I have a serious problem with the WordPress editor. In my humble opinion, it has one big flaw that I have very little understanding of and that hinders beginners from creating good content.
What I’m talking about is that the so-called kitchen sink—a second line of formatting options at the top of the WordPress editor—is hidden by default.
To access it, users have to click on the furthest button on the right that says Toolbar Toggle. Only then does the second row of buttons appear.
Why do I care so much?
Because, besides the ability to indent and underline text, choose different text colors (never do that!), and input special characters, this line houses a drop-down menu with one function: to format text as headings.
The ability to set headings (and do so correctly) is an important factor in crafting appealing, readable, and well-formatted content that both readers and search engines will appreciate.
For that reason, why WordPress would hide this important option from new users is beyond me. It is something that I use in every single piece of content I write.
Understanding WordPress heading tags and how to use them correctly makes a huge difference in content quality. In this article, we will take a closer look at this important formatting element. I hope you come along for the ride.
Two things before we get started: We are talking about headings in terms of the WordPress editor here, not about the overall on-page heading structure for your website. While the two are related, the latter is a slightly more complex matter, which can require editing your theme files and is beyond the scope of this article.
Besides that, we will be concentrating on HTML4/XHTML1 headings. The heading structure in HTML5 is a completely different game that we won’t be getting into yet.
What Are WordPress Heading Tags And Why Do They Matter?
To answer this question, look no further than the question itself. No, I’m not trying to cram in my two semesters of philosophy here but instead I want to divert your attention to the headline introducing this section of the article.
You will see that it is bigger, bolder, and overall much more prominent than the preceding and following paragraphs. That’s because I set it as a Heading 2 in the WordPress editor.
Headings are nothing new and have been around the print world for a long time. You have seen them before in books, magazines, and newspapers.
In web content, they are generally used in the same way as in the above mediums, to break up text into more digestible chunks. However, in the context of web publishing, they play an additional role.
On the Internet, when we talk about headings we are actually talking about HTML heading tags.
What does that mean?
Well, you may or may not know this, but for your browser, the question at the beginning of this section looks a little something like this:
<h2>What Are WordPress Heading Tags?</h2>
You can see this for yourself when you click on the Text button in the upper right corner to see your content in source form.
There are six different headings in HTML: H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6. As code, they look like this:
<h1>heading 1</h1> <h2>heading 2</h2> <h3>heading 3</h3> <h4>heading 4</h4> <h5>heading 5</h5> <h6>heading 6</h6>
Why is this important? Well, for one, wrapping text in heading tags allows you to style them differently than the rest of the content. For example, the reason why the H2 headings on this page look the way they do is because we can find the following code in stylesheet of this website:
h2 {
font-size: 30px;
margin-bottom: 16px;
}
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
color: #333;
font-weight: 300;
line-height: inherit;
}
Now that you know what headings are, there is a question of what they are doing inside your content. Basically, headings fulfill two functions:
Headings Make Text More Readable
As you have seen in this article, and as you probably know from your own experience, using headings gives structure to your content. They break up text into subsections and make content more digestible.
Why is that important? Well, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but few people actually read your articles in their entirety. I know, hard to bear, right?
However, many of your visitors are satisfied just skimming your content and only reading those parts that actually interest them. By dividing your content into sections and giving each of them a title that makes sense, you enable them to do just that.
Therefore, headings should be used in a way that after reading only through the headlines of your article, readers should have a good sense of what the piece is about.
Heading Tags Provide SEO Value
Readers aren’t the only ones that benefit from headings. Search engines also scan your site for headings.
Using H1-H6 tags shows them how different blocks of content are connected and stand in relation to one another. That’s also the reason why headings are usually configured to get consecutively smaller with higher numbers.
Apart from that, Google and Co. will try to use the content of your headings to understand the topic of your writing better. That’s why SEO plugins such as WordPress SEO by Yoast routinely check whether your keyword or phrase appears inside heading tags.
The reason is simple: Search engines want you to create content that is pleasant to consume for the visitor they are sending your way. When you provide a scannable and logical structure, Google and their competitors will reward you for it.
How To Use Headings Inside The WordPress Editor
Next, we will go over how to do it right, but first, let’s take a quick detour on how we can set up headings inside the WordPress editor.
As mentioned earlier, the first step is to gain access to the advanced editing options. For that, you need to click on the button Toolbar Toggle at the top right of the WordPress editor.
This will open up the kitchen sink (that reminds me, can anyone shine a light on the reasoning behind that name?). On the left is a drop-down menu, where you can set parts of your text to paragraph (which is the standard text) or assign any of the headings from 1 to 6.
To do so, either highlight the text in question with the mouse or place the cursor inside the line where your heading should be (which, by the way, should be placed inside its own line).
Now, open the drop-down menu and click the heading in question.
However, the entire thing can also be achieved quicker by using a shortcut. Instead of choosing the heading from the menu, you can also press Alt+Shift+Numbers 1-6. That means if you were to create an H2 heading, you would do so with Alt+Shift+2. Not so difficult, right?
Bonus Tip: To unassign headings, you can either press the same key combination again or go with Alt+Shift+7 to revert back to paragraph. You are welcome.
How To Use Headings And Subheadings Correctly
Made it this far? Nice. By now you should be ready to add heading tags to your content. However, in order to make sure you do it correctly, let’s have a look at the Do’s and Don’ts of using WordPress heading tags.
Do’s Of Using Headings In WordPress
- Do use only one H1 tag per page – The H1 tag is one of the central pieces of information for search engines to determine the topic of your content. Therefore, it should usually be the title of your post or page (your homepage might be an exception). Most good themes are configured to wrap apply H1 tags here automatically. Check whether or not your theme does this correctly and if not make necessary changes (preferably in the form of a child theme). If you absolutely have to include another H1, consider paginating your article.
- Do adhere to a logical heading structure – There is a reason for the heading tag order. The numbers denote when a section is subordinated to another one. Consequently, since H1 is our title, H2 tags are used to mark off subsections inside the article, H3 tags are used for sub-subsections, and so on. Take advantage of this and avoid skipping (such as going from H1 to H3).
- Do include keywords inside your headings – As I said, the content inside heading tags is an important source of information for search engines. Therefore, make sure to include your main and related keywords here and there. While this does not carry as much weight as it used to, it is an SEO opportunity that shouldn’t be wasted.
Don’ts Of Using Headings In WordPress
- Don’t use headings for styling – Headings give structure to your articles, they are not there to make parts of your content stand out! If you want to underscore central ideas or passages, us bold (Ctrl+B), italics (Ctrl+I), blockquote (Alt+Shit+Q) or add additional styles to the editor. Just don’t use headings!
- Don’t apply them to entire paragraphs – In the same vein, don’t make headings out of several lines of text. The heading tag is reserved for headlines that introduce different sections. Go for single sentences, no more than that.
- Don’t stuff keywords – While I said earlier that you should indeed use keywords, don’t go overboard and crowbar them into every single heading in your content. Think of your readers understanding and pleasure first, then of search engines.
- Don’t go deeper than H3 – For SEO sake, it doesn’t make much sense to use any headings past number 3. Ok, an occasional H4 can make sense for your human readers in some cases. However, you can completely forget about H5-H6. It has no value to search engines and you should be fine creating content without them.
Headings, Essential For Quality Content
Learning to use WordPress heading tags correctly is essential for every blogger or website owner. It’s part of the basics for content creation, providing both readability for human visitors and important information for search spiders.
Using HTML header tags will display your posts and pages in a structured and organized manner and show Google and other search engines that they are dealing with high-quality content.
However, remember to always think about your readers first and Google second. Don’t stuff keywords into each heading and subheading, but do make sure they provide a sensible outline of your article.
Considering the importance of headings, the only question that remains is why WordPress makes it curiously difficult to learn about them. Any guesses?
How do you use headings inside your content? Thoughts on the above? Please share in the comments!
65 Comments