Search engines, like Google, weigh headers higher in results than bold or other text. They do not like pages that do not follow the rules below. Screen readers, used by visually impaired visitors, present the content in a more structured way that is easier for non-visual navigation.
For each website, a designer has determined how the Headers will look and be differentiated from each other. Use Headers to create a consistent stylistic presentation for your visitors. In the Rich Text Editors for Drupal and WordPress the headings will be available to select from the drop-down. If you think the design of the headings needs improvement, then contact the Web team and we will help fix them for the entire website.
Rules for Using Headings
- CSS styles like bold, strong, emphasis, italic or bigger should never be used instead of the heading tags. If your headings do not look good enough to you, let us know.
- Regardless of whichever heading you are at, the following header must be equal, one level greater or any level less. In other words, never skip over a heading level, (e.g. from Heading 1 to Heading 3).
- In most cases a page should only have one Heading 1 but may have several sub-topics hierarchically appropriate for other heading levels. Headings should follow the logical flow of the document content. Search engines especially hate pages with more than one Heading 1.
On our WordPress and Drupal sites the Title of the page is usually the Heading 1, by default.
Your specific site may have various ways to implement the Heading 1 of a page in order to create different styles for your website brand and should have other components available to help indicate content priority and hierarchy. If you are having trouble conveying the intended meaning or feel constrained by the options on your site, please let us know.
Learn More
Meet Content article, Introducing Your Content: Page Titles and Headings. The use of proper syntax and hierarchical tagging in the Web community is commonly called Semantic Web.
