1

For Listicle style articles, does Google prefer Ordered Lists over a list of Heading+Paragraphs? Are there any advantages or does Google only process the text? If possible, cite your source.

Ordered List example:

<ol>
   <li>
   <p>Topic1</p>
   <p>Facts/Discussion</p>
   </li>

<li>...</li>
</ol>

Heading+Paragraph example:

<h2>Topic1</h2>
<p>Facts/Discussion</p>

<h2>...</h2>
worbel
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2 Answers2

2

Heading tags appear to have more weight than ordered lists to convey content. This actually makes sense if you think of lists as just that, lists. However, heading tags are typically used to organize content.

While I can't give you direct reference to Google, there's a good answer here to a previous question about improving ranking that I think confirms my assumptions. Improve Google ranking for general vs. specific keywords

Trebor
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2

Heading tags are used to help Google and users better understand your content. I just read through the official Google guide on SEO https://developers.google.com/search/docs/beginner/seo-starter-guide

Just have a look at the section https://developers.google.com/search/docs/beginner/seo-starter-guide#headingtags

The section starts like this:

Similar to writing an outline for a large paper, put some thought into what the main points and sub-points of the content on the page will be and decide where to use heading tags appropriately.

I believe your scenario fits the above use case. Obviously Topic1 and Facts/Discussion don't belong to the same level in the hierarchy. If you draft an outline for your document, you will include Topic1 but may choose to skip Discussion.

(In a logical sense, a reader should clearly understand that the fact/discussion is about the topic1. Hence topic1 is above discussion in the hierarchy and will preferably find a place in an outline.)

Kannan
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