Heading tags are a valuable asset for blogs but many bloggers don’t take advantage of them.
For today’s post, I want you to pretend you’re sitting down in your middle school English classroom, learning about outlines. If you’re like me, English class in middle school was mostly me flirting with a boy who I later found out was my second cousin, once removed (it’s a long story for another day).
Are you in your seat yet? Dare I ask what was going in your classroom?
Let’s just recap how outlines work, just in case you were goofing off too. While you were passing notes back and forth, something like this picture was probably shown through the projector up on the chalk board:
Heading tags should work almost exactly like outlines. According to Google,
Heading tags are used to present structure on the page to users. There are six sizes of heading tags, beginning with
H1, the most important, and ending with
H6, the least important.
Heading tags help your readers understand the flow of your article and cue search engines of important content within the post.
How to use Heading tags in your blog articles
Use heading tags to break up the text through out your post and to give insight on what you are talking about. The H1 tag is generally used for the title of your blog article. Within your post, you should start with H2 tags. The heading above this paragraph is a H2 tag and the heading below this paragraph is a H3 tag.
How to change text to a heading tag in WordPress
To change text to a heading tag, highlight the text you wish to change and then click the down arrow next to Paragraph. Select the size of heading you wish to use.
How to customize heading tags
If you would like to change the color, font, or size of your headings head to the HTML editor. Within your style sheet (CSS) perform a search for H1. You’re looking for something like this:
Go a head and change the font and color to your liking. Just make sure it is still readable and not distracting. I’ve seen a lot of blogs that use fun colors and fonts for their heading tags
Some of the *Genesis themes already come with custom heading tags! I talked about a few in my article, How to choose a WordPress theme.
2 ways you shouldn’t use heading tags in your blog articles
Heading tags are great, but there are some reasons not to use them.
- As a style statement
- Long sections of text
Heading tags are not for styling
This is the most common mistake bloggers make with heading tags. Hate to break it to you, but it is best not to use them to make text bigger or bolder. Use the bold tag, italics, or define a new CSS rule to make text stand out. Heading tags should only be used for organizational purposes.
Heading tags are not for long paragraphs.
I think you probably get it by now. Avoid using heading tags for large bodies of text. Keep them down to 1 or 2 sentences.
I’d love to see how you use heading tags in your articles, leave a link below and I’ll check them out!
References: Google’s Search Engine Optimization Guide
Fantastic Great article on heading tags and clearly written with good examples. Thanks for sharing in simple ways.
You’re welcome. That makes me happy to hear Raj!
Thank you for your valuable information sharing . I have no idea before this that how to use and impact the H1,2,3,4. Now I’m going to implement such wonderful techniques in my blog article. Thanks once again.
Thanks, this is exactly what am looking for. But is it recommended to keep my post titles on H2 tags?
Kristie, I only recently learned about headings and am in the process of adding them to old posts. But this post really clarified it for me. If your “I’d love to see how you use heading tags in your articles, leave a link below and I’ll check them out!” offer still stands, I’d appreciate it. BTW, I paid attention in English class; it was algebra class where I did all my flirting and note-passing!
Haha. I wonder if kids still pass notes or if it is all text messages now? I liked notes. We’d always fold them in crazy ways.
I think your headings are looking great. I love that you’ve added them into your recipes so that it easy to decipher the sections. Keep at it and thank you for showing me!
This is a great site and excellent source of information. I am a bit confused about heading styles and tags so please bear with me. I have the headings 1 -6 and will be editing my css for heading one because i think it should be a bit bigger and nicer than the other headings. I got lost when you said heading tags? Not sure what is meant by those and how I should be using them. Can you have a look at my page http://www.abusybeeslife.com/ to see what I mean about having the H! bigger and nicer than the H2? Also, if you have any advice I would greatly appreciate it.
Hey Kristie.. I am from Indonesia and i’ve just read your post.That is good article and i enjoy it.. Thank you
you’re welcome!
Thanks for this! I had no idea how to use heading tags.
I’m glad you learned something new! Heading tags really make articles pop! And that extra SEO? Can’t get any better!
I’ve only recently started using the heading tags in my posts and I have to admit I do like the way they make the posts look. I’ve especially started using them when I do a list post. Instead of numbering them 1 , 2 , 3 , 4, 5 I have used heading title 4 and I like how it has worked out. That may be violating your “don’t use them to make text stand out” rule but it’s worked for me. Normally though I would agree with you. That’s the only exception I make.
Glad you like how headings look in your posts!
Once Again…I have learned something so valuable from you! Thanks for all your hard work!
Oh, good!
How do you import a new font into wordpress so you can put it into your css? Really enjoy your articles. I’m learning a lot. Thanks
Hi Mary! I’m glad you enjoy my articles. I use Google fonts, I teach how to use them in this article: How to customize your blog fonts