Changing the Font & Style of Your H1 Tags

QUESTION: (Rhonda) I am having problems changing the font size of my H1text. Is this very important? If so, how do I go about changing it?

Changing the text and/or style of an H1 tag is simple in CSS.  It does not affect anything other than how the visitor sees it though (i.e., if you use a large font, it means nothing more than a smaller font, in SEO terms or how Google sees it).

You can change the H1 tag locally or in the CSS definition file.

If you want to change all of the H1 tag settings in your entire website, you would do this in the CSS file:

h1 {
font-size: 24px;
}

You would use the h1 tag as you normally would:
<h1>This is my H1 tag</h1>

You can define a class in the CSS file which allows you to define your new style whenever you wish anywhere on the site:

.h1style {
font-size: 24px;
}

You would add this class to your h1 tag, when you wish it:

<h1 class=”h1style”>This is my H1 Tag</h1>

* Remember to add the “.” when defining it in the CSS to classify it as a class.

Finally, you can do it locally using a style attribute (without the CSS file):

<h1 style=”font-size:24px;”>This is my H1 Tag</h1>

All of the above do the exact same thing.  Their use is based on how often you use the style and how you want it defined (whether globally or locally).

Also, remember you can add other styles to the same definition (like color):

<h1 style=”font-size:24px; color:red;”>This is my H1 Tag that is Red and 24px high</h1>

I find that being able to change the styles of my text for header and other standard tags to be quite invaluable!  Knowing a little bit of CSS can go a long way.  Give this a try!

The easiest thing to try first is the local definition using the style attribute. If this is working for you, consider creating or editing your own CSS file!

Good luck!  cheers…matt