As in any kind of written document (newspapers, books and so on), web pages contain titles, subheadings, paragraphs and other sections whose job is to organise the text and make it easier to read.
The titles and subheadings of a web page are called heading tags. They give structure to the text on a page by putting its sections in a hierarchical order.
HTML has 6 levels of headings, and if you want to optimise the pages of your website and make them easy to read for both users and search engines, you need to learn to use them properly.
Knowing how to use and organise headings correctly improves the user experience and, as a result, how your site performs in the eyes of the algorithm that decides where it ranks in the SERP.
In this SEO copywriting article we explain what a heading is, why it matters and how to structure and optimise headings correctly.
The difference between H1 and meta title
Before looking in detail at how to use and optimise heading tags on your page, one clarification.
People who have just started out in web copywriting often confuse the H1 with the meta title, and heading tags with the meta description.
The meta title is an HTML element that specifies the title of a web page. Search engines use it when they show the link to your page in the results. It does not appear on the page the user sees, though.
The main title, the one we see at the top of a web page, is the H1, the page's first heading level.
In other words, the meta title is the title written for search engines, the one shown in the SERP.
The H1 is the title of the page, written mainly for the people who visit the site to read its content.
Headings: the heading tags
As you now know, HTML has 6 levels of heading tags, each used to mark headings: the page title and its various subheadings.
<h1> marks the main title, which is followed by <h2>, which in turn, if it needs a subheading, is followed by <h3>, and so on.
Heading tags are essential to make a text easy to read for both users and search engines.
They help you hold the reader's attention, especially in long, information-heavy articles and posts where it is easy to get lost.
Headings show which parts of a text matter and how the sections connect to each other.
A user looking for information lands on your site and quickly scans the headings to see what each section is about.
Based on the headings, they decide whether to keep reading or leave the page.
That is why you need to know how to write a heading well and how to arrange the levels in the right hierarchy.
Example of a good heading tag structure for a web page
<h1> Main page title
<p> Short paragraph introducing the topic and summarising the content
<h2> Subheading
<p> Text related to heading 2, introducing the level 3 headings
<h3> Third-level subheading
<p> Text related to heading 2, introducing the level 3 headings
<h3> Third-level subheading
<p> Text related to heading 3
<h2> Subheading
<p> Text related to heading 2, introducing the level 3 headings
<h3> Third-level subheading
<p> Text related to heading 3, introducing the level 4 headings
<h4> Fourth-level subheading
<p> Text related to heading 4
<h4> Fourth-level subheading
<p> Text related to heading 4
<h3> Third-level subheading
<p> Text related to heading 3
So, why use headings?
By now it should be clear that headings are essential to make a site accessible and improve the user experience. There are three good reasons to optimise the titles and subheadings of an article, or of any web page.
They define the structure of the text
Heading tags are signposts: they tell the reader what the next section is about.
This way users know where to look for the information they need and, in a fairly long article, they don't get lost while reading.
That is why headings need to be informative. Many copywriters try to write punchy headings to encourage the reader to keep going.
That isn't entirely wrong, but a good copywriter uses headings to tell the user what a section contains and to make the text easier to read.
They improve accessibility
Another point not to overlook is the heading hierarchy.
Accessibility matters especially when visitors have difficulty reading on screen and may use a screen reader.
Screen readers are built to read the HTML code, work out the structure of the article and read it aloud.
Knowing the structure of an article also lets the user decide whether to read it, and the headings help them find the section with the information they want.
In short, a correct heading hierarchy improves the structure of the article, which in turn improves its accessibility. A site's accessibility plays a real part in SEO.
They help improve SEO
A single subheading won't improve your website's ranking, but headings bring indirect benefits to SEO.
How?
A correct heading hierarchy improves the quality of the text, which helps the user experience, which in turn matters for SEO.
At the same time, titles and subheadings are strategic places for your focus keyword, so that search engines know what the article is about.
Careful: there is a fine line between letting them know and shouting it from the rooftops.
Keyword stuffing harms rankings. If fitting the keywords into a heading makes it clumsy, it is better to drop them and use natural language.
The general rule is to write headings that users can understand easily.
If you can include a keyword or two as well, all the better. When titles and subheadings are easy for a user to understand, Google's algorithm will have no trouble understanding them either.
They let you create a table of contents
In a blog post, or on any long web page, you may find a table of contents. It is made up of internal links within the page that take the user straight to the section for the heading they clicked.
This is one more reason why your heading tags should always be clear and consistent with the text below them.
Using heading tags in your content
We have seen what heading tags are and why they matter; now let's look at how to add them to your content.
How to use heading tags in WordPress
If you use WordPress to write and publish your content, you will have noticed that text can be formatted in several ways.
There are 6 heading levels: H1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Each is displayed in a different format to show its importance relative to the others.
Every page should have only one H1.
This should be a fairly basic idea: every book, article or publication has one title, and the same goes for web pages.
To continue the book comparison: a text can be organised into chapters and sections.
To do this on a web page you use the headings H2, H3, H4 and so on. The most used subheadings are H2 and H3; H6 headings are rare.
How to create titles and subheadings in WordPress
Adding a page's main H1 title is very simple if you use WordPress to create and manage your content.
As we said, a page can have only one H1, and there is a dedicated field for it.
Just type the title you want to give your post or page in that field.
To create subheadings from H2 to H6 within the text, use the heading block's drop-down menu, where you can choose the level for that piece of text.
Tips for writing SEO-optimised headings
Now that you know how to add headings to your web pages, all that's left is to write them.
A figure often quoted by copywriters is that 8 people out of 10 read a headline, but only 2 read the rest of the article. It is one more reminder of how much your headings matter.
Headings need to be engaging enough to make the user keep reading, and they also need to be written correctly to improve your page's ranking in the SERP.
Search engines analyse headings (just as users do) to work out which article is the best one to show for a search.
To show them that yours is the best, follow a few simple rules for writing SEO-optimised headings:
- Include the main keyword in the H1 and related keywords in the subheadings, so the search engine knows exactly what the article is about.
- Watch the length of the H1: it should be short and to the point; try not to go over 60 characters.
- Every page on your site should have a unique title: duplicates confuse Google about which page to show and work against your rankings.
- The H1 must be consistent with the text, ideally a very short summary of the whole post.
4 copywriting techniques for compelling headings
In this last section we want to give you a few tips on writing headings that catch the user's attention and make them keep reading.
The topic deserves an article of its own, but here are some tips to get started:
Know your audience
Are you writing for teenagers or adults? Professionals or students?
Before you write anything, you need to know the people the content is for. Only then can you work out how to get their attention.
Use numbers
When a question is going round in your head, what are you looking for? A clear, precise answer, as short as possible.
Numbers help here: they signal specific information in very little space.
Keep it simple
Be clear in your headings: complicated words and jargon can put users off clicking on your article. Trim your headings carefully and cut any word that isn't strictly needed.
Ask a question
If you can match the question people are asking, and you know the answer, your article has a good chance of doing well.
People type their questions straight into Google; using the same question in your headings will help you attract traffic and improve your position in the SERP.
These are some of the SEO copywriting techniques we use to optimise our own heading tags. Do you know any others? Let us know in the comments.
