As many as 25% of small business websites don’t even use an H1 header on their web pages, according to sourcing company Fresh Chalk. These companies don’t seem to understand that their SEO headers can contribute to your site’s hierarchy, significantly impacting their site’s traffic. Have you similarly neglected your website headers, and do you need to understand how to improve them moving forward?

Below, we outline the best ways to optimize heading tags for better SEO results. Learn things like:

• The importance of well-crafted SEO headers
• How many heading tags should be on a page for SEO benefits
• Methods for writing effective headers
• Best practices for using heading tags

So, continue reading to have the right header techniques to help you stand out among the crowd and elevate your rankings moving forward. 

Understanding the Importance of SEO Headers  

SEO headers, or H1-H6 header tags, help both search engines and users by offering a clear definition of a page’s contents. They summarise everything that someone can expect to find there. They also allow them to understand the structure of your website, which is very important for helping them navigate every page and the data it holds.

A well-structured set of headers also improves readability and accessibility for the average user. It can make it easier to comprehend the message you are trying to impart and, as such, enhance the user experience. These users will be less prone to bouncing away to other sites, allowing you to continue to appeal to them.

The increased engagement also helps with SEO by boosting your ranking metrics. If users remain on your site longer, search engines will notice and consider you more authoritative. 

This reputation for authority is one of Google’s four primary methods of evaluating a site’s worth. As such, it can help ensure that search engines consider your web pages worth linking to.

How Heading Tag SEO Impacts Traffic Growth  

Well-crafted SEO headers have a higher chance of boosting organic traffic by increasing search rankings. For example, when crawling your site, Google will use these tags to discern how important the text surrounding them is. It will then use this information to help index and rank your site in its search engine result page (SERP). 

Using keywords in headers can also signal to search engines what your page’s primary topic is, helping you rank for those phrases. This tactic can then encourage more users to visit your site and drive conversion.

The Role of Headers in Search Engine Rankings  

As mentioned above, Google’s algorithm considers several factors when determining how to rank you, including the headers, body text, and the hierarchy of the sections. You can prove the page’s relevance to any search by echoing the page’s primary theme and including ranking keywords.

A well-planned header structure clarifies the most important and relevant sections on a page, allowing the search engine to use them more easily in its algorithm. 

Crafting Effective SEO Headers  

You should create a hierarchy of headers, starting with an H1 at the top of your page. This header should:

• Communicate the main topic of your page
• Feature the primary keyword
• Be unique from any other H1s on your site
• Take up fewer than 60 characters
• Use clear and easy-to-understand language

While Google has confirmed that you can use multiple H1s, an H1s often works best as a title on many websites. You can then use H2s as your other primary headers and H3s as subheaders. 

Optimizing Headings for Better SEO Results  

Try to break any page down into logical and coherent sections. Each section should expand on the theme of the original H1 and use keywords where natural and appropriate. 

When planning which header to use, maintain the hierarchy naturally. So, H2s follow H1s, and H4s follow H3s, for example. However, you can move to a more prominent header (i.e., H4 to H2) if the next topic is no longer related to the preceding H2 or H3.

As an example of website headers that flow well, look at this article:

H1: How to Write SEO Headers to Grow Your Site’s Traffic

H2: Understanding the Importance of SEO Headers

H3: How SEO Headers Impact Traffic Growth

H3: The Role of Headers in Search Engine Rankings

H2: Crafting Effective SEO Headers

H3: Optimizing Headers for Better SEO Results

> You are here

H3: Balancing Creativity and SEO in Header Writing

H2: Best Practices for Using Heading Tags

H2: Achieve Optimized Headers with Expert Help

These follow a clear patch, where each H3 continues the conversation of the H2 preceding it.

How to Optimize Heading Tags for Better SEO Results 

When writing headers, try to balance the placement of keywords with their readability. All keywords should appear natural and draw the reader into the content or continue the writing flow. If you only appeal to search engines, your headers will lose all humanity, and readers will notice, causing them to leave.

Use powerful or action-oriented keywords. You might try using gerunds (or “ing” words) when instructing the user, such as “Balancing” in this section’s header. These words offer an explicit action that users should perform, allowing them to follow them as a guide.

The use of any of this advice may depend on your target audience. So, use A/B testing on different header variations to see which attracts more clicks. Then, you can refine them further as you continue to iterate on your site.

Achieve Optimized Headers with Expert Help

High-quality SEO headers are one of the most important aspects of developing a site optimized for search engines. It boosts your site’s visibility and can drive more organic traffic to each page.

If you believe developing high-quality content using well-crafted headers will take too much time, Rose & Cactus is ready to step in. Book a consultation with us now to learn more about what we offer businesses like yours and how we can give you the best chance of online success.

Laura Pulling Laura is a content strategist, SEO consultant, and lover of quiz nights. She works with global clients to turn great ideas into well-ranked, high-converting content.