Editors Replacing H2 Steps With H3s

1. 66

   eugbugposted 4 years ago

   Editors have been replacing a series of steps in some of my guides that have a H2 tag with a H3 tag. I'm not so sure that's a good idea as regards featured snippets?

   replyreport
   1. 78

      EricDockettposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      They did that to one of mine too. They like the header hierarchy to flow logically. They way they changed mine made sense, but it was probably fine how it was.

      replyreport
      1. 66

         eugbugposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         The good thing is the font is smaller. Hopefully it won't affect snippet steps extraction.

         replyreport
         1. 78

            EricDockettposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            I think it wouldn't but who knows. The idea is that search engines should recognize things that follow other things when the heading hierarchy is correct. So:
            
            H2 Here is a list of steps
            H3 Step 1
            H3 Step 2
            H3 Step 3
            
            If they were all H2s it wouldn't flow correctly. Each H2 would look like the start of something new.
            
            If you only have one list you can get rid of any H2s about your list items and use H2s for the list items. So it would be:
            
            H1/Title: Here Is a List of Steps
            H2: Step 1
            H2: Step 2
            H2: Step 3
            
            On the other hand, I don't think I ever had any trouble with Google recognizing my H2s as steps or list items. 

            replyreport
2. 67

   lobobrandonposted 4 years ago

   And here my H3s are being made into H2s...
   
   This is just because I start a new capsule and put a H3 within the text, they are then changed to have a capsule title which is a H2. I got tired of changing it back, just too many articles to keep up with considering the time I have to spend on such things.

   replyreport
   1. 83

      Kenna McHughposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      They mess with my H2s, but I don't see any difference. But, I think on some edits, I'll add some H3s. I have a client who has me do H2 headings then H3 the listing. It works well.

      replyreport
      1. 67

         lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Yup, that is how I do it too. Just the logical use of the headings the way they were meant to be used.

         replyreport
3. 68

   PaulGoodman67posted 4 years ago

   I've had the headline switch too. I presume it's based on the SEO data they have. These things seem to change over time. I look at an old hub sometimes and think: "Ah yes, that was how they were telling us to do things three years ago!"

   replyreport
   1. 67

      lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      

      replyreport
   2. 83

      Kenna McHughposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      So true!

      replyreport