If you’re using Hike (or another SEO tool – boo!) then you might find it flags that you have ‘multiple H1 headings‘ on a webpage.
To answer this question we recorded a super short video below, that will help you resolve this issue…
What is a H1 Heading?
Known either as an H1 heading or an H1 tag, It’s the HTML code that surrounds a specific heading on a page, and it denotes that particular heading as the most important one on the page (in contextual terms).
Most often it is the main heading on the page, the one at the top of the page. I say this because any webpage can have lots of heading peppered throughout it, but there should only be one H1.
It’s like a newspaper article heading; it summarises the content within via a short, descriptive sentence. that’s why search engines love headings!
How to spot H1 headings
As detailed in the video above, you need to inspect the HTML code of the webpage. This may feel and look daunting, but it really isn’t.
Right-click on the webpage and click “Inspect”, which will pop out a box like so:
Then simply do a search for “<h1>”, and it will show all of the instances on the page where there are H1 headings being used.
What if I have multiple H1 headings?
In almost all cases it’s better to have just a single H1 on a webpage. This means you will get the full SEO benefit from it.
If you spot that multiple heading on your page are H1’s then simply change them to a H2, or even a H3.
(Why a H2 or H3? Your headings want to follow a hierarchical structure, where sub-headings are children of the parent heading. For example, if my H1 was “SEO”, then a sub-heading within the article called “Technical SEO” would be a H2. If I head a sub-heading within that, then I’d use a H3.)
Watch out for rogue H1s!
Be aware – sometimes you can have hidden H1 headings tags on your page. As you can see in my video above, there’s a H1 wrapped around the logo.
This is a pain, but not uncommon. If you have rogue h1’s like this, then reach out to your web builder and ask them to remove it.
Should I add keywords to an H1 heading?
Yes, definitely try if you can. But make sure the keyword fits in naturally!
For example, let’s say I run a fashion website and I want to target the keyword ‘fashion ideas’.
I’ve created a page specifically for this keyword, and so I would use the following text within the H1 heading:
- Fashion Ideas
- Latest Fashion Ideas
- Fashion Ideas From Hike Clothing
- Etc.
How do I add an H1 heading to my page?
Now you understand why adding a keyword into the page’s H1 heading is important, you now need to know how to do this.
I’ve listed below articles on how to update the H1 on the most popular CMS platforms. If yours is missing give us a shout (via the chat box in the bottom corner) and we’ll try to help!
- WordPress =https://themeisle.com/blog/wordpress-heading-tags/
- Squarespace = they use the page title for the H1
- Shopify = category pages use the category name as the H1, same with products
- Magento = category pages use the category name as the H1, same with products
- Wix =https://support.wix.com/en/article/about-heading-tags
