Google’s search advocate, John Mueller, has reaffirmed that heading hierarchy has little SEO impact and that fixing it will not improve your website rankings.
Is heading element order necessary?
In a recent Reddit discussion, Muller debunked the belief that Google considers heading orders necessary for SEO.
The person asking wondered if using heading elements in no specific order could harm their ranking efforts.
Here’s the Redditors question:
- “How harmful is having nonsequential header tags? Like having a h4 title and h1 tags below or having a h4, h3 h5 but not h2 tags?”
It’s a great question and one that often has content creators scratching their heads. However, the Redditor used the wrong terminology when asking, “How harmful is having nonsequential header Tags?”
The correct terminology is hierarchical header tags.
Google confirms heading order has a slight impact
Mueller’s reply confirmed that using correct heading orders is good practice and has a slight effect; however, he didn’t say what that impact was or if it’s relative to ranking.
Here’s Mueller’s answer:
- “Doing things properly (right order headings) is a good practice. It helps search engines lightly to better understand your content, and it’s good for accessibility. If you’re setting up a new site, or making significant changes on your templates, or just bored :-), then why not take the extra 10 minutes to get this right?”
Mueller confirms fixing headings won’t improve rankings
Mueller explained that fixing your headings on an existing site won’t change your rankings, which coincides with what Google Search Liaison Gary Illyes said about the subject in a Google SEO Office Hours Podcast last July.
Mueller explained:
- “That said, if you have an existing site, fixing this isn’t going to change your site’s rankings; I suspect you’ll find much bigger value in terms of SEO by looking for ways to significantly up-value your site overall.”
Here’s what Illyes said in that SEO Office Hours Podcast:
- “Having headings in semantic order is great for screen readers, but from Google Search’s perspective, it doesn’t matter if you use them out of order.”
- “The web at large isn’t valid HTML code, so Google Search rarely relies on the semantic meanings hidden in the HTML specification.”
- “There is also no magic or ideal number of headers that should be on a given page. However, if you think there are too many, there probably are.”
The importance of using H1, H2, H3 heading elements in order
Twenty years ago, Google took the semantic order of heading elements (H1, H2, H3, etc.) as a ranking factor in SEO, but Google no longer cares how you use them.
Misunderstandings about hierarchical header tags arise from content marketing courses, SEO tools, and SEO professionals telling you they’re important.
However, the question is why.
Illyes touched on the answer in his reply during the SEO Office Hours Podcast when he said,
- “Having headings in semantic order is great for screen readers.”
However, screen readers aren`t the only reason to use heading tags like H1, H2, and H3 in your content.
The other and most important reason is your readers—or, right now, you!
The art of keeping your readers reading
Heading tags make your post scannable so readers can instantly determine whether your writing fulfills their informational needs.
Take this post, for example.
I’ve used a H1 for the title, H3s for who said what and why relative to the Redditors’ question and Muelle’s answers, and one H2 to break my post into two sections that address different subjects relative to the overall topic.
When using hierarchical header tags, your goal is to grab your reader’s attention and hint at what they’ll find in each section so they read it.
For instance, if you’re interested in learning how to keep your readers reading until the last word, then the H3 for this section would grab your attention as it hints at offering the information you need.
How heading tags can help your SEO efforts
If SEO is important to you, the H3 above engages your curiosity, right?
Mueller’s answers address why heading elements are important when creating content for your users, i.e., ensuring it contains the information your readers are looking for and flows logically.
While Google doesn’t consider heading elements a factor for SEO, it is proven that ensuring your readers read your post from the heading to the last word is.
Posts have a reading time; let’s say yours is 3 minutes. If 90% of readers bounce after 30 seconds, it tells Google that users aren’t finding your content relevant or useful.
However, if 90% of your readers stay for 3 minutes, then Google might consider your content a subject authority that fulfills your reader’s intent.
And that could be essential for your SEO efforts.
When he is not writing content, Terry can be found on his boat in Italy or chilling in his villa in Spain.
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