{"id":133284,"date":"2021-05-11T11:00:23","date_gmt":"2021-05-11T16:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=133284"},"modified":"2024-11-11T12:08:26","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T17:08:26","slug":"h1-tag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/h1-tag\/","title":{"rendered":"What is an H1 Tag? SEO Best Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro-txt\">The H1 tag is an HTML heading that\u2019s most commonly used to mark up a web page title. Most websites use CSS to make the H1 stand out on the page compared to lesser headings like H2, H3,&nbsp;etc.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/1-h1-tags.jpg\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But why is the H1 tag important, how do you add one, and what best practices are&nbsp;there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this guide, you\u2019ll learn the answers to all of these questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#why-are-h1-tags-important\">Why are H1 tags important for&nbsp;SEO?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#add-h1-tag\">How do I add an H1&nbsp;tag?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#h1-best-practices\">What are the SEO best practices for H1&nbsp;tags?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Why are H1 tags important for SEO?\" data-section=\"why-are-h1-tags-important\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why are H1 tags important for&nbsp;SEO?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are three reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#understand-the-page\">H1 tags helps search engines understand the&nbsp;page<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#improve-user-experience\">H1 tags improve user experience<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#improve-accessibility\">H1 tags improve accessibility<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"understand-the-page\">H1 tags helps search engines understand the&nbsp;page<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Google\u2019s John Mueller <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seroundtable.com\/google-h1-tags-rankings-28305.html\">said<\/a>&nbsp;that H1 tags help Google to understand the structure of a page. So if you\u2019re using H1s as <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/style\/headings\">Google recommends<\/a>&nbsp;for your page title or content heading, your H1 is effectively&nbsp;telling Google \u201chere\u2019s what my page is&nbsp;about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/4-h1-tags.jpg\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"improve-user-experience\">H1 tags improve user experience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>H1 tags improve user experience in the sense that they\u2019re part of a web page\u2019s hierarchical structure. The H1 is the most prominent heading on the page, then H2, then H3,&nbsp;etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fail to use H1 tags and other headings properly and pages become harder to skim and digest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/3-h1-tags.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"improve-accessibility\">H1 tags improve accessibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/visionhealth\/basics\/ced\/fastfacts.htm\">Millions<\/a>&nbsp;of visually-impaired people use screen readers to convert web page copy and images to audio. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/webaim.org\/projects\/screenreadersurvey7\/#heading\">this study<\/a>&nbsp;by webAIM, 60%&nbsp;of screen reader users prefer that only the page title be an H1&nbsp;tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2-h1-tags.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How do I add an H1 tag?\" data-section=\"add-h1-tag\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How do I add an H1&nbsp;tag?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Most CMS\u2019 make it easy for you to add a H1 tag to your page. Let\u2019s look at how to do it in a few popular ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to add a H1 tag in WordPress<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Most WordPress themes are coded to use the page or post title as the&nbsp;H1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to add an H1 tag in&nbsp;Wix<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Most Wix themes have one H1 tag on each page. If you\u2019re not sure which text this is, change the styling of your H1 tags temporarily in the theme editor. This should effectively&nbsp;highlight the H1 in the page builder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/LEfM3CgPG6XbltVFMXiiOSAHS4gi26alue0-WxlB4pP-YhCHcRue1JPQ3Z4UJBXBLyLpGwsvKIM6u9uK5PKj42zpFfKh42l0ub4gIhptg9NM5IteisQlo9aNB1zIH_5m6P1JMVBy\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to add an H1 tag in Squarespace<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Most Squarespace themes have one H1 tag on each page. If you\u2019re not sure where this is, just click around on prominent text boxes until you see one with \u201cHeading 1\u201d styling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/1-squarespace.jpg\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to add an H1 tag in&nbsp;HTML<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Use an opening H1 tag (&lt;h1&gt;), enter your page title, then add a closing H1 tag (&lt;\/h1&gt;).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><code>&lt;h1&gt;This is the H1&lt;\/h1&gt;<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"What is an example of a H1 tag in SEO?\" data-section=\"h1-tag-examples\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is an example of a H1 tag in&nbsp;SEO?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no hard-and-fast rule to writing good H1 headers, but there are some formats you might want to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below I\u2019ve included three examples of H1 tags to help you write your next headline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Example 1: Keyword rich&nbsp;H1s&nbsp;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-182214\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keyword-enriched-h1-example-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Keyword enriched h1 header example\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1755\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keyword-enriched-h1-example-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keyword-enriched-h1-example-620x425.jpg 620w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keyword-enriched-h1-example-768x526.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keyword-enriched-h1-example-1536x1053.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keyword-enriched-h1-example-2048x1404.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In this H1 example, I\u2019ve written a blog which unequivocally targets my keyword: <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/serp-volatility\/\">SERP Volatility<\/a>. Front-loading your H1s with relevant topics and keywords can reinforce the relevance of your content to that&nbsp;topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Example 2: Long-tail H1&nbsp;tags<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1237\" height=\"888\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Long-tail-keyword-enriched-h1-example.png\" alt=\"Long-tail keyword enriched h1 example\" class=\"wp-image-182213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Long-tail-keyword-enriched-h1-example.png 1237w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Long-tail-keyword-enriched-h1-example-592x425.png 592w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Long-tail-keyword-enriched-h1-example-768x551.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1237px) 100vw, 1237px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this article, SQ has targeted a long-tail keyword right off the bat in his headline. This long-tail version also happily covers a lot of high-volume short-tail keyword variations, including \u201cGoogle questions\u201d (2.2K search volume), and \u201c<span class=\"css-1uwmyp9-text css-aqdypc css-13sga99 css-6n7j50\">most asked questions\u201d (400 search volume). When you\u2019re writing your H1 header, consider all possible bases you can cover in terms of keyword theming.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Example 3: Imperative-led H1 headings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1197\" height=\"895\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Task-based-h1-tag-example.jpg\" alt=\"Task-based h1 tag example\" class=\"wp-image-182223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Task-based-h1-tag-example.jpg 1197w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Task-based-h1-tag-example-568x425.jpg 568w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Task-based-h1-tag-example-768x574.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1197px) 100vw, 1197px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"css-1uwmyp9-text css-aqdypc css-13sga99 css-6n7j50\">A great way to draw readers in is by instructing them to do something, using an imperative statement. Here\u2019s a H1 example from SQ that does just that. Instructional, task-based headings are a good alternative to \u201chow to\u201d style tutorials.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"What's the difference between H1 tags and title tags?\" data-section=\"h1-tag-title-tag-difference\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s the difference between H1 tags and title&nbsp;tags?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Before we get into how to optimize your H1 heading, it\u2019s important you know the difference between H1 SEO and <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/title-tag-seo\/\">title tag&nbsp;SEO:<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>H1 headers are located in the <code>&lt;body&gt;<\/code> of the webpage, while title tags go in the <code>&lt;head&gt;<\/code> section.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>H1 headings sit on page, while title tags are visible in search engines.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For that reason, you can think of H1 tags as page headlines, and title tags as SERP headlines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Title tags are important for <strong>clicks\u2014<\/strong>H1 tags are important for <strong>context<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s what a H1 tag looks like vs a title&nbsp;tag\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1100\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Title-tag-vs-h1.jpg\" alt=\"The Difference Between H1 Tags and Title Tags\" class=\"wp-image-181850\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Title-tag-vs-h1.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Title-tag-vs-h1-680x312.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Title-tag-vs-h1-768x352.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Title-tag-vs-h1-1536x704.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Title-tag-vs-h1-2048x939.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Title tags are typically more SEO-critical than H1 headers. That\u2019s because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They are one of the first elements a <strong>search engine<\/strong> sees on the page\u2014meaning they do a lot to communicate the relevance of the content to Google.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They\u2019re the first bit of information a <strong>user<\/strong> sees on the SERPs\u2014meaning they have the power to directly influence clicks.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>H1s and other page headings need to be <strong>descriptive<\/strong> and <strong>help users navigate<\/strong> the&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later on I\u2019ll go into the <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/h1-tag\/#match-h1s-to-title-tags\">relationship between H1s and titles tags<\/a>, showing you when to align and when to differentiate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"H1 tag SEO best practices\" data-section=\"h1-best-practices\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">H1 tag SEO best practices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Before we run through the best practices, it\u2019s important to note that breaking any of these is extremely unlikely to wreak SEO havoc on your website. So don\u2019t panic if you\u2019re not doing some of these things. It certainly won\u2019t lead to anything scary like a Google penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Google\u2019s job is to understand, index, and rank the web\u2019s content. It\u2019s impossible to do this without mechanisms to deal with nonideal circumstances like pages without H1&nbsp;tags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, every little bit helps in SEO\u2014so it\u2019s useful to follow best practices where possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are 9 best practices for H1&nbsp;tags:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#use-h1-tags-for-page-titles\">Use H1 tags for page titles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#use-title-case\">Use title case for&nbsp;H1s<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#match-h1s-to-title-tags\">Match H1s to title&nbsp;tags<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#h1-tag-for-every-important-page\">Use an H1 tag on every important page<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#use-one-h1-per-page\">Use only one H1 per&nbsp;page<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#keep-h1-tags-short\">Keep H1 tags&nbsp;short<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#style-headings-for-hierarchy\">Style headings for hierarchy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#include-your-target-keyword\">Include your target keyword<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#make-h1-tags-compelling\">Make H1 tags compelling<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"use-h1-tags-for-page-titles\">Use H1 tags for page titles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Google <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/news\/publisher-center\/answer\/9607104?hl=en-GB\">says<\/a>&nbsp;to \u201cplace the title of your article in a prominent spot above the article body, such as in a &lt;h1&gt;&nbsp;tag.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While many website platforms and CMS\u2019 do this by default, this can be overridden for certain themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re curious how your theme handles this, the easiest way to check is to right-click on the title in your browser and select \u201cInspect.\u201d If the highlighted part includes &lt;h1&gt;, then it\u2019s wrapped in a H1&nbsp;tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/uscZfYH3fOOnpxI0yWbtyZ82LzGVAAIIgwLsX-_JKvU2-VviIlk8g9NzlgHSEevlgeaKKArMyOWmkzGaJks6Blxe7jLAto-KOL0gO-yPoCUVY68jlkRHP7d51xXs9DQUt3kuPxFc\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re not comfortable with HTML, install <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo-toolbar\">Ahrefs SEO Toolbar<\/a>&nbsp;and check the free on-page report to see your H-tags, including your&nbsp;H1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2-ahrefs-toolbar.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019d prefer to check your H1 tags in&nbsp;bulk:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sign up for a free <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a>&nbsp;account<\/li>\n<li>Crawl your website with <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>On page<\/strong>&nbsp;report<\/li>\n<li>Scroll to the \u201cH1 setup\u201d chart<\/li>\n<li>Click the green part of the pie&nbsp;chart<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/3-site-audit.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"use-title-case\">Use title case for&nbsp;H1s<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Title case is where you capitalize all words containing four or more letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your CMS uses page titles for both H1 tags and title tags, using title case for page titles helps keep things looking neat in the search results. It\u2019s usually only forum posts that use lowercase or sentence case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/4-serps.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"match-h1s-to-title-tags\">Match H1s to title&nbsp;tags<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Google <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/news\/publisher-center\/answer\/9607104?hl=en-GB#:~:text=Match%20the%20title%20of%20your%20article%20page%20(in%20the%20HTML%20%3Ctitle%3E%20tag)%20to%20the%20title%20of%20your%20article%20(in%20%3Ch1%3Eor%20equivalent).\">Support docs says<\/a> to match your title tag with your&nbsp;H1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most CMS\u2019 like WordPress do this automatically, but if you want to differentiate the title tag from the H1 you\u2019d use an <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/best-seo-plugins-for-wordpress\/\">SEO plugin<\/a>&nbsp;like Yoast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/16-yoast.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The most common reason to do this is when your page title is perfectly fine for a H1, but too long for the title&nbsp;tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, our title and H1 are slightly different for <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/outreach\/\">this post<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/5-ahrefs-blog-different-h1s.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If your title and H1 are slightly different but cast from the same mold, as is the case above, that\u2019s fine. If your title is dramatically different from your H1, it\u2019s probably worth bringing them back into alignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p><p>Why? Searchers are sold, in part, by your title tag in the SERPs. If they\u2019re greeted with a completely different and unrelated title (H1) on the page, they\u2019ll feel&nbsp;duped.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few other occasions when you\u2019ll want to differentiate your title tags from your H1s. For example, if you\u2019re targeting specific keywords, optimizing CTR, or even branding your SERP headlines. When you do this, just make sure the two don\u2019t diverge too drastically.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can check for mismatched H1s and title tags for free in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Crawl your website in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>On page<\/strong>&nbsp;report<\/li>\n<li>Scroll to the \u201cH1 setup\u201d chart<\/li>\n<li>Click on the green area in the pie&nbsp;chart<\/li>\n<li>Look for drastically mismatched title tags and&nbsp;H1s<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a mismatched title and H1 for <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/anchor-text\/\">our guide to anchor text<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/6-mismatched-h1.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The title tag is angled around a definition whereas the H1 is angled around a study.&nbsp;It\u2019s possible that searchers might feel a little duped or confused after clicking through to this page, so it\u2019d probably make sense to stick with a consistent angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">PRO TIP<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n\n\n\n<p>If your website has many pages, sort the report in Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a>&nbsp;by organic traffic to prioritize changes. There\u2019s little point worrying about mismatched titles and H1s if your page doesn\u2019t get any organic traffic in the first&nbsp;place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/7-site-audit.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h1-tag-for-every-important-page\">Use an H1 tag on every important page<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Given that your page title should be wrapped in an H1 tag, it goes without saying that you should use a H1 on every important page. After all, every page has a&nbsp;title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to find pages with missing or empty&nbsp;H1s:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sign up for a free <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a>&nbsp;account<\/li>\n<li>Crawl your website in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>On page<\/strong>&nbsp;report<\/li>\n<li>Scroll to the \u201cH1 setup\u201d chart<\/li>\n<li>Click on the red area in the pie&nbsp;chart<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/8-page-explorer.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can see above that some of our pages are missing H1s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is this best practice? Not really. But it\u2019s also unlikely to be a huge deal because these pages aren\u2019t particularly important from an SEO perspective. They\u2019re just blog homepages and archive pages that are only likely to attract branded traffic anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So while our developers could \u201cfix\u201d this in minutes, it\u2019s probably not worth wasting their time as the pages look perfectly fine for visitors\u2014and that\u2019s all that matters here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"use-one-h1-per-page\">Use only one H1 per&nbsp;page<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Google\u2019s John Mueller <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WsgrSxCmMbM\">says<\/a>&nbsp;using multiple H1s per page is&nbsp;fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re using HTML5, this is strictly true. There\u2019s nothing technically wrong with using multiple H1 tags in different sections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, this HTML5 page has four H1 tags and is technically fine.<\/p>\n\n\n<pre>&lt;body&gt;\n   &lt;h1&gt;Apples&lt;\/h1&gt;\n   &lt;p&gt;Apples are fruit.&lt;\/p&gt;\n   &lt;section&gt;\n      &lt;h1&gt;Taste&lt;\/h1&gt;\n      &lt;p&gt;They taste lovely.&lt;\/p&gt;\n      &lt;section&gt;\n         &lt;h1&gt;Sweet&lt;\/h1&gt;\n&nbsp;        &lt;p&gt;Red apples are sweeter than green ones.&lt;\/p&gt;\n      &lt;\/section&gt;\n&nbsp;  &lt;\/section&gt;\n   &lt;section&gt;\n      &lt;h1&gt;Color&lt;\/h1&gt;\n      &lt;p&gt;Apples come in various colors.&lt;\/p&gt;\n&nbsp;  &lt;\/section&gt;\n&lt;\/body&gt;\n<\/pre>\n\n\n<p>Pretty much all modern browsers will render this correctly, and will display H1 tags in nested &lt;section&gt; elements according to their nesting level. That means H1s in the first &lt;section&gt; will look like H2s, H1s nested in another &lt;section&gt; will look like H3s,&nbsp;etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/9-html5-page.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, even with HTML5, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/2014\/REC-html5-20141028\/sections.html#headings-and-sections\">recommends<\/a>&nbsp;that you use \u201cheadings of the appropriate rank for the section\u2019s nesting level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre>&lt;body&gt;\n   &lt;h1&gt;Apples&lt;\/h1&gt;\n   &lt;p&gt;Apples are fruit.&lt;\/p&gt;\n   &lt;section&gt;\n      &lt;h2&gt;Taste&lt;\/h2&gt;\n      &lt;p&gt;They taste lovely.&lt;\/p&gt;\n      &lt;section&gt;\n         &lt;h3&gt;Sweet&lt;\/h3&gt;\n         &lt;p&gt;Red apples are sweeter than green ones.&lt;\/p&gt;\n      &lt;\/section&gt;\n   &lt;\/section&gt;\n   &lt;section&gt;\n       &lt;h2&gt;Color&lt;\/h2&gt;\n       &lt;p&gt;Apples come in various colors.&lt;\/p&gt;\n   &lt;\/section&gt;\n&lt;\/body&gt;\n<\/pre>\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s because some legacy browsers will have trouble rendering things correctly without explicit CSS&nbsp;rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what about if your website doesn\u2019t use&nbsp;HTML5?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John Mueller <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WsgrSxCmMbM&amp;t=32s&amp;ab_channel=GoogleSearchCentral\">says<\/a>&nbsp;multiple H1 tags are still&nbsp;fine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">Regardless of whether you use HTML5 or not, having multiple H1 elements on a page is&nbsp;fine.<\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Given that this isn\u2019t best practice by W3C standards, why is this Google\u2019s advice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Answer: Because they\u2019ve developed mechanisms to deal with the common problem of multiple H1s on a web&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So although it probably doesn\u2019t matter that much for SEO whether you use one or multiple H1 tags, we still think it\u2019s best practice for most websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can check if there are pages with multiple H1 tags on your site for free in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sign up for a free <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a>&nbsp;account.<\/li>\n<li>Crawl your website with <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>On page<\/strong>&nbsp;report<\/li>\n<li>Scroll to the \u201cH1 setup\u201d chart<\/li>\n<li>Click on the yellow area in the pie&nbsp;chart<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/10-site-audit.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"keep-h1-tags-short\">Keep H1 tags&nbsp;short<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many CMS\u2019 use the same copy for your H1 and title tag. If that\u2019s the case for you, unless you plan to write a unique title tag for every page and post, it\u2019s worth keeping your page titles short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How short? The general rule of thumb is 70 characters or&nbsp;under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/quora-marketing\/\">a page that breaks this rule<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/11-quora-marketing.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The H1 on this page is 80 characters which looks perfectly fine on the page itself. But because WordPress uses this same copy for the title tag, it truncates in the search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/12-quora-marketing-serp.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We could solve this problem by setting the title tag to a shorter version of the H1 tag. But if we had just made an effort to create a shorter title in the first place, we wouldn\u2019t have this problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"style-headings-for-hierarchy\">Style headings for hierarchy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Headings are used to create hierarchy on a webpage. As the H1 tag is usually the most important heading on the page, your CSS styling should reflect that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, the H1 should be the most prominent tag on the&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This might seem obvious but there are plenty of websites with little visible distinction between H1s and&nbsp;H2s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"include-your-target-keyword\">Include your target keyword<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Google\u2019s John Mueller <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/google-heading-tags-important\/377592\/\">said<\/a>&nbsp;in 2020:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">And when it comes to text on a page, a heading is a really strong signal telling us this part of the page is about this&nbsp;topic.<\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Given that the H1 usually wraps around the page title, it\u2019s arguably the most important heading on the page. So it usually makes sense to include your main keyword to make the topic of the page doubly clear to both Google and searchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is something we do for pretty much all our blog&nbsp;posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/13-ahrefs-blog.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Does it always make sense to do this? Of course not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes it\u2019s better to use a close variant of your target keyword for readability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, the primary keyword for <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-get-more-views-on-youtube\/\">this post<\/a>&nbsp;is \u201chow to get more views on youtube.\u201d But as we wrote a listicle, it didn\u2019t make sense to use this in the H1. So we used a close variation instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/14-youtube-views-title-tags.png\"><\/figure>\n<p>According to 2024 research by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gotchseo.com\/are-h1-tags-a-google-ranking-factor\/\">Gotch SEO<\/a>, there is a negligible correlation (-0.03) between ranking and partial keyword match\u2014in other words, exact match keywords don\u2019t significantly influence rankings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t be afraid to use synonyms, partial match keywords, conjunctions, and stop words to keep things sounding natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"make-h1-tags-compelling\">Make H1 tags compelling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>H1 tags need to be descriptive. That goes without saying. But if you\u2019re writing titles for blog posts, they also need to be compelling enough to entice clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you create a compelling post&nbsp;title?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you think of using one of those <a href=\"https:\/\/www.portent.com\/tools\/title-maker\/\">blog post title generators<\/a>, consider the purpose of your post. If it exists to attract organic traffic from search engines, and your CMS uses page titles for H1s and title tags, the post title needs to be written for search engine users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you know what they&nbsp;want?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take inspiration from the top-ranking results for your target keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if we look at the top pages for \u201cSEO techniques,\u201d it\u2019s clear that searchers want actionable and effective <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-techniques\/\">SEO techniques<\/a>&nbsp;that help improve search traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/15-serp-overview.png\" alt><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We can use this information to create a compelling page title (H1) for our&nbsp;post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the SEO world, this is known as optimizing for <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-intent\/\">search intent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s finish things off by answering a few common questions about H1&nbsp;tags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How long should an H1 tag&nbsp;be?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>H1 tags can be as long as you like but as most CMS\u2019 use the page title for both the H1 and title tag, it\u2019s best to keep page titles short (&lt;70 characters) to avoid title tag truncation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can I have more than one H1 tag on a&nbsp;page?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re using HTML5, yes. If you\u2019re not using HTML5, it\u2019s rarely best practice but it\u2019s unlikely to be a huge deal either way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can I use an image in an H1&nbsp;tag?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes. In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/\">W3C<\/a>&nbsp;does this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>H1 tags are arguably less important than they used to be. Google has mechanisms in place to understand your content well even if your use of H1 tags isn\u2019t&nbsp;ideal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, following best practices isn\u2019t difficult, so it\u2019s something you may as well do. At the very least, it improves user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got questions? Ping me <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshuachardwick?lang=en\">on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>But why is the H1 tag important, how do you add one, and what best practices are&nbsp;there? In this guide, you\u2019ll learn the answers to all of these questions: Here are three reasons: H1 tags helps search engines understand the&nbsp;page<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":133287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335],"tags":[],"coauthors":[336,464],"class_list":["post-133284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is an H1 Tag? 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