When my cofounder, Lauren, explained the reasoning behind this strategy, she rolled her eyes and said “because SEO.” Lauren is the brains of our technical strategy and as a seasoned developer of custom themes for over a decade, she tends to understand more than most.
I hopped into researching the SEO standards behind this strategy, to explain in greater detail why having an H1 is important for your homepage (and how it’s often overlooked in theme development). SEM Rush shared a helpful article that outlines why it is important for UX & Accessibility.
Why an H1 on the homepage is Important for UX:
“H1 tags improve user experience (UX) by allowing readers to learn what your page is about at a glance… And improving UX is fundamental. Google has emphasized it as a ranking factor. “
How H1’s improve accessibility
“H1 tags (and other headings in general) can help those who use screen readers due to visual impairments understand the page’s content.
Quickly improve your site’s accessibility by crafting descriptive H1 tags and keeping an organized heading structure.”
Creator Theme’s Homepage H1
Most themes are coded to use the site as your H1. Sometimes, that’s really helpful. Other times, you might find that while your site title & brand name is the same, your strategy or ideal audience has changed.
How to change the homepage H1 with Creator Theme:
Simply adjust your H1 as needed (the same way you would edit a post) on the homepage.
How to change the homepage H1 on other themes:
Most WordPress themes are coded to use the site title as the H1. To change this, you have to do one of two things.
- reprogram the heading structure on your own
- ask a developer to change the H1 on your homepage to the wording of your choice
- … and edit it every time you’d like to make a small tweak or change!
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