Keywords and semantic tags : put relevant content in the right tags

Question

How to place content as optimzed as possible for Search engines?

My client has a product with a very generic word: Mosaic, he writes it differently but it's still very generic. The text I was given puts the name of the product in the headers, followed by a small description in which I see some keywords alot more relevant. My client's marketing leader wishes to see somethng like:

<h1>Mosaic Software</h1>
<p>Our most advanced software for the production chain of metallurgical products</p>

But wouldn't it be better this way:

<h1>Software for the production chain of metallurgical products</h1>
<p><strong>Mosaic</strong> : Our most advanced software...</p>

or, second option, can we do this, include my H1 in the running text?

<style>
   h1{font-size:inherit}
</style>
<div>Mosaic Software</div>
<div>Our most advanced <h1>software for the production chain of metallurgical products</h1></div>

Or Google may think I try to cheat?

What's the best way to go?

Answer 1

The client/owner of the business has to answer the question - "What do people search to find a product like theirs?" Do they search for the attributes of the product, or what it does? And something along those lines.

"Mosaic Software" is very generic, yes. But it's not unthinkable to use that as H1. If they have a unique offering and a good enough brand recognition, maybe people will actually search for "mosaic software." For example, people search for the brand name, snapchat, not for a video/social app. Or, KPMG, not management consultants. Those are extreme cases, but that's just to make the point.

Something else to think about: H1 is important, no doubt, but your primary targets should be the title and description meta tags -- these are what the users see in search results. These are two important hooks that will get users to click on your link, and once they are on your page, only then will they see the works of the H1 tag. Some site keep H1 and title same, but you can get creative with it. Here's an example with different H1 and title: title is keyword-rich, h1 is just that, the story title. https://mashable.com/2018/04/13/trump-deleted-john-kelly-face-palm-tweet/.

An example in commerce/software space: https://www.semrush.com/. Notice the diff. between h1 and title.

In your case, the title, can be a hybrid of the two options, e.g., "Software for the production chain of metallurgical products | Mosaic software". Then add finer details with relevant keywords in the description tag. While you are at it, keep the URL also saturated with good keywords.

Then comes the H1 tag. Don't use H1 tags only for keyword stuffing. Use it to craft a good article title with only those few good keywords that actually deserve a spot in H1 tag.

Your second question on H1 inside div tag: it won't look right. It will break it into two lines because H1 is a block level element, meaning, it will live like a king in its own line, below "Our most advanced."

Answer 2

You're right about trying to target keywords to rank the site. But you do still have to build the site in a way that's best for users. Trying to figure out a great medium can be a bit of an art, and preference.

H1 is similar to title tags in that they're used as a ranking signal and are similar to a page's title. Many of the big brands put their brand name in the title tags, which in this case would be your product.

Some SEO experts have said that an h3 tag can actually even be a larger signal to Google than an h1 tag. So in this case I might structure it like this:

<h1>Mosaic Software</h1>
<h3>Our most advanced software for the production chain of metallurgical products</h3>

You also can style your h1 tag to a font size of your choice as you have in your 3rd example. I haven't seen anyone say that this is bad for SEO before, and I've seen many coding examples on the web of styling h1 down to a smaller font size. I've even used this technique before.