Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi Demiglaz :-)
I don`t know what school is like, these days, but back when I was in school (with Thomas Jefferson), I HATED outlining! It seemed to me that the teachers, when they didn`t feel like teaching anything, would simply tell us to re-do the damnfool textbook, all in outline form.

Okay, so I figured it`d be totally useless. But, as I`m now into my second century, I`ve discovered that knowing how to outline actually is kind of helpful.

"H" tags ("Heading") are simply ways to outline. So you`d have a Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and down to Level 6. Instead of calling them "levels," the fine people on Planet HTML chose to call them "headings."

Look at your site, and print it out. Then take some paper---like a legal pad---and literally outline your content.

Wherever you need to make an indentation for a sub-heading, that`s where you`d use the next number heading. So "H1" is the Top...the biggest font. "H2" is smaller, "H3" smaller, and so forth. (Unfortunately, the indenting isn`t quite so simple.)

To answer your specific question; although you`re using "H-tags," you`re getting lost in the SEO reasoning, not the visual appeal of the page. Remember, although it may help for a machine to read your pages, if PEOPLE don`t like what they`re seeing or reading, the machines really won`t care at all. Right? :-)

Your changes now make a lot more sense. Looks a lot better!

Keep in mind that there`s no law in the US that you MUST use every level of H-tag. There are such laws in Russia and Tibet, but not in India or Saudi Arabia. It just depends on the country, I guess.

If you only use H1 tags, that`s fine. If you do have subheadings below those main ones, then use H2 tags. If not, don`t use them. :-) In some cases, you don`t need headings at all, if it`s very short text content.

However, people do tend to scan headings before reading content, just as they scan headlines in a magazine or newspaper to decide IF they want to read the actual article. To headings, used well, can get your message across in very few words---and spark further interest.