Which is better for search engines: Subtitles or Callouts?

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   Beth Eaglescliffeposted 7 years ago

   Is there any difference in the way search engines view subtitles versus callouts? i.e. does using one make it more likely than the other for your article to rank well?

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      lobobrandonposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      They are both H2. So there's no difference to Google. Just the design looks different.

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      WryLiltposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Subtitles.
      
      Google uses header tags to identify important text on a page.
      
      H1 text is for titles and H2 text is for subtitles.

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         lobobrandonposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Callouts are also H2 if you look at the source code.

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            WryLiltposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Ah thank you. I didn't know that! I just figured they were some type of quote format.

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               lobobrandonposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               Hehe no. That's blockquote (I think it's one of the options too). In that case you have an option to include a capsule heading.

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      Christy Kirwanposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      We actually recommend using subtitles instead of Callout Capsules for this purpose as they are read slightly differently by Google with the new design.

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   Beth Eaglescliffeposted 7 years ago

   Thanks WryLilt and lobobrandon for clearing that up for me. I wasn't sure as some of the editors seem to prefer one form over the other and I wondered if search results may be the reason for their preference.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      At one time all the editors seemed to love callout capsules in preference to capsule headings.   The fashion seems to have waned a little now.  I think perhaps they stand out better in mobile view.

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         lobobrandonposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Haha Yes and Yes.
         
         I think it is when they (the editors) make massive changes (on high traffic hubs being moved because of their traffic) such as removing capsules, etc. they went ahead and changed sub-headings to callouts. But when hubs are just accepted with minimal changes they don't bother going through the trouble of making those changes as there's a lot of work to be done.

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   Beth Eaglescliffeposted 7 years ago

   
   Thanks Marisa.

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   Glenn Stokposted 7 years ago

   As lobobrandon had said, Callouts are H2 tags just the same as subtitles. So they look the same to search engines. More specifically, it' the header of the callout capsule that is H2.
   
   The only difference is your own preference on how you want your hub to look visually. I'm going a little crazy with various editors making conflicting changes. When my hubs are modified for moving to niche sites, some editors change my regular subtitles to callout capsules.
   
   However, just yesterday an editor changed all my callout capsules to regular subtitles for a move to Exemplore.  A quick review shows that all the recently moved hubs to Exemplore do not have callout capsules, but older hubs that have not been edited do have callouts. So I'm wondering if they prefer not using callout capsules on Exemplore.
   
   There is no standard among the editors and curators. That's for sure.

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      Beth Eaglescliffeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      
      I know the feeling, Glenn.

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   Beth Eaglescliffeposted 7 years ago

   Ah, the new design. ...  That explains the editorial changes.
   Thanks Christy.

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      Christy Kirwanposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, exactly. Originally there wasn't a difference, but you will most likely see the Editors switching to the use of subtitles exclusively for this purpose from now on.

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         Glenn Stokposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Christy, Robin just told me that HubPages is working on a way for subtitles to look better and she also mentioned the same thing you just said – to use subtitles instead of Callout Capsules due to the upcoming change.  That clarifies why I had callouts removed now when a previous editor had added them.
         
         One question though: You said in your prior post that "they read slightly differently by Google with the new design."  How so?  Are you saying that callout capsule headings are not going to be H2 title tags any longer? If this is so, we need to know that so we can start getting proactive with changing callout's to regular subtitles.

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            lobobrandonposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Yes knowing this would be very helpful.

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   Robinposted 7 years ago

   If you want a portion of your article to show up in a featured snippet, it's best to use a subtitle.  Essentially, there is code around a callout capsule that does not "link" it to the text in a Text Capsule; thus, it is less likely that it will show up in a featured snippet in Google search results.  We suggest using callouts for information that you'd like highlighted, but not in the place of a subtitle. 
   
   Callout capsule subtitles are still H2 headings.  We aren't changing that.

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      Glenn Stokposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Robin. This makes more sense, now that you mentioned the fact that the titles on text capsules are linked to the text in that capsule. Now I see why this is required for showing up in featured snippets. Actually, it's very important!

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      DrMark1961posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Is it worthwhile to go back and change those hubs where I have used callout capsules in place of subtitles?

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         Beth Eaglescliffeposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         DrMark - Yes, it sounds as though it'll be worth the effort.
         Thanks Robin for explaining. I'm glad I posted this question.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Oh darn it.  Since the HubPro editors changed all my capsule titles to callouts, I've been changing my titles to callouts every time I do an update.   I think most of my Hubs have callouts rather than titles now.  Oh dear.

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         Robinposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         I'm sorry, Marisa.  When we noticed that this was affecting featured snippets, we made the change.   I don't think we added callouts to too many of your articles, but feel free to email me if you'd like help reverting the edits.

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         DrMark1961posted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Me too. Oh dear, but I guess I will start changing them back in a few weeks.

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      lobobrandonposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Robin do you happen to know what this code is that breaks up the text from the subtitle if a callout is used?
      
      I understand what you are saying and how it was affecting the site, just curious as it would probably help with our own sites too.

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         Robinposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         There is code that gives the callout style and spacing.  Callouts were not intended to be used as subtitles, so the text in a text capsule isn't "tied" to the callout text.  However, a subtitle and the text in the text capsule are linked.  That is my very untechnical interpretation.  I'm not an engineer, of course. 

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            lobobrandonposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks for replying Robin. Yeah, that's why I asked if you happen to know what it was since I know you don't work on the code yourself. You did answer my question though, thanks again

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      eugbugposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Is there any chance Robin we could have a small range of background colours to choose from for the callout modules? (nothing too flashy or OTT, but maybe green with shamrocks for St. Paddy's Day? (Just kidding!!!)). I generally use them for warnings on hubs so orange/yellow would be nice. The grey colour is a little bland.

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   Robinposted 7 years ago

   I do think you should make the change, but I suggest waiting a few weeks.  We are working on some subtitle styling updates, and I don't want you to have to make edits more than once.

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