H1 tags are an essential part of blogging, because they improve your page’s SEO and help to make your content more readable/accessible. You can read our quick guide to using them here.

But H2 tags are important, too, as they can improve the structure of your blog/web page and help Google to understand what your blog is about.

Think of an H2 tag as being a sub-heading, like this:

An example of an H2 tag

They serve two key purposes: firstly, they are a ranking factor. That is, Google treats the content in H tags (H1s, H2s, etc) as more important than other copy on the page. It helps Google to understand what your page is about.

So, you need to make sure the words you choose for your subheading are relevant to your subject matter.

You may be a huge fan of figurative speech, but Google cares not for metaphors or irony. Keep your headings simple and straightforward.

Therefore this…

H2 be or not H2 be? That is the question

…is vaguely witty and shows off your knowledge of Shakespeare, but…

Why you need to use H2 tags

…is a much, much better example of a Google-friendly headline. Save the flowery stuff for that novel you’re writing.

The other reason they are important is because they make you think about the structure and page layout of your blog. An 800-word blog may seem like a good idea (and, in fact, Google loves a page with a lot of information and depth) but you should help your audience out and give them lots of subheadings to make reading easier.

So, keep the content and the depth of info, but break it up into nice, clear, readable, SEO-friendly chunks.

How to use H2 tags

In WordPress, the keyboard shortcut is Alt+Shift+2 – so highlight your sub-heading, press that shortcut, and it turns into an H2 tag.

You can also use this drop-down menu…

 

If you want a smaller sub-heading, you can use an H3 tag (Alt+Shift+3) instead, for a smaller heading that will be treated with slightly less importance than an H2 equivalent.

This is an H3 tag

And that’s it! A very easy way to improve the SEO strength and the structure of your pages.

Podium is a Newcastle-based SEO company that brings together technical know-how with traditional comms expertise. Contact us today to get your business on the podium.

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