h1 tags or span class title - need help

[scrawnybob]

hi

I'm trying to get my site a bit more sorted (http://www.4kingpoker.com) after a bit of a design overhaul - currently the designer sorts all the code and I edit sections in php

my question is this - have I got it right that it's better to use H1 tags etc for SEO ?

currently I have section headings / more important lines as span class = title which makes them about an h3 size but I'm not sure if these are making it appear like I have h1 tags all over the place ? or if they're seen as h3's

clearly trying to do anything iffy isn't my intention just the way the web guy set it up

If I get it so that I can put the headline / title of pages in as actual H1 tags - will this improve the logic of pages

And does it matter that the php has span class titles in it which size at h3

Need some help from people in the know - my designer guy isn't an SEO'er and isn't convinced with half the things I've done like meta tags etc - until they work and prove worth the effort

I don't think he is keen as it means re-defining the h1 in my editable areas - but keeping the links to it normal size - which I cant do just assigning h1 in the bits I access

he always tries to keep me from wasting time & money on things which may not be worth it

If anyone understands what I'm getting at it would be great to have some feedback as this seems a bit crucial as it would be site wide

cheers scrawnybob

[pokerforfree]

Defiinitely h1 tags.

No more than 1 per page, and if you need to use more titles, then use h2, h3 etc. tags.

Define the importance of your titles using xhtml the way it's meant to be. I'd recommend your webdesigner to start reading about sematic html. The tags should describe its' content.

Good luck,

Giorgio

[scrawnybob]

hi pokerforfree

cheers for your reply - bit confused as looking at your sites in sig neither seem to have h1 tags - big text anywhere

Am I being thick and misunderstanding the whole H1 thing but I thought this meant assigning H1- 2 - 3 dictacted the size of the text as well as it's importance ??

Is there a way of assigning / using the h1 tag to prioritise the title / text importance etc without having the huge text sizes ?

cheers scrawnybob

[offyourface]

h1 {
margin: 0px;
font-size: 18px;
font-weight: bold;
}


Put that in your css file and change to your liking. IE, if you wanted smaller text change the 18px to 12px or something. You could also copy this and change the h1 to h2 h3 ect and paste it in your css file to define styles for those tags as well. In short, you can style an h1 tag any way you please and it will have no effect seo wise. It is a good idea to use h1, just don't cram every key word you can in there. Keep it brief and it should be like the title of a chapter in a book, describing what that chapter is about.

[scrawnybob]

hi offyourface

cheers both for your replies - now I know your going to laugh but I don't do anything but the basic code in editable areas which I think runs in PHP I've heard of CSS but have now idea if the system uses this - I certainly don't have access to the CSS style guide thing - if it has one ??

The designer I have is a very successful (think one of a few early years 16yr old real dot.com teen fortune makers) now a bit older but not the ones who sold the emperors clothes for millions - 100% genuine but his successful sites are in less competitive industries so he built his success on doing the right thing at right time and didnt need to worry about SEO so much

Does PHP have this CSS styel thing ? I thought CSS was different to PHP

Man I know nothing - again

cheers scrawnybob

[offyourface]

I am probably not the one to explain this right since I am a newb to it myself. I don't know if your using a css style sheet yet, if you are you just need to download the file from your server onto your local computer so you can edit and paste the code. If you use dreamweaver this is a sinch. If you are not using a css style sheet then you just need to do some reading on how to go about it. If your going to continue to grow in the business, it would behoove you to learn the basics with css. Ask your designer about it, he will be able to break it down for you.

[scrawnybob]

hi

cheers - I'll have a chat with him now I'm a bit more armed with info

out of interest stuff I've read on putting it in CCS still has a bigger to smaller text sizes for the H1-3 tags - is this a rule or is it a case of using the tags themsleves responsibly ?

ie. could I have


one h1 tag at 18px


one h2 tag at 18px

five h3 tags at 18px

I'd like to keep the look I have from a visual point of view but correctly assign the tags to the relevant title / sub title & several sub sections without different text sizes ?

thanks for you help so far - really appreciate it

cheers scrawnybob

[adioking]

see if i contribute EVER again

[scrawnybob]

hi

cheers adio and all - bit clearer on it all now so I'm armed to takle the designer and not err & um within two seconds

cheers scrawnybob