Header and Subhead Tags
Header tags (for example, H1s, H2s, etc.) serve an important function for search engines and users alike. They outline the content on a page in an easy-to-read structure.
Our SEO Office Hours notes below compile Google’s own advice, explanations, and SEO recommendations for dealing with header tags on your website.
Learn more about SEO best practices for website content in Lumar’s Website Intelligence Academy.
Header Tag Ordering is Irrelevant
Google doesn’t care abour ordering and nesting header tags. e.g. H2 after an H1.
Google Distinguishes Primary Content from Boiler Plate Content
Google detects boiler plate content which appears in the site in the page header, side navigation or footer and treats this separately to the primary content.
Last Modified Header Used for 304
Last Modified Header is taken into account when using a 304 status code in response to a request which contains an if-modified-since in the request headers.
Don’t Prevent Embedded File caching
If you prevent JS, CSS and image caching, such as a nocache header tag, Google will need to keep requesting the files for rendering, which may slow down crawling of the site.
Put Hreflang Tags Higher Up In The Head
John suggests placing your hreflang tags high up in the
section, particularly above any JavaScript which modifies the head.Google Ignores Noindex in Image File Headers
Googlebot Doesn’t See Robots Meta Tags on Redirected URLs
If a page is a redirected, Google won’t see any robots meta tags on the page, although they might see a noindex in the headers.
A JavaScript Modified Head can Break Meta Tags
If things like Hreflang tags in headers are not being picked up, it might be due to a problem with the head, perhaps modified by JavaScript. You can use the Inspect Element tool in Chrome to see the rendered page to validate the header section is correct.
HTTP Vary doesn’t need to be used for varying mobile only pages
If your mobile pages vary by user agent, they don’t need the http vary user agent in the headers.
Use X-Frame-Options: Deny to Prevent Pages Appearing in IFrames
You can prevent your pages from appearing inside iFrames for security reasons, by including an ‘X-Frame-Options: Deny’ in the http response header.