The choosing and setting of the h1 meta tag (and to a lesser degree h2’s) is an area where there can be differing views and this article reflects mine. There can also be conflict between how a theme (or possibly a plugin) may set the h1 and how the site owner would like to set it.
When using the WP e-Commerce (WPEC) plugin there are three ‘types’ of pages that are displayed on the website.
(1) WordPress pages that are created by the user and therefore the h1, h2’s etc can be easily set.
(2) WPEC generated pages that can be seen under the Pages tab and can be edited (to a degree).
(3) WPEC generated pages that cannot be seen under the Pages tab.
Here’s my view of how I’d like to see h1 and h2’s setup by themes developed for use on WPEC websites.
Home Page
(and About Us, Contact Us, Privacy Policy etc)
h1 controlled by the user
h2 controlled by the user
WPEC Products-Page
h1 set to website Tagline by theme.
h2’s one for every product name set by theme.
WPEC Category Pages
h1 set to the category by theme.
h2’s one for every product name set by theme.
WPEC Individual Product Page
h1 set to the product name by theme.
h2’s set to website Tagline (as a default) by theme and can be added to in the products description if required.
Product Categories Sidebar
h2’s one for every category name set by theme.