Content Strategy & SEO

KevinVogelsang
Participant

Question about Titles/H1 tags for blog posts that are subtopics to a Pillar Page

SOLVE

My company is starting to use HubSpot and we have picked topics for Pillar Pages we would like to create. We have an existing blog with a lot of content and have picked posts that make sense as subtopics for our pillar topics. I am a little confused about the best practices to maximize SEO using this topic cluster idea when it comes to the titles/h1 tags of our blog posts/subtopics.

So for example our first topic is around Presentation Skills. Two of our blog posts that will be subtopics are titled "Sucessful Presenters Engage People in a Conversation" and "We Are Not the PowerPoint Police". My question is should I change the title tag for "We Are Not the PowerPoint Police" to something like "Presentation Skills - Slide Design - Company Name" and then keep the title of the blog the same (h1 tag), or should I change the title tag and the blog title (h1 tag) to something like "Improve your Presentation(s) (Skills) With More Comfortable Powerpoint Usage" [Awful title just an example], or should I leave both the page title and blog title alone and rely on Google and the linking to identify that slide design is an aspect of presentation skills?

So really my questions are should title tag and blog title (h1) be identical and does the title need to include all or at least some of the pillar focus keyword if I don't think it will be obvious to Google? And if I do include the pillar focus keyword in all or most of the subtopics will that take away from the pillar page as duplicate content?

 

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trevordjones
Solution
Key Advisor | Diamond Partner
Key Advisor | Diamond Partner

Question about Titles/H1 tags for blog posts that are subtopics to a Pillar Page

SOLVE

Hi @KevinVogelsang,

 

You should definitely keep your keyword in the title tag, but you should also remember that the title tag is what shows up in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) so it should be human-readable. You might try something like:

 

<title>Great Presentations Start with Slide Design and Presentation Skills</title>

or

<title>Build your Presentation Skills and Slide Design with These Tips.</title>

 

Also, don't underestimate the importance of a good meta description, which also shows up in the SERP and gives you a bit more characters to play with.  

 

Your company name is the thing you are most likely to rank for.  Don't waste valuable real estate in the title tag with it.

 

I'd also say that the humble colon can be your friend in an H1 tag.

 

<h1>Presentation Skills: Engage People in a Conversation</h1>

<h1>Slide Design: We are not the Power Point Police</h1>

 

Hope this helps!

 

Trevor

 

 

- Trevor
If my post solves your problem, please accept it as a solution.

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trevordjones
Key Advisor | Diamond Partner
Key Advisor | Diamond Partner

Question about Titles/H1 tags for blog posts that are subtopics to a Pillar Page

SOLVE

Great Questions @KevinVogelsang.

 

In general, I would not recommend having the page title and the H1 tag be identical.  Instead, I would usually have the H1 tag reference the keyword phrase from a slightly different (perhaps more detailed) perspective.  In short, I think you're on the right path with your thinking, BUT . . . 

 

Make sure you always write for humans first and search engines second.  If something looks forced or awkward and doesn't match the intent of the copy that follows it will confuse readers (and more and more, Google can tell).  If it doesn't make sense to put the keyword phrase in the H1, you're better off leaving it out.

 

- Trevor

 

 

- Trevor
If my post solves your problem, please accept it as a solution.

KevinVogelsang
Participant

Question about Titles/H1 tags for blog posts that are subtopics to a Pillar Page

SOLVE

Trevor,
Thank you very much for the response and advice. For my example I was struggling to make the H1 readable with the keyword so i'll probably end up leaving it as is ("We Are Not the PowerPoint Police") would the title tag I mentioned, Presentation Skills - Slide Design - Company Name still be appropriate even without any of the words appearing in the H1. the body of content includes the words presentation skills and the like? And would it be appropriate to have every subtopic post for Presentation Skills be title tagged as Presentation Skill - Specfics of Post - Company Name? Again, thanks for taking the time to respond!
- Kevin

0 Upvotes
trevordjones
Solution
Key Advisor | Diamond Partner
Key Advisor | Diamond Partner

Question about Titles/H1 tags for blog posts that are subtopics to a Pillar Page

SOLVE

Hi @KevinVogelsang,

 

You should definitely keep your keyword in the title tag, but you should also remember that the title tag is what shows up in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) so it should be human-readable. You might try something like:

 

<title>Great Presentations Start with Slide Design and Presentation Skills</title>

or

<title>Build your Presentation Skills and Slide Design with These Tips.</title>

 

Also, don't underestimate the importance of a good meta description, which also shows up in the SERP and gives you a bit more characters to play with.  

 

Your company name is the thing you are most likely to rank for.  Don't waste valuable real estate in the title tag with it.

 

I'd also say that the humble colon can be your friend in an H1 tag.

 

<h1>Presentation Skills: Engage People in a Conversation</h1>

<h1>Slide Design: We are not the Power Point Police</h1>

 

Hope this helps!

 

Trevor

 

 

- Trevor
If my post solves your problem, please accept it as a solution.