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  4. Page Title versus H1 title

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After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Page Title versus H1 title

On-Page Optimization
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  • amybethmegjo
    amybethmegjo last edited by Jan 12, 2017, 9:34 PM

    What's the difference between the Page Title and the H1 title? It seems like both summarize the page. Is it a wasted opportunity to make them the same? Should they be similar but slightly different?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
    • emilydavidson
      emilydavidson @amybethmegjo last edited by Jan 20, 2017, 3:14 PM Jan 20, 2017, 3:14 PM

      of course! so my recommendation would be to inspect the page (with chrome dev tools) and see if it is styled as an H1, and if it isn't styled as a true H1, I would add that as a task to your backlog but I wouldn't suggest that you make it higher priority then other more important ranking factors. That being said, most of these SEO best practice recommendations come from people doing tests and identifying trends, so there is no 100% solid answer that "yes you NEED it to be styled as a true H1" or "no it does not matter at all".

      My personal opinion is that it still carries some value, so if you can figure it out, I would recommend that you do have it read as a true H1 tag. Even if it does not impact your rankings significantly, I think that your site will be better off following all recommended best practices.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • amybethmegjo
        amybethmegjo @emilydavidson last edited by Jan 20, 2017, 12:25 AM Jan 20, 2017, 12:25 AM

        Thank you for the over and above response!

        My quandry is that the text that is really the "H1" on each page is done in a certain styling on the web platform such that we can't control the text for it to be an H1. We can't choose it with a menu or do it on the back end through code and tagging. (Maybe we could if we really dig into it, not sure.)

        The text is very clear on the page and functions exactly in the way I believe an H1 should function, clarifying what the page is about (similar to the page title but not always exactly that same words). We like the styling, and it's clear and visual. I was wondering if we should worry that tools like Moz Pro don't see it officially as an H1. It seems from most things I'm hearing is that it functions as an H1 already and we don't need to spend the time to get it to be stylized as official H1. That's why I was wondering exactly what H1s are for and why they are important. If it's for directing the viewer on the page, we've done that. If it's for something more that needs official H1 "status" we don't have that.

        emilydavidson 1 Reply Last reply Jan 20, 2017, 3:14 PM Reply Quote 0
        • amybethmegjo
          amybethmegjo @Alick300 last edited by Jan 20, 2017, 12:20 AM Jan 20, 2017, 12:20 AM

          Thank you for the response! I really appreciate it.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • emilydavidson
            emilydavidson last edited by Jan 19, 2017, 6:41 PM Jan 19, 2017, 6:40 PM

            Title Tags = Page Titles (if you're using a CMS, it is usually called page title, not title tag).Your title tag is the name that appears on your browser tab. This is one of the first places that search engine spiders crawl to see what a page is about. When it comes to SERP ranking, your title tag has far far more of an influence then the H1 does. In fact, so many people used to keyword stuff the H1 and use it for spam, that it no longer has much of impact at all, if any. The H1 of a page is now more intended for the user to get a clear idea of what they are about to read, as well as styling of your pages. Moz recommends the following format for your title tag:  Primary Keyword - Secondary Keyword | Brand Name. However, if your title tag doesn't match what content of the page is about, than you're spamming.

            Here's an example: Let's say you have a page about why organic apples are the best, and you sell organic fruit and your brand name is organics (which is probably a real brand name but oh well, it's for this example). Your title tag (page title) could be this: Why Organic Apples Are Better - Premium Organic Fruit | Organics. But your H1 could be: "Why You Should Start Eating Organic Apples Only" or "Why You Should Avoid Non-Organic Apples" and it would be the first thing on-page.

            amybethmegjo 1 Reply Last reply Jan 20, 2017, 12:25 AM Reply Quote 1
            • Alick300
              Alick300 last edited by Jan 16, 2017, 4:37 AM Jan 16, 2017, 4:37 AM

              Hi,

              Main Differences:

              Title Tags appear in search engines and the Web browser’s title bar
                        H1 Headers appear within the body text of the webpage
                        Search engines give more weight to Title Tags than H1 Headers

              Please check this old thread on similar query @ https://moz.com/community/q/can-h1-and-meta-title-be-exactly-the-same-why-not

              Hope this helps.

              Thanks

              amybethmegjo 1 Reply Last reply Jan 20, 2017, 12:20 AM Reply Quote -1
              • AL123al
                AL123al last edited by Jan 13, 2017, 12:32 PM Jan 13, 2017, 12:32 PM

                Hello,

                I refer to this Moz article when writing Meta Title tags https://moz.com/learn/seo/title-tag with the optimal format:

                Primary Keyword - Secondary Keyword | Brand Name

                The H1 tag would look unnatural in the same format. Personally I use the H1 tag to focus on my primary keyword if the page is mostly focusing on the primary keyword. The H1 tag should provide a good user experience when a visitor lands on the page and give an indication of the content within. If you make it unreadable it will result in a bounce back to the SERP.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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