I noticed that K2 sets header tags in category layouts funny.  When I do a page outline my headers look like this:<h1>Page title</h1><h2>Missing</h2><h3>Children Categories</h3>
<h2>category title 1</h2><h2>category title 2</h2><h2>category title 3</h2><h3>missing</h3><h4>Like More Items</h4>
<h3>item title 1</h3><h3>item title 2</h3><h3>item title 3</h3><h3>item title 4</h3>

Isn't this confusing text browsers (ex: google bot), and also aren't the items displayed here listed under Category title 3 instead of being under Page Title??Would a better SEO layout be?: <h1>Page title</h1>
<h2>Children Categories</h2><h3>category title 1</h3>
<h3>category title 2</h3>
<h3>category title 3</h3>
<h2>Like More Items</h2><h3>item title 1</h3>
<h3>item title 2</h3> <h3>item title 3</h3>
<h3>item title 4</h3>


Can anyone explain to me the reason behind why K2 category pages are formatted the way they are?  Is this really SEO friendly and user friendly?This site won't let me post replies formatted like the original so UPDATE:This may be even better:<h1>Page title</h1>
<h2>Children Categories</h2><h3>category title 1</h3>
<h3>category title 2</h3>

<h3>category title 3</h3>

<h2>item title 1</h2>
<h2>item title 2</h2> <h2>item title 3</h2>
<h2>item title 4</h2>

I don't know, but based on the Google webmaster pages here:

www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=646c2c9...

and the links within that page and others:

www.hobo-web.co.uk/seo-blog/index.php/headers/
webdesign.about.com/od/beginningtutorials/a/headings_struct.htm

it is pretty clear that:

The six heading elements, H1 through H6, denote section headings. Although the order and occurrence of headings is not constrained by the HTML DTD, documents should not skip levels (for example, from H1 to H3), as converting such documents to other representations is often problematic. W3C

and

If you skip a level may create an impression that your page is not well organized. And since you can style any headline to look however you want it to look, it is no longer a good idea to skip H1 or other headings simply because you don't like how they look.

So I see more benefit from the second H tag structure. The only reason I could think K2 chose the first is because it was thought the current k2 h tag structure gives more importance to the item titles and category titles rather than the sections on page those titles are in. If this is the reason then, it may be hindering SEO for 'some' search engines because the structure does not properly outline the category page. Also the search engines will give credence to the forcibly promoted H tags by following their links anyway, so why not make the category page follow W3C standards using the second example in my previous post?

So, the case against using headings out of order is:
* it may cause problems for software converting your webpage to a different DTD, and
* it may create an impression that your page is not well organized.

I would suggest that these possible drawbacks will affect only a very, very small number of us. I am certainly not going to convert the HTML my CMS produces into another DTD. I'd simply code a different theme/skin if I wanted to do this (and I can't imagine I ever would). And I don't mind what other developers/designers think of my source code if they have different priorities. If I'm producing valid code, and my websites are accessible and achieve my clients' objectives, then I'm happy.

The W3C spec says nothing about using headings in order to imply structure. It only says that different headings convey different levels of importance. So the validity of web pages with the headings out of order is not in question. Arrange your headings any way you want - they'll still validate and won't break any W3C spec.

I'm pretty sure that there is no accessibility case against using headings out of order. Some assistive technology does enable users to skip from heading to heading, but I don't think using headings out of order causes any practical problems. I remember this issue coming up on the Guild of Accessible Web Designers email list, and there being no accessibility case against mixing up your headings.

However, search engines almost certainly assume greater importance of key-words inside higher level headings. So, in the K2 example above, it might make plenty of sense to give greater importance to the Category Titles than the heading of the part of the page they're in.

Bottom line - headings which are out of order:
* don't break any W3C spec.
* don't hurt any of your visitors.
* don't cause any problems for site/code management (except, possibly, in very rare cases).
* probably do help your search engine ratings.

Personally, what I take from all this is that I think carefully about my use of heading tags, and I use them to imply both structure and importance, depending on the situation.

Thanks for this reply, it was very helpful.

Mark Gibbens said:So, the case against using headings out of order is: * it may cause problems for software converting your webpage to a different DTD, and
* it may create an impression that your page is not well organized.

I would suggest that these possible drawbacks will affect only a very, very small number of us. I am certainly not going to convert the HTML my CMS produces into another DTD. I'd simply code a different theme/skin if I wanted to do this (and I can't imagine I ever would). And I don't mind what other developers/designers think of my source code if they have different priorities. If I'm producing valid code, and my websites are accessible and achieve my clients' objectives, then I'm happy.

The W3C spec says nothing about using headings in order to imply structure. It only says that different headings convey different levels of importance. So the validity of web pages with the headings out of order is not in question. Arrange your headings any way you want - they'll still validate and won't break any W3C spec.

I'm pretty sure that there is no accessibility case against using headings out of order. Some assistive technology does enable users to skip from heading to heading, but I don't think using headings out of order causes any practical problems. I remember this issue coming up on the Guild of Accessible Web Designers email list, and there being no accessibility case against mixing up your headings.

However, search engines almost certainly assume greater importance of key-words inside higher level headings. So, in the K2 example above, it might make plenty of sense to give greater importance to the Category Titles than the heading of the part of the page they're in.

Bottom line - headings which are out of order:
* don't break any W3C spec.
* don't hurt any of your visitors.
* don't cause any problems for site/code management (except, possibly, in very rare cases).
* probably do help your search engine ratings.

Personally, what I take from all this is that I think carefully about my use of heading tags, and I use them to imply both structure and importance, depending on the situation.