{"id":19565,"date":"2020-06-22T12:24:39","date_gmt":"2020-06-22T17:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/?p=19565"},"modified":"2020-09-04T13:39:21","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T18:39:21","slug":"heading-tag-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"Heading Tag SEO: It&#8217;s All About the Outline (and the Audience)"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\r\n<article class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-beige has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-772205c6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained is-style-beige--1\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\r\n<header class=\"wp-block-group c-breadcrumbs aligngrid has-global-padding is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-61973aa6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\">\r\n<header class=\"wp-block-group aligngrid is-content-justification-left is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-d68226ec wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\" style=\"margin-bottom:5px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mediavine-dev.d1.moderntribe.qa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/chevron-left2.svg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-542\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9\/16;object-fit:contain;width:auto;height:20px\"\/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/\">Back to Blog<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/header>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity aligngrid\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\"\/>\r\n<\/header>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-default has-neutral-20-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\"><div class=\"aligncenter aligncenter wp-block-tribe-terms\"><ul class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__list\"><li class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__term\"><span class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__link t-category\">SEO<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n<h1 style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);\" class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-post-title\">Heading Tag SEO: It&#8217;s All About the Outline (and the Audience)<\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-center is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-9b38c6d9 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\"><div style=\"margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-post-author-name\">Eric Hochberger<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u2022<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-post-date has-10-font-size\"><time datetime=\"2020-06-22T12:24:39-05:00\">June 22, 2020<\/time><\/div><\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">Most publishers know that heading tags, like meta descriptions and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/page-title-tags\/\">page title tags<\/a>, are a key component of a website&#8217;s content structure.\n\nBut how much do they really matter for SEO, and how should you use them?\n\nGlad you asked, because that&#8217;s the focus of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/what-is-seo-introducing-the-mediavine-search-engine-optimization-series\/\">SEO Like a CEO series<\/a> today!\n\n<!--more-->\n<h2>What are Heading Tags?<\/h2>\nHeading tags are \u2014 get this \u2014 HTML tags that mark up a section of text to be a &#8220;heading.&#8221; In other words, it&#8217;s the important, large text that describes what the section of content that follows it is about.\n\nFor the HTML geeks that do their markups themselves, they&#8217;re the <code>&lt;h1&gt;<\/code>, <code>&lt;h2&gt;<\/code>, <code>&lt;h3&gt;<\/code>, <code>&lt;h4&gt;<\/code>, <code>&lt;h5&gt;<\/code> and <code>&lt;h6&gt;<\/code> tags inside HTML.\n\nAnything between the <code>&lt;h1&gt;Heading&lt;\/h1&gt;<\/code> opening and closing tags is what&#8217;s going to be marked as a heading.\n\nInside WYSIWYG editors like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wordpress-gutenberg-should-you-make-the-switch\/\">Gutenberg<\/a> or the old Visual editor in WordPress, they&#8217;re labeled as &#8220;Heading 1&#8221; through &#8220;Heading 6.&#8221;\n\nBoth naming conventions refer to the same thing \u2014 a heading that&#8217;s used to describe the text that follows it. The numbers (1-6, or however many you use) are the order of importance.\n\nIn HTML, they&#8217;re also styled by default to be largest at the H1 level, with each subsequent heading tag appearing in smaller text. H1 is the largest text, and H6 is the smallest.\n\nBy default, they&#8217;re also bolded, with a heavier <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/increase-font-size-and-increase-seo-rpm-along-with-it\/\">font<\/a> weight, to make them stand out more.\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-19579\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Copy-of-2020-Pin-Templates-10.jpg\" alt=\"Mediavine Pinterest image - Heading tags: What they are, how to use them, and why they are important for SEO.\" width=\"735\" height=\"1103\" data-pin-title=\"Heading Tags \" data-pin-description=\"Heading tags are a key component of a website's content structure. Learn all about what they are, how much they really matter for SEO and how should you use them in this post. \" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Copy-of-2020-Pin-Templates-10.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Copy-of-2020-Pin-Templates-10-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Copy-of-2020-Pin-Templates-10-307x460.jpg 307w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Copy-of-2020-Pin-Templates-10-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px\" \/>\n<h2>Do Heading Tags Matter for SEO?<\/h2>\nWhile the SEO community may not universally agree on how much heading tags matter in 2020, Google is quite clear about it in the SEO Starter Guide.\n\nWarning: prepare for meta overload.\n\nIn the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/7451184?hl=en#understand_your_content\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Help Google (and users) understand your content<\/a>\u201d heading, Google recommends using heading tags as its third piece of advice, after page title and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/meta-description\/\">meta description<\/a> \u2014 not coincidentally, the two pieces of Mediavine SEO content that preceded this article.\n\nIt&#8217;s also no coincidence that Google organized the Starter Guide as an outline, using H1, H2 and H3 tags, and advises you to do the same with your content.\n\nOur <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLVy2vgUysJwvlM50_s5UlEJ4ZlqSQ27fA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SEO Like a CEO series<\/a> is being organized the same way, only I\u2019m writing it in reverse, starting with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/long-tail-keywords\/\">long tail keywords<\/a> \u2014 or what would be my H3 tags in the SEO Like a CEO outline \u2014 and then working my way up.\n\n(Sorry. Like I said, very meta.)\n\nAnyway, like we always say, if Google is telling you to use heading tags as the third piece of advice in helping Google (and your users) understand your content, it\u2019s safe to assume in still matters for SEO.\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19583 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/female-coder.jpg\" alt=\"woman in orange shirt who is coding header tags \" width=\"800\" height=\"526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/female-coder.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/female-coder-441x290.jpg 441w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/female-coder-700x460.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/female-coder-768x505.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\n<h2>Which Heading Tags Should You Use: H1, H2, H3, etc?<\/h2>\nIdeally, you should use all of the above.\n\nHeading tags are numbered to be be used in descending order of priority, so your most important heading should be H1. H2 tags are under H1 tags. H3 tags are under H2\/H1 tags.\n\nYou get it, but here&#8217;s an example in outline form:\n<ul>\n \t<li>H1: Post Title\n<ul>\n \t<li>H2: Section 1<\/li>\n \t<li>H2: Section 2\n<ul>\n \t<li>H3: Sub-Section 2A<\/li>\n \t<li>H3: Sub-Section: 2B<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n \t<li>H2: Section 3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nFor any given blog post, your post title should be the H1. It&#8217;s important that it contains something similar to what you would use for your page title and contains your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/keyword-proximity\/\">keyphrase<\/a>.\n\nNow, your usage of H2 and H3 tags will depend on how you organize the post.\n\nAs Google mentions in its Starter Guide, you should write your posts like an outline. Organize your sections before you even start to write them.\n\nFor example, before I began writing the article you&#8217;re currently reading, I organized my H2 tags ahead of time so I could plan what to write.\n\nIn this particular post, and most of my SEO series, you\u2019ll see a similar pattern of H2 headings. What is X? Does X matter for SEO? And so on. These are a series of questions I answer.\n\nIt helps keep me organized, but more importantly, it gives the audience a heads up when I&#8217;m discussing another facet of today&#8217;s subject or the chance to jump to the section they care most about.\n\nFor example, if you already know headings matter for SEO, or assume they do, then you can skip on down. That\u2019s how readers skim the internet, and it\u2019s why headers are so important.\n<h3>So what about those H3 tags?<\/h3>\nYes, I really did put that question itself in an H3 tag. Would you take advice from me otherwise?\n\nIf the sections under your H2 tags require sub-sections, that\u2019s when H3 tags enter the picture.\n\nAgain, think back to the outline. Are there subsections of the main sections within your blog post?\n\nIf so, use h3 tags and don\u2019t be afraid! If you don\u2019t like the way they look in your theme, contact your theme\u2019s support or hire a developer to fix them.\n\nPlease don&#8217;t skip out on what\u2019s called correct semantic HTML because of the aesthetics. Follow H tags in the order they were meant to be used.\n<h3>What about H4, H5, H6, etc?<\/h3>\nI\u2019ve rarely seen posts that naturally use these, and typically they are used by more structured, &#8220;computer generated&#8221; HTML like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/create-jump-to-recipe-is-here\/\">Create<\/a>.\n\nFor example, in Create, let\u2019s say you\u2019re making a delicious bundt cake with a glaze. Your recipe title, or \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sugardishme.com\/olive-oil-bundt-cake-with-pecan-streusel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Olive Oil Bundt Cake with Pecan Streusel<\/a>\u201d will be the H2 (since it\u2019s under your post\u2019s H1).\n\n\u201cIngredients\u201d will be one of your H3s (\u201cInstructions\u201d will be another). Now if you use any ingredient groups, those would end up being H4s, such as \u201cFor the Glaze\u201d and \u201cFor the Cake.\u201d\n\nIt makes sense in that context, and it\u2019s the correct HTML. But it&#8217;s a rare case in which writing a conventional blog post will you get down to that level.\n\nIf you do, though, it\u2019s completely fine. Just please don\u2019t skip H2 and H3 and jump to H4 because you like the way it looks. You need to use them in the correct order to reap the SEO benefits.\n\nOnce more for those in the back: H1 for your blog post. H2 for the sections of your post. H3 for any subsections under that.\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19584 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/mobile-phone.jpg\" alt=\"the hands of a woman in a light blue sweater using a smartphone while holding a laptop in their lap\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/mobile-phone.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/mobile-phone-441x294.jpg 441w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/mobile-phone-690x460.jpg 690w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/mobile-phone-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\n<h2>Should I Use My Keyword in All of My Heading Tags?<\/h2>\nApologies again for the meta overload, but yes, I used my keyphrase, &#8220;heading tags&#8221; in this heading, so you can probably guess where this is going.\n\nWhen we talked about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/keyword-prominence\/\">keyword prominence<\/a>, I made a big deal about making sure you use keywords inside your heading tag. However, that advice was typically geared towards making sure it shows up early in your H1 tag.\n\nYou can certainly use your keywords again in your H2 or H3 tags, but the key is not going overboard and running the risk of keyword stuffing, as we discussed about in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/keyword-density\/\">keyword density<\/a> post.\n\nUse the keyword or phrase where it&#8217;s natural in a heading tag. Remember, readers are skimming through your content and using the H tags to figure out where to stop and read.\n\nDoes the heading read okay without the keyword? If so, don&#8217;t unnaturally try to stuff it in.\n\nDoes the heading require the use of the keyphrase to make sense? Then great, use it!\n\nDon&#8217;t worry about what the SEO rumor mill says this week or last week. Worrying about your readers and their interactions with your content will never steer you wrong.\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19585 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/developer-e1592845149941.jpg\" alt=\"female developer wearing a green sweater and typing on a desktop computer in a home office\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/developer-e1592845149941.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/developer-e1592845149941-441x294.jpg 441w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/developer-e1592845149941-690x460.jpg 690w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/developer-e1592845149941-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/developer-e1592845149941-735x490.jpg 735w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\n<h2>Can I Have Multiple H1 Tags?<\/h2>\nYes. If you\u2019re using them correctly, there are times in which you\u2019ll want multiple H1 tags. Google has answered this question multiple times, and there&#8217;s a nerdy term I use a lot called \u201cSemantic HTML.\u201d\n\nIt basically means using HTML the way it\u2019s meant to be used. For example, as we keep saying, H1 is there to define the most important heading.\n\nNow, funny story, in a semantic HTML you can have multiple sections (which even have their own &lt;section&gt; tag!). In semantic HTML, each of these technically reset their headers. So under each section you should start back with an H1.\n\nThere are technical reasons why you\u2019d want to start over with H1 tags. For example, when we first launched Create, we followed semantic HTML and websites had multiple H1 tags.\n\nWe later made Create default to H2 tags because of this rumor. While it&#8217;s not true \u2014 you can have multiple H1 tags if they\u2019re following semantic HTML \u2014 it sure is easier this way.\n\nFor the purposes of your blog post, when you\u2019re writing it yourself, chances are you\u2019re not dividing things up with multiple HTML sections with different headers, footers, etc.\n\nWhen writing a blog post you should only have one H1 tag, but you can and should have multiple H2 and H3 tags.\n<h2>Powerful On-Page SEO in Your Control<\/h2>\nCombined with meta descriptions and page titles, heading tags are a key piece of your on-page SEO strategy that you don&#8217;t need to be an HTML geek in order to master.\n\nComing up with a good outline at the onset takes some effort, and it&#8217;s important to keep the key points described above in mind, but there&#8217;s nothing you can&#8217;t handle from a technical standpoint.\n\nIf you take one thing away from this post, remember to focus on the reader when outlining and writing heading tags.\n\nWhen it comes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/what-is-website-accessibility\/\">accessibility<\/a> for audiences and search engines alike, this rule of thumb will never steer you wrong.<\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-09aec4f2 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-right:0;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\r\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--3\">About the author<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);\" class=\"wp-block-post-author\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__avatar\"><img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/152dc08941c75895b80ffc4d0f79236a870658434ec66e25f227ffe962e70114?s=96&#038;d=blank&#038;r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/152dc08941c75895b80ffc4d0f79236a870658434ec66e25f227ffe962e70114?s=192&#038;d=blank&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' \/><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/author\/eric\/\" target=\"_self\">Eric Hochberger<\/a><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__bio\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-7c04bf6b wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\r\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--4\">Share this page<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing has-normal-icon-size has-icon-color is-style-logos-only is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-outermost-social-sharing-is-layout-9d3a6402 wp-block-social-sharing-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10)\"><li style=\"color: #000000; \" class=\"outermost-social-sharing-link outermost-social-sharing-link-linkedin has-base-black-color wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediavine.com%2Fblog%2Fheading-tag-seo%2F&#038;title=Heading%20Tag%20SEO%3A%20It%27s%20All%20About%20the%20Outline%20%28and%20the%20Audience%29\" aria-label=\"Share on LinkedIn\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-anchor\">\n\t\t<svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M19.7,3H4.3C3.582,3,3,3.582,3,4.3v15.4C3,20.418,3.582,21,4.3,21h15.4c0.718,0,1.3-0.582,1.3-1.3V4.3 C21,3.582,20.418,3,19.7,3z M8.339,18.338H5.667v-8.59h2.672V18.338z M7.004,8.574c-0.857,0-1.549-0.694-1.549-1.548 c0-0.855,0.691-1.548,1.549-1.548c0.854,0,1.547,0.694,1.547,1.548C8.551,7.881,7.858,8.574,7.004,8.574z M18.339,18.338h-2.669 v-4.177c0-0.996-0.017-2.278-1.387-2.278c-1.389,0-1.601,1.086-1.601,2.206v4.249h-2.667v-8.59h2.559v1.174h0.037 c0.356-0.675,1.227-1.387,2.526-1.387c2.703,0,3.203,1.779,3.203,4.092V18.338z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t<span class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-label screen-reader-text\">\n\t\t\tShare on LinkedIn\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\r\n\r\n<li style=\"color: #000000; \" class=\"outermost-social-sharing-link outermost-social-sharing-link-x has-base-black-color wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediavine.com%2Fblog%2Fheading-tag-seo%2F&#038;text=Heading%20Tag%20SEO%3A%20It%27s%20All%20About%20the%20Outline%20%28and%20the%20Audience%29\" aria-label=\"Share on X\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-anchor\">\n\t\t<svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M13.982 10.622 20.54 3h-1.554l-5.693 6.618L8.745 3H3.5l6.876 10.007L3.5 21h1.554l6.012-6.989L15.868 21h5.245l-7.131-10.378Zm-2.128 2.474-.697-.997-5.543-7.93H8l4.474 6.4.697.996 5.815 8.318h-2.387l-4.745-6.787Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t<span class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-label screen-reader-text\">\n\t\t\tShare on X\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\r\n\r\n<li style=\"color: #000000; \" class=\"outermost-social-sharing-link outermost-social-sharing-link-facebook has-base-black-color wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediavine.com%2Fblog%2Fheading-tag-seo%2F&#038;title=Heading%20Tag%20SEO%3A%20It%27s%20All%20About%20the%20Outline%20%28and%20the%20Audience%29\" aria-label=\"Share on Facebook\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-anchor\">\n\t\t<svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12 2C6.5 2 2 6.5 2 12c0 5 3.7 9.1 8.4 9.9v-7H7.9V12h2.5V9.8c0-2.5 1.5-3.9 3.8-3.9 1.1 0 2.2.2 2.2.2v2.5h-1.3c-1.2 0-1.6.8-1.6 1.6V12h2.8l-.4 2.9h-2.3v7C18.3 21.1 22 17 22 12c0-5.5-4.5-10-10-10z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t<span class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-label screen-reader-text\">\n\t\t\tShare on Facebook\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\r\n\r\n<li style=\"color: #000000; \" class=\"outermost-social-sharing-link outermost-social-sharing-link-telegram has-base-black-color wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/telegram.me\/share\/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediavine.com%2Fblog%2Fheading-tag-seo%2F&#038;text=Heading%20Tag%20SEO%3A%20It%27s%20All%20About%20the%20Outline%20%28and%20the%20Audience%29\" aria-label=\"Share on Telegram\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-anchor\">\n\t\t<svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 128 128\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M28.97 63.324c18.657-8.128 31.098-13.487 37.323-16.076 17.774-7.393 21.467-8.677 23.874-8.72.53-.009 1.713.122 2.48.745.648.525.826 1.235.911 1.733.085.498.191 1.633.107 2.52-.963 10.12-5.13 34.677-7.25 46.012-.898 4.796-2.664 6.404-4.375 6.561-3.716.342-6.538-2.456-10.138-4.815-5.633-3.693-8.815-5.991-14.283-9.594-6.319-4.164-2.222-6.453 1.379-10.193.942-.98 17.318-15.874 17.634-17.225.04-.169.077-.799-.297-1.131-.375-.333-.927-.22-1.325-.129-.565.128-9.564 6.076-26.996 17.843-2.554 1.754-4.868 2.609-6.94 2.564-2.286-.05-6.681-1.292-9.95-2.354-4.007-1.303-7.193-1.992-6.915-4.205.144-1.152 1.731-2.33 4.761-3.536Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t<span class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-label screen-reader-text\">\n\t\t\tShare on Telegram\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\r\n\r\n<li style=\"color: #000000; \" class=\"outermost-social-sharing-link outermost-social-sharing-link-whatsapp has-base-black-color wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/api.whatsapp.com\/send?text=Heading%20Tag%20SEO%3A%20It%27s%20All%20About%20the%20Outline%20%28and%20the%20Audience%29%20&mdash;%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediavine.com%2Fblog%2Fheading-tag-seo%2F\" aria-label=\"Share on WhatsApp\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-anchor\">\n\t\t<svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M 12.011719 2 C 6.5057187 2 2.0234844 6.478375 2.0214844 11.984375 C 2.0204844 13.744375 2.4814687 15.462563 3.3554688 16.976562 L 2 22 L 7.2324219 20.763672 C 8.6914219 21.559672 10.333859 21.977516 12.005859 21.978516 L 12.009766 21.978516 C 17.514766 21.978516 21.995047 17.499141 21.998047 11.994141 C 22.000047 9.3251406 20.962172 6.8157344 19.076172 4.9277344 C 17.190172 3.0407344 14.683719 2.001 12.011719 2 z M 12.009766 4 C 14.145766 4.001 16.153109 4.8337969 17.662109 6.3417969 C 19.171109 7.8517969 20.000047 9.8581875 19.998047 11.992188 C 19.996047 16.396187 16.413812 19.978516 12.007812 19.978516 C 10.674812 19.977516 9.3544062 19.642812 8.1914062 19.007812 L 7.5175781 18.640625 L 6.7734375 18.816406 L 4.8046875 19.28125 L 5.2851562 17.496094 L 5.5019531 16.695312 L 5.0878906 15.976562 C 4.3898906 14.768562 4.0204844 13.387375 4.0214844 11.984375 C 4.0234844 7.582375 7.6067656 4 12.009766 4 z M 8.4765625 7.375 C 8.3095625 7.375 8.0395469 7.4375 7.8105469 7.6875 C 7.5815469 7.9365 6.9355469 8.5395781 6.9355469 9.7675781 C 6.9355469 10.995578 7.8300781 12.182609 7.9550781 12.349609 C 8.0790781 12.515609 9.68175 15.115234 12.21875 16.115234 C 14.32675 16.946234 14.754891 16.782234 15.212891 16.740234 C 15.670891 16.699234 16.690438 16.137687 16.898438 15.554688 C 17.106437 14.971687 17.106922 14.470187 17.044922 14.367188 C 16.982922 14.263188 16.816406 14.201172 16.566406 14.076172 C 16.317406 13.951172 15.090328 13.348625 14.861328 13.265625 C 14.632328 13.182625 14.464828 13.140625 14.298828 13.390625 C 14.132828 13.640625 13.655766 14.201187 13.509766 14.367188 C 13.363766 14.534188 13.21875 14.556641 12.96875 14.431641 C 12.71875 14.305641 11.914938 14.041406 10.960938 13.191406 C 10.218937 12.530406 9.7182656 11.714844 9.5722656 11.464844 C 9.4272656 11.215844 9.5585938 11.079078 9.6835938 10.955078 C 9.7955938 10.843078 9.9316406 10.663578 10.056641 10.517578 C 10.180641 10.371578 10.223641 10.267562 10.306641 10.101562 C 10.389641 9.9355625 10.347156 9.7890625 10.285156 9.6640625 C 10.223156 9.5390625 9.737625 8.3065 9.515625 7.8125 C 9.328625 7.3975 9.131125 7.3878594 8.953125 7.3808594 C 8.808125 7.3748594 8.6425625 7.375 8.4765625 7.375 z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t<span class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing-link-label screen-reader-text\">\n\t\t\tShare on WhatsApp\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<\/article>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group aligngrid  is-animated-on-scroll-25 tribe-animation-type-fade-in tribe-animation-direction-bottom is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);--tribe-animation-speed:0.6s;--tribe-animation-offset:50px;--tribe-animation-delay:0s;--tribe-animation-easing:var(--easing--ease-out-sine)\">\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-small is-style-small--5\" id=\"h-related-posts\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">Related Posts<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:0;\" class=\"b-related-posts b-related-posts--layout-grid  wp-block-tribe-related-posts\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"c-post-card c-post-card__layout-vertical\">\n\t<div class=\"c-post-card__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__image aspect-ratio-cover aspect-ratio-3-2\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"582\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-1024x582.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"woman concentrating on her laptop in a workspace\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-1024x582.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-320x182.jpeg 320w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-768x436.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-1536x872.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-2048x1163.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-1170x664.jpeg 1170w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-375x213.jpeg 375w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-800x454.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-569x323.jpeg 569w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-353x200.jpeg 353w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-288x164.jpeg 288w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-335x190.jpeg 335w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-347x197.jpeg 347w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-520x295.jpeg 520w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-640x363.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-960x545.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-1080x613.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__primary-category t-category\">SEO<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"c-post-card__title t-display-xx-small t-transparent-underline\">Should I Republish Content? There&#8217;s a Better Way<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-author t-body-small\">Eric Hochberger<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-separator t-body-small\">\u2022<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-date t-body-small\">Oct 21, 2021<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__excerpt\">Back to Blog \u2022 Whether it&#8217;s for SEO or monetization purposes, we always encourage publishers to update old content. We&#8217;ve discussed at length how specifically to update content to improve RPM and optimize for SEO, but today we\u2019re focusing on a specific and surprisingly controversial aspect. How to handle the modified and published date may&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/should-i-republish-content-theres-a-better-way\/\" class=\"c-post-card__link-overlay\" aria-label=\"Read more about Should I Republish Content? There&#8217;s a Better Way\"><\/a>\n<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"c-post-card c-post-card__layout-vertical\">\n\t<div class=\"c-post-card__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__image aspect-ratio-cover aspect-ratio-3-2\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"man standing up using a desktop computer\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-1170x779.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-375x250.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-555x370.jpg 555w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-344x229.jpg 344w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-281x187.jpg 281w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-335x223.jpg 335w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-347x231.jpg 347w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-520x346.jpg 520w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-640x426.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-1080x719.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__primary-category t-category\">Mediavine<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"c-post-card__title t-display-xx-small t-transparent-underline\">SEO is a Garden a.k.a. The Parboil Strikes Back<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-author t-body-small\">Eric Hochberger<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-separator t-body-small\">\u2022<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-date t-body-small\">Oct 11, 2021<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__excerpt\">Back to Blog \u2022 Today on the Mediavine blog, we&#8217;re throwing it back to 2017, famously known to SEO experts across the web as the Year of the Parboil. It was never actually known as such, of course, but an experiment from back then remains instructive and shapes our SEO strategies today. A blog post&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/seo-is-a-garden\/\" class=\"c-post-card__link-overlay\" aria-label=\"Read more about SEO is a Garden a.k.a. The Parboil Strikes Back\"><\/a>\n<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"c-post-card c-post-card__layout-vertical\">\n\t<div class=\"c-post-card__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__image aspect-ratio-cover aspect-ratio-3-2\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"woman looking at her laptop sitting on the couch\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-375x250.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-555x370.jpg 555w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-344x229.jpg 344w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-281x187.jpg 281w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-335x223.jpg 335w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-347x231.jpg 347w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-520x346.jpg 520w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-640x426.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__primary-category t-category\">SEO<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"c-post-card__title t-display-xx-small t-transparent-underline\">Should You Delete Content or Just Stop Linking? An SEO Dilemma<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata-readtime\">8 minutes<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-author t-body-small\">Eric Hochberger<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-separator t-body-small\">\u2022<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-date t-body-small\">Jul 13, 2021<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__excerpt\">Back to Blog \u2022 If you&#8217;re a new blogger, bookmark this and come back in a few years. But if you&#8217;ve been blogging for awhile, you may have already asked yourself this SEO question: Should you delete content that&#8217;s old and\/or not doing a lot for you? Looking for a quick answer? Sorry. We&#8217;re going&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/should-you-delete-content-or-just-stop-linking\/\" class=\"c-post-card__link-overlay\" aria-label=\"Read more about Should You Delete Content or Just Stop Linking? An SEO Dilemma\"><\/a>\n<\/article>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/aside>\r\n<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back to Blog \u2022 Most publishers know that heading tags, like meta descriptions and page title tags, are a key component of a website&#8217;s content structure. But how much do they really matter for SEO, and how should you use them? Glad you asked, because that&#8217;s the focus of our SEO Like a CEO series&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,93],"tags":[],"audience_post":[],"class_list":["post-19565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo","category-seo-like-a-ceo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Heading Tag SEO: It&#039;s All About the Outline (and the Audience) - Mediavine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Heading tags are a key component of a website&#039;s content structure. Learn all about how much they really matter for SEO, and how should you use them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heading Tag SEO: It&#039;s All About the Outline (and the Audience)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Heading tags are a key component of a website&#039;s content structure. Learn all about how much they really matter for SEO, and how should you use them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mediavine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mediavinepublishernetwork\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-22T17:24:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-04T18:39:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hands-computer.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"532\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eric Hochberger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mediavine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@mediavine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eric Hochberger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eric Hochberger\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ebd6f771035eb5c34fc588d95c5322bb\"},\"headline\":\"Heading Tag SEO: It&#8217;s All About the Outline (and the Audience)\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-22T17:24:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-04T18:39:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/\"},\"wordCount\":1620,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hands-computer.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"SEO\",\"SEO Like A CEO\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/\",\"name\":\"Heading Tag SEO: It's All About the Outline (and the Audience) - Mediavine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hands-computer.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-22T17:24:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-04T18:39:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"Heading tags are a key component of a website's content structure. Learn all about how much they really matter for SEO, and how should you use them.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hands-computer.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hands-computer.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":532,\"caption\":\"using a computer\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Heading Tag SEO: It&#8217;s All About the Outline (and the Audience)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/\",\"name\":\"Mediavine\",\"description\":\"Full Service Ad Management\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Mediavine\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mediavine-yoast-favicon.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mediavine-yoast-favicon.svg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"Mediavine\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mediavinepublishernetwork\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/mediavine\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ebd6f771035eb5c34fc588d95c5322bb\",\"name\":\"Eric Hochberger\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/152dc08941c75895b80ffc4d0f79236a870658434ec66e25f227ffe962e70114?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/152dc08941c75895b80ffc4d0f79236a870658434ec66e25f227ffe962e70114?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eric Hochberger\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/author\/eric\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Heading Tag SEO: It's All About the Outline (and the Audience) - Mediavine","description":"Heading tags are a key component of a website's content structure. Learn all about how much they really matter for SEO, and how should you use them.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Heading Tag SEO: It's All About the Outline (and the Audience)","og_description":"Heading tags are a key component of a website's content structure. Learn all about how much they really matter for SEO, and how should you use them.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/","og_site_name":"Mediavine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mediavinepublishernetwork\/","article_published_time":"2020-06-22T17:24:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-04T18:39:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":532,"url":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hands-computer.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Eric Hochberger","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@mediavine","twitter_site":"@mediavine","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eric Hochberger","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/"},"author":{"name":"Eric Hochberger","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ebd6f771035eb5c34fc588d95c5322bb"},"headline":"Heading Tag SEO: It&#8217;s All About the Outline (and the Audience)","datePublished":"2020-06-22T17:24:39+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-04T18:39:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/"},"wordCount":1620,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hands-computer.jpg","articleSection":["SEO","SEO Like A CEO"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/","name":"Heading Tag SEO: It's All About the Outline (and the Audience) - Mediavine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hands-computer.jpg","datePublished":"2020-06-22T17:24:39+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-04T18:39:21+00:00","description":"Heading tags are a key component of a website's content structure. Learn all about how much they really matter for SEO, and how should you use them.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hands-computer.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/hands-computer.jpg","width":800,"height":532,"caption":"using a computer"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/heading-tag-seo\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Heading Tag SEO: It&#8217;s All About the Outline (and the Audience)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/","name":"Mediavine","description":"Full Service Ad Management","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#organization","name":"Mediavine","url":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mediavine-yoast-favicon.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mediavine-yoast-favicon.svg","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"Mediavine"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mediavinepublishernetwork\/","https:\/\/x.com\/mediavine"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ebd6f771035eb5c34fc588d95c5322bb","name":"Eric Hochberger","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/152dc08941c75895b80ffc4d0f79236a870658434ec66e25f227ffe962e70114?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/152dc08941c75895b80ffc4d0f79236a870658434ec66e25f227ffe962e70114?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Eric Hochberger"},"url":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/author\/eric\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19565"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20461,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19565\/revisions\/20461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19565"},{"taxonomy":"audience_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience_post?post=19565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}