Semantic Header Markup Means Search Engines Will Understand Too
Posted on Tuesday, May 1st, 2007
I was going to write a post on how using semantically correct markup for your post titles would improve the accessibility of your page, impress the meaning of your content to both readers and search engines and generally add to the level of well-being in the world. Sadly for me, Chris Pearson got there first with his post, The Definitive Guide to Semantic Web Markup for Blogs. The other unfortunate thing is that he probably did it better than I would have done!
Flattery aside, the article really does hit the spot. Header elements are not to be used for presentation and selecting the size of font you use for a particular word, they convey the hierarchy and meaning behind each heading and subheading and should be used like that. Recently I changed my post titles on their single pages from <h2>s to <h1>s as I realised that the title of my post is the most important part of the page, not the name of my blog. I do have my own tip as well, so I wrote this post instead.
Titles Are Seen More Than You Think
Chris points out that the <title> element appears not only at the top of your page, on tabs, in bookmarks, etc. but is weighted quite heavily in search algorithms and appears as the link in search engine results. Even the W3C calls it the “most important element of a quality web page”.
So how do you create that perfect title? In my opinion, you need to put across the content of the page in it’s title. In the case of a blog, what better way to do that then use the post title. If it is the homepage then the name of the blog and the tagline seem like a logical choice. If you navigate this site, you will see how I display my titles — Post Title :: Unintentionally Blank. This allows people to read what the post is about rather than repeatedly reading my blog name if there are a number of links to my blog. I have done this with the following code:
<?php
wp_title(' ');
if(wp_title(' ', false)) { echo ' :: '; }
bloginfo('name');
if (is_home()) { echo ' :: '; bloginfo('description'); }
?>
If you add this to you <head> section your blog will display the page title if you are on anything but the front page and your blog name and tagline on your main page, just like mine.
Improve Your Site
So go forth, read Chris Pearson’s article, tweak your theme and play with how you use headers, I am already planning to add my tagline to my <h1> on my front page, try out my Wordpress title method and watch the targeted search results come in, whilst feeling smugly satisfied because you have improved your markup not employed some dodgy tactic to lure people in. Drop me line or leave me a comment if you need any help.
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1May 1st, 2007 at 8:48 am
Hans Says:you know even if I’ve read the article by Chris, I wouldn’t change this overnight.
First since semantics is a new topics to me, I’ll look for more information. Do you know about 456 Berea Street? that’s my favourite on the topic.
I was asking myself how changing the heading will make you rank better? Every word on a page is a keyword for Google, and that’s what the crawlers are after. Keywords not weight in keywords, although perhaps weight might be an issue. But giving more weight to your blog’s name by using the h1 is somehow like making your brand stand out from the crowd. Perhaps what Chris is emphasizing is “branding” your content.
perhaps I see the old hierarchy better, because you brand your post and your blog altogether in the search engines.
This might not be an important issue in the SEO aspect but consider it in the marketing one, especially where Chris is talking about his new startup site at the end.
I don’t think that everybody should jump into the bandwagon just by knowing perhaps that worked for some guy. Have you published anything that might convince me otherwise? I’m looking for more reads on the topics :)
2May 2nd, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Phil Says:Hi Hans,
Thanks for the comments, I have looked into the heading and title elements a bit deeper and, while no-one really knows how search engines use different HTML elements for weighting, there is plenty of informed guesswork that seems to agree. Roger Johansson talks about descriptive titles and using headings and I found a great article on SEOmoz talking about the benefits of all possible SEO factors.
Have a read around, but most people agree that using headings and titles as they were intended is also beneficial for search engine rankings. Not all keywords are equal.
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May 29th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
3April 24th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Carly Says:I was going to show Hans the SEO moz site, and point out that in 2005 the 12 participants voted title tags the most valuable part of SEO, and in 2007 35 people voted keyword use in the title tag the number 1 ranking factor.
Either way this is probably over my head, but I’d much rarther use the individual title of the post as the title, then my blog name - as I want people to find my content through search engines, as they are more likely to be searching for that, not my blog’s name.
I hope I’ve not made myself look silly by getting the wrong end of the stick!!
4April 24th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Carly Says:(and if I have, feel free to delete my comments, haha!)
Pingback by Semantic Page Titles Improve Search Engine Optimization on Blog24
April 25th, 2008 at 8:17 am
5April 25th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Phil Says:Carly, you’re absolutely right, most people believe the title element to be far and away the most important element for keywords. Part of this article is about the H1 element, which I think is really important too. That’s why I put the post title and my site name in the title element, for keywords and my own site branding, and and then use an H1 for the post title to reinforce that.
I suppose what you target is down to personal choice anyway, so there’s definitely no need to delete your comments!
6January 27th, 2009 at 3:57 am
Frank Says:I also read that semantic web markup guide, its a very good option to improve our website. and bring traffic.
7March 15th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
eRage webdesign Says:I totally agree with what you’re saying. A website, WordPress based or not, should always be semantically correct. Less clutter and more things like headings, unordered lists and paragraphs.
A semantic markup is an important factor, besides linkbuilding, for high search engine positions.