What are HTML Header Tags? How Do They Work for SEO?

August 3, 2023 | Advanced SEO

Many budding writers think that inserting some bold words in the content related to the topic is enough for ranking the blog on search engine result pages.

But the fact is search engines follow a particular algorithm while crawling and indexing. The blog needs to be optimized accordingly for ranking on SERPs.

This is where HTML headers come into play: One of the most essential tools for readers’ comprehension and search engine optimization.

What Are Header HTML Tags?

Header HTML tags are header elements in HTML that split a web page’s content into headings and subheadings. 

They rank from H1 to H6 in order of importance.

Though the ‘H’ stands for ‘Heading element,’ but SEO community mostly refers to them as header tags.

What is An H1 Tag?

An H1 tag is the first header HTML element of web page content.

It has the topmost importance as it represents the title of the web page content.

H1 header HTML

They must be keyword-optimized and enticing enough to hook the reader. H1 tags must prominently explain the main idea of the post content.

That helps readers and crawlers better understand what to expect from the web page content.

The Function of Other HTML Headers

Following are the functions of other tags used hierarchically within the blog content,

H2 Tags: 

The H2 HTML headers separate the web page content into sections and explain the main points of the content.

H2 header HTML

H2 heading tags must include semantic keywords related to the main idea of the content topic reflected in the H1 header HTML tag. 

H2 subheaders help readers quickly skim the content and allow them to choose which subheaders they want to read in detail.

H3 Tags: 

H3 HTML header tags further explain the point mentioned under H2 Tags.

H3 header tag HTML

These subsections often consist of bullet points and lists.

Content structure up to H3 HTML head tag

The HTML head tag hierarchy flows like this up to the H6 HTML header tag within the web page content.

How Many Header Tags Can Be Used in HTML?

HTML allows up to six HTML header tags, H1 to H6. 

You can use only one H1 header tag in the content. However, you can use the other (H2-H6) HTML header tags as often as you need to design the web page content.

You can also use different styles of HTML headers to make your content aesthetically more pleasing.

How To Add And Design Header Tags in HTML?

Adding a header tag in HTML is a pretty simple process, as shown below,

Adding a header tag in HTML

You can design the header using large font sizes and centered text. HTML also allows you to style the header with ample padding and choose a specific color for the background, as shown below.

Designing a header tag in HTML

How To Use Header Tags To Enhance SEO?

As mentioned earlier, HTML header tags play an essential role in SEO.

It is equally important to optimize your header tags, like the body of the content, to rank higher in search engines.

You can enhance your content’s SEO using HTML headers by the following two steps.

Keyword Research 

The H1 tag must include the primary keyword at the beginning. Including secondary and long-tail keywords in the other HTML head tags will be helpful.

But first, you need to know the right keywords. And the only way to find them is to execute thorough keyword research using an accurate tool.

Using the RankWatch tool, you can execute keyword research with a breeze by following a few simple steps mentioned below,

  1. Log in to your RankWatch account and visit the dashboard.
  2. Go to keyword research and enter your preferred keyword.
  3. Hit the ‘Search’ Button after selecting the location.
  4. The tool will show the entire list of keyword suggestions along with their search volume, competition, and CPC.

Keyword suggestions

Once you have completed your keyword research, you can use those keywords in your header tags for better SEO.

Test Your Content

Once you finish your content after optimizing all the HTML headers, you must test your content using the right tool to check whether there are any further provisions for optimizing your header tags.

Here comes the SEO IQ feature of RankWatch to provide you with those tips.

The feature offers improvement ideas and exact keywords for your header tag in detail.

SEO IQ improvement ideas

You can find the optimization status of your web page content by clicking on the ‘Content Editor’ tab. The tool also provides you with keywords for better optimization.

SEO IQ optimization ideas

Clicking on the ‘Questions’ tab of the content editor will provide you with the most popular search queries often used by searchers. Using them as sub header HTML tags will definitely enhance your web page SEO.

Conclusion

Optimizing header HTML tags of your web page content is essential for SEO.

You can measure the effectiveness in reality by performing a simple test. 

You can publish any of your blog content without optimizing the header tags and measure the traffic for the next few days.

Then you need to optimize the HTML headers by inserting the right keywords and using the right tool. Optimize the H1 header tag by adding styles that match your brand image.

You can now measure the organic traffic for a specific period. You can quickly notice a boost in traffic.

That is because your optimized headers are helping the crawlers to understand your content topic. That, in turn, helps them to index and rank your content.

Moreover, readers can also easily comprehend your content once you optimize your header HTML tags.

However, using a reliable tool to explore further provisions for header tag optimization is essential. That will ensure you are not missing any chance of optimizing your header tags. That will further improve your web page ranking.

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