for Quality Content
Using heading tags properly is important for every blogger, marketer, or website owner. Properly using headers creates a great user experience for website visitors and for search engine robots.
Always think about your readers first and search engines last. Using headings properly will create a great user experience and also follow basic SEO best practices.