The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. SEO and Digital Marketing Forum
    2. Categories
    3. SEO Tactics
    4. On-Page Optimization
    5. Is using a H1 tag in a logo image bad for SEO?

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    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.

    Is using a H1 tag in a logo image bad for SEO?

    On-Page Optimization
    9 6 8.4k
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • DVLighting
      DVLighting last edited by

      We have brand logos on certain pages that have H1 tags in them - the H1 text being the brand's name, as this is what we'd want the title of the page to be.  The logos are at the top of the page instead of a written title. But is this the best option for SEO? Do search engines value H1 tags in images as highly as a standard H1 tag?Would it be better for SEO to add an alt tag to the logo and add a separate H1 tag on the page that's also the name of the brand?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Aditi_08
        Aditi_08 @DVLighting last edited by

        @DVLighting While using an H1 tag in your logo might not hurt SEO, it also doesn't offer a big advantage. In fact, it can actually make things less user-friendly for people with screen readers and take away from the opportunity to clearly highlight your main page message with a separate H1 tag. So, unless your logo itself incorporates the main title text, sticking with a standard H1 tag is the way to go for both SEO clarity and user experience.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Aditi_08
          Aditi_08 @DVLighting last edited by

          @DVLighting While using an H1 tag in your logo might not hurt SEO, it also doesn't offer a big advantage. In fact, it can actually make things less user-friendly for people with screen readers and take away from the opportunity to clearly highlight your main page message with a separate H1 tag. So, unless your logo itself incorporates the main title text, sticking with a standard H1 tag is the way to go for both SEO clarity and user experience.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • sarahwalsh
            sarahwalsh last edited by

            When you're writing the alt text for an image, simply write the alt text to describe what the picture is. Some web designers just label the picture 01- example, yet, to improve your SEO, its good to say what is in the picture for example a man eating an apple and write the alt text, just like that, man eating apple.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • DVLighting
              DVLighting @SearchStan last edited by

              I'm not worried it will hurt SEO. I just wondered if it will actually have any benefit and whether it would be more beneficial having the H1 tag not in the logo and as a standard H1 tag?

              Aditi_08 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • SearchStan
                SearchStan last edited by

                I'm pretty sure you with HTML5 you can have one

                per container element. Therefore, while having the logo as the

                isn't ideal, it won't hurt.

                DVLighting 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • Rajesh.Prajapati
                  Rajesh.Prajapati last edited by

                  Don't think so much about this. Use brand name on logo as H1. and you have to be very sure, every page should be have only one h1 tag.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • DVLighting
                    DVLighting last edited by

                    Hello Andreas,

                    Thank you for your answer. I don't think I explained myself very well in the question.

                    Yes, I meant that the H1 tag should be the brand name, not the title. We have over 60 pages where the topic of the page is a particular brand name that we are stockists of.

                    At the top of each of those pages is the brand's particular logo which acts as a visual heading for those pages. Our web developer put the H1 tag as the alt attribute for the logo image. But I am unsure as to whether this is good for SEO - to link a H1 tag to the image.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • paints-n-design
                      paints-n-design last edited by

                      This is a thing wich is pretty much normal for a lot of CMS-Templates. It is not best practice, each SEO-Tool will tell you to use only one h1 wich is unique. Don't have equal H1-Tags everywhere. Thats the best practice.

                      According to John Mueller and my experience, Google is not stupid. It is possible to have more than one H1-Tag. Now it depends on how much factors you are serving well. You and your competitors. These H1 alone is not such a big factor. It is working if you have a second headline with the main-topic of your website. A lot more stuff is relevant. If it is not easy possible to change it, you can deal with it and care about other factors.  Special if they are in different sections.

                      If it is possible, I would allways follow best-practices (specially for smaller or newer domains/companies). One thing sounds wrong "he H1 text being the brand's name, as this is what we'd want the title of the page to be" - I mean, the title (bet you ment the h1) should be what the page is about.  Without alt-attribute you current H1 is a simple image, wich means it is empty.

                      You ask what is working better - Better is to have an H1 unique on every page. Dont use Headings as style Elements and yes, give an alt-attribute for your logo. Thats defenetly a better way, but it is not impossible to do like you did. Like I said, I am pretty long in this business, thatswhy Logos, Sidebar- & Footerheadlines, all style Elements are not SEO-Elelements when I create Webpages. But yes - I also work for websites without changing h1-logos and h3 menu-items (cms-reasons). And it is possible to rank in hard topics. Favorite answer - it depends.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • 1 / 1
                      • First post
                        Last post

                      Got a burning SEO question?

                      Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                      Start my free trial


                      Explore more categories

                      • Moz Tools

                        Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                        Getting Started
                        Moz Pro
                        Moz Local
                        Moz Bar
                        API
                        What's New

                      • SEO Tactics

                        Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                        Content Development
                        Competitive Research
                        Keyword Research
                        Link Building
                        On-Page Optimization
                        Technical SEO
                        Reporting & Analytics
                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO
                        Image & Video Optimization
                        International SEO
                        Local SEO

                      • Community

                        Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                        Moz Blog
                        Moz News
                        Industry News
                        Jobs and Opportunities
                        SEO Learn Center
                        Whiteboard Friday

                      • Digital Marketing

                        Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                        Affiliate Marketing
                        Branding
                        Conversion Rate Optimization
                        Web Design
                        Paid Search Marketing
                        Social Media

                      • Research & Trends

                        Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                        SERP Trends
                        Search Behavior
                        Algorithm Updates
                        White Hat / Black Hat SEO
                        Other SEO Tools

                      • Support

                        Connect on product support and feature requests.

                        Product Support
                        Feature Requests
                        Participate in User Research

                      • See all categories

                      • SEO Implications of using Images for Article Titles
                        JakeWarren
                        JakeWarren
                        1
                        5
                        1.1k

                      • Tags - Good or bad for SEO
                        Christinaa
                        Christinaa
                        0
                        2
                        708

                      • What is the best tag to use for your Logo ?
                        Alex.harvey.Cortex
                        Alex.harvey.Cortex
                        0
                        4
                        1.0k

                      • Trying to SEO a site that used Header Tags for Design
                        CKerr
                        CKerr
                        0
                        4
                        872

                      • SEO Location Pages - ALT Image Tag Question
                        SarahCollins
                        SarahCollins
                        0
                        5
                        1.2k

                      • Is it ok to use the H1 tag for bullet points?
                        mevseo
                        mevseo
                        0
                        5
                        3.2k

                      Get started with Moz Pro!

                      Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                      Start my free trial
                      Products
                      • Moz Pro
                      • Moz Local
                      • Moz API
                      • Moz Data
                      • STAT
                      • Product Updates
                      Moz Solutions
                      • SMB Solutions
                      • Agency Solutions
                      • Enterprise Solutions
                      • Digital Marketers
                      Free SEO Tools
                      • Domain Authority Checker
                      • Link Explorer
                      • Keyword Explorer
                      • Competitive Research
                      • Brand Authority Checker
                      • Local Citation Checker
                      • MozBar Extension
                      • MozCast
                      Resources
                      • Blog
                      • SEO Learning Center
                      • Help Hub
                      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                      • How-to Guides
                      • Moz Academy
                      • API Docs
                      About Moz
                      • About
                      • Team
                      • Careers
                      • Contact
                      Why Moz
                      • Case Studies
                      • Testimonials
                      Get Involved
                      • Become an Affiliate
                      • MozCon
                      • Webinars
                      • Practical Marketer Series
                      • MozPod
                      Connect with us

                      Contact the Help team

                      Join our newsletter
                      Moz logo
                      © 2021 - 2026 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                      • Accessibility
                      • Terms of Use
                      • Privacy

                      Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.