Does the H1 Tag Really Matter?

[Johan007]

Originally Posted by colorexpertsbd

I have seen a lot of problems with webmasters complaining that CSS formating ruined their Search Result Ranks. But, that shouldn't be the case. In most cases, it was found that they embedded the H1 tags in their CSS definition, which made Google to understand that the site has no H1 tags.

However, when they started to delete the H1 definitions in CSS files and modify the format in the pages with H1 tags, they saw good results.

I think there maybe more to it.... maybe this was a couple of years ago? maybe they failed to have the <h1> text included in the <title>? Yes/No?

[Janna122003]

H1 tag can help to emphasize the keywords in the content.

[Johan007]

Originally Posted by Janna122003

H1 tag can help to emphasize the keywords in the content.

Yes so it means it is no longer a critical factor.

[peter_d]

H1 tags don't really matter. They won't affect ranking.

There are other far more important aspects, such as the inbound linking structure.

Take a look at some of the most competitive SERPs. For example, "viagra". The top site, and most other sites on that SERP, are ranked because of the inbound links. The top site doesn't have any H tags, rather formatting is controlled via CSS.

By all means use H1, but don't sweat it

[ToddW]

For the record MSN uses META Description and the H1 tag for showing a sites description. Even if there is text about H1 MSN uses what's in the H1 tag. If the META description is long then H1 is not used at all.

[sheena]

Title tags are arguably the most important of the on-page factors for search engine optimization. The H tags are used to introduce the sections of the page's logical structure.They need to be organized in a hierarchy, from most important to least important within each section. H1 in my experiments make no difference unless the h1 font size relative to the remaining text in the page

Originally Posted by Ian C

Hi all,

A while back on another forum I got into a debate with a well respected SEO about the value of the H tags. I take the stand that the H1 tag is one of the more important tags for SEO purposes (right after the title tag).

She on the other hand felt that H tags didn't really matter at all and that offset text was what the search engines were really looking for. So I'm curious... how important do you folks feel the h1 tag is from an SEO point of view?

All the best...

Ian C

[WebGeek182]

Originally Posted by Comenius

According to the good folks at SEOmoz, who interviewed lots of the big names in the SEO industry, H1 tags are important:

http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

There is some disagreement about how important. Here's the specific link to H1: http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors#f6

I've never seen H1 tags make much difference.

[Johan007]

I can now see why <h1> makes little difference now in the SERPS. The SE want us to design for all users not just us who read the content but screen reader users who jump directly to <H1> to get to the content.

[Rankenstein]

h1 is not something I worry about too much, but I do use it. Ideally, you'd use it logically and support it with sub-headers, h2, h3, etc. Not majorly important at all, I'd say.

[Batch]

H (i) tag does have importance. It’s not only for SEO purpose rather we can make our key terms more visible to our visitors. H tag helps to provide quick and precise information.

Ex: A prospective customer has searched for "Used Car". So visitor will definitely search for information that relates "Used Car". A line "Used car dealers in India" used in H1 tag will definitely help visitor to understand the page content at a glance.

I prefer to use H tags simply to increase the visibility of my targeted terms. If bots love to see H tags, then this is an added advantage to me.

Moreover dealing online you need to know your customer, you need to define your customers, to reach them you need to know them and then provide your information with more visibility.

Correct me if I am wrong.

[Axial]

Everyone that i have spoken to all state that H1 and H2 tags are really important for seo.

[Johan007]

Originally Posted by Axial

Everyone that i have spoken to all state that H1 and H2 tags are really important for seo.

Things change. We are not saying it is not impotent... its just not critical for ranking.

[peter_d]

Everyone that i have spoken to all state that H1 and H2 tags are really important for seo.

Ignore them

That theory comes from a time when keyword density and positioning factors played a large part in ranking. The search engines have moved on, and place higher value on external factors than any on-page factors.

[harsha22]

The off text is more important than H1 tags. Most of the sites I have worked keywords in offtext rank better than the H1 tag

[Ian C]

Ok, this is definately one of the better threads that I've started. Awesome opinions on both sides. I appreciate everyone who was able to give their 2 cents on the subject.

Thanks a bunch!

Ian C

[Comenius]

I agree, I've definitely learned a lot, and won't stress so much on H1 tags anymore.

[markov]

To be on safe side, i just include the <H1> tags.