Using Header Tags to Produce an Outline?

[technica]

I was browsing the W3C today, because I do that all so often, and it mentioned that using header tags (h1-h6) produces an outline effect or something, I'm assuming similar to Word.
What are the benefits of this?
If I was to organize my content by using header tags, what would it mean for search engines or ... anything in particular?
Thanks for your help.

[Dcrux]

While not an SEO forum, this question falls into a category of content discussion: information architecture.

Header tags, (H1-H6) are markup, used to signal the structure of a document. This in an of itself suggests certain questions (http://jogin.com/weblog/archives/2004/07/19/hierarchy). The supposition is SE's use this structure to determine which keywords are most useful to describe the page, from h1 having the most value on down to h6. Often, the contention is to use the page title as H1, and view the site title as a kind of metadata.

Here's an introduction to information architecture (http://www.sitepoint.com/article/information-architecture). The mental shift -- from code to content-driven web sites -- is search optimization, not search engine optimization (http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2005/nt_2005_03_14-search-optimization.htm). The very real problem, in deed if not in word, is writing the site as if Google were the user, and even worse the only user. It's time web designers (translation: site construction specialists) begin to consider a simple fact: behind the search query string is a person.

[technica]

So would an appropriate header structure for a review on my site, say:
http://wethegeeks.com/diglife/ipod3gen01.html
Be something like:
<h1> Apple iPod Review
-text from review-
<h2> Exterior Features
-text from review-
<h2> iPod Screen Display
-text from review-
<h2> iPod Accessories
-text from review-

Would something like that be an acceptable outline?
Thank you for the article links.

[Dcrux]

For information architecture purposes, we're going to have to think beyond one page. IA is about the structure of your site, and the structure of a review.

In other words, the whole site structure, like how you (but preferably the user) is going to groups or classes of device. Then you would structure your review mor like a page, but we're not talking about single pages, but how you'll structure review pages.

DeviceInstance h1 (in this case, iPod)
DeviceClassMake h2 (Apple)
DeviceClassType h2 (MP3 Player)

Now, a technical person might structure a site around technical features, like capacity, and then price. However, were you to talk to users, they might not look at MP3 players the same way. They might have categories of Commuter, Fitness Freak, Traveler, Audiophile, File Hoarder, and Audio Recorder. A fitness freak might value shock resistance in a review.

Last I checked, you're trying to rank among 181,000 iPod reviews. A content-driven strategy would be to create a unique business proposition. For example, concentrating less on the gadgets and more on how people want to use them. This may give you something unique to bring to the review process ...which makes more people likely to find your content link-worthy ...which makes your reviews more likely to be in the top 90,500 of the reviews rather than the bottom half.

[technica]

I kind of get the gist of what you are saying. I added some h2's:
http://wethegeeks.com/diglife/diskgof01.html
I understand this may be targeted towards the more technical type of audience, but in a way, the entire website is.... wethegeeks.com
I could add "hidden" h3 tags... is this done by just makign h3 the same as your normal font and then applying it to a few keywords under h2's?
I just wouldn't want to get anal over all the different subsections in H2's I could have.
Any thoughts?
Thanks again.

[Dcrux]

Clearly you want the SEO section (http://www.webproworld.com/viewforum.php?f=2).



the entire website is.... wethegeeks.com

Really? I was thinking something more like this (http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/10/28/ipoditunes_hcks.html) was geek-like, yours is more general consumer. I would expect a geek review to break out into more data in meticulous categories, not a single global percentage rating.

[Faglork]

I could add "hidden" h3 tags... is this done by just makign h3 the same as your normal font and then applying it to a few keywords under h2's?


Unfortunately, we have no "How to spam" forum ...

SCNR