Super exciting topic today: Headings!

YES! Headings are Fun! Headings are Important! Headings are good for SEO! (maybe).

Ok, so admittedly, headings are not super-duper exciting. But, they are important when you design anything – including a flyer, a blog post or a page on website.

So, let’s dig into this. First I’m going to tell you why they matter, then I’m going to give a quick how-to for those of you who have a WordPress site and/or blog.

Ok, so why do these things matter?

Headings…

1. Highlight major points of your page/post/flyer. Size and weight (like bold or not) tell the reader what’s the most important aspects.
2. Separate your content so it’s easier to read.
3. Organize your content. (see number 1 and number 2)
4. On websites+blogs: It has been reported that search engines index heading 1 and heading 2 tags. (what search engines index and how they rate pages changes ALL the time, so at any given moment this may or may not be true). Also, a note of caution: Don’t litter your posts or pages with heading 1 tags and heading 2 tags after reading this, because google might think you’re trying to play them and put you in time out. Seriously folks, so use them how they’re meant to be used.

Here’s a nifty example ad guideline of Headings for Website Use:

Heading 1 – For page/post title, ideally you want 1 per page.

Heading 2 – For major points throughout.

Heading 3 – For points that are important, but not major.

Heading 4 – A little less important than a heading 3.

Heading 5 – For minor points.

Heading 6 – For minor points in non-important areas, like sidebars.

Good to Know: Not all websites have this many headings, some stop at a heading 3 or 4.

Also really, Good to Know: These are different sizes and weights on every website, in every email program, etc.

To create headings in a WordPress post/page:

1. Log into your site and go to “add new” (you can add a new post or page).  Make sure you can see your “kitchen sink”, like below.

2. Highlight the text you’d like to make a heading and select “Heading 2”, “Heading 3” or whichever one you’d like to try from the dropdown that says “Format”.

3. Walla! You’ve created a Heading. Pat yourself on the back.

Another really Good to Know: When you enter a page or post title for the page, those are a Heading 1.

Example below with dummy text on how this kind of works. This a good guideline for anything you’re making that has blocks of text.

Example of Heading 1 as a Title.

Example of a Heading 5 for a subtitle.

Mauris ornare vehicula erat, eu sagittis diam sollicitudin sit amet. Vestibulum laoreet dignissim justo sed mollis. Maecenas ac ligula accumsan, feugiat sem in, tincidunt augue. Duis laoreet magna in accumsan tempus.

Heading 2 for a Major Point.

Quisque vestibulum augue ac lacus facilisis, sed varius sem ultrices. Suspendisse vehicula est non lacus vehicula tempor. Vivamus non suscipit lectus. Ut ut venenatis tortor. Nullam consectetur mi ac augue aliquam euismod. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Aliquam erat volutpat. Mauris quis accumsan diam.

Heading 2 for Another Major Point.

Donec egestas quis mi id facilisis. Fusce aliquam tellus mi. Donec vulputate, odio quis euismod cursus, mi augue pharetra nisi, nec eleifend nibh nunc sit amet augue. Donec vitae felis vitae sem auctor ultricies at vitae sapien. Aenean sit amet nisi pretium, hendrerit arcu eget, fringilla nibh. Quisque tristique molestie justo eget tincidunt. Phasellus at rutrum nulla, non imperdiet augue.

Heading 3 for a minor  point.

Quisque sodales varius lacus, vitae pellentesque nisi fringilla sed. Duis mollis, lorem non ultrices interdum, mi dui sodales justo, sed ultrices ligula turpis non nibh.

Integer sagittis luctus sapien at laoreet. Fusce sit amet convallis nibh, et ultricies neque. Praesent rhoncus nec justo ac tristique. Vivamus et feugiat ipsum, ac bibendum libero.

Heading 3 for another minor  point.

Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Proin faucibus orci ac purus scelerisque imperdiet. Praesent tincidunt laoreet dolor non laoreet. Curabitur vehicula at leo ut interdum. Aenean sit amet lacinia quam, eget varius neque. Nulla accumsan pretium dapibus. In hendrerit molestie diam.

Heading 2 for A Final Major Point.

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Heading 3 for a minor  point.

Praesent auctor, lectus eu suscipit venenatis, massa metus commodo ipsum, id hendrerit risus neque in elit. Duis hendrerit bibendum tellus. Suspendisse euismod interdum ante id tincidunt. Quisque rhoncus velit id lobortis dignissim. Ut volutpat justo sit amet auctor ultrices.

Well, that’s it for today – hope this was helpful!