Consumers are constantly bombarded with content throughout the day. To keep up, people have developed short attention spans. Headers help readers to skim through information and determine what to read and why. It also breaks up chunks of information, so it appears less overwhelming. Did you know your SEO company also prioritizes headers because it helps with search engine optimization?
Why Google Cares About Headers
Google has built a solid reputation for being able to answer people’s most pressing questions. Its brand name has become synonymous with searching for information online. To accomplish this, Google uses algorithms to determine how well a page speaks to the specific query posed during a search.
Headers call out the importance of specific topics throughout a web page. If an article or page contains headers that include the keyword from the search query, the page might rank higher. While headers are not the only weighted factors Google considers, it is one of the most important.
How Headers Align With Featured Snippets
For years, companies competed for the position of the first result on a page. Now, companies work hard to earn search position zero or the featured snippet. Google sometimes uses a paragraph or a few sentences to answer a question. However, it often compiles a list of the headers in the article, particularly when those headers are numbered and form part of a process.
It’s important to note that headers do not necessarily carry weight by themselves. Instead, they provide context so that Google bots can better understand the bigger picture. This, in turn, increases the weight provided to the content, which also improves where it ranks.
Why the Specific Headers Do Not Matter
In the past, bloggers and marketers used Title formats for the title of the page or article. Then, they used H1 headers throughout the article. Over the years, this practice changed to make H2 the first subheader throughout the article. Reports from top Google workers imply that this might result more in cosmetic than SEO benefits.
Google does not, at present, seem to weigh different headers more than others. It might, however, help Google to organize information better. For example, H3 headers might create a list under a specific H2 header. Without that change, Google bots might not immediately understand how to organize the information in a featured snippet.
How Headers Align With Images
Google increasingly turns to images for context clues about the body of an article and vice versa. In fact, images can rank separately in searches, even when people do not explicitly look for images. Headings above photos are one of the contextual clues that Google uses to determine what images mean.
It’s worth noting that headings are not the only tools Google uses to understand images. It also relies on alt text and other markup data. Sometimes, even the name of the file can be helpful.
How the Right SEO Company Can Help
Google makes minor updates to its algorithm daily and makes more significant updates a few times each year. Whenever this happens, big websites wait with bated breath to see how the new algorithm might rank their websites. This is nerve-racking and can feel more like a gamble than a strategy. When you work with a trusted SEO company, we do the reverse engineering for you and adjust your content accordingly. This allows you to enjoy greater consistency in how well you rank.
An important consideration is that Google aims to create bots and search engines that follow the same line of thought as the people it serves. With this goal in mind, it continually encourages marketers to create high-quality content instead of focusing on SEO.
Would you like to work with SEO professionals who write compelling content to nurture existing customers and attract new ones? Contact Unwired Web Solutions and ask for your free quote.
