Is it ok to use H1 tags in breadcrumbs?

[AL123al]

A client has an e-commerce site and she doesn't want a page title on the products page. She has breadcrumbs though. Her website developer suggests putting the H1 on the breadcrumbs.

So: products> Gifts > picture frame with h1 tags round the word "picture frame".

Is this ok to do? Or is it a bad thing for SEO purposes?

Thanks

[OlegKorneitchouk]

If that is the only place where "Picture frame" appears on the page, then yes.

Usually, ecommerce sites have the product title within the product section (where you can view images, description, add to cart, etc) and that is what should have the H1 tag.

[AL123al]

Thanks Oleg. There is a product title and  a description underneath. The product title is an H2 tag. Is it ok to have a H1 and H2 tag saying the same thing i.e. "picture frame"?

On the category pages e.g. "gifts"  I can see that it might be ok to have the H1 breadcrumbs becuase there are no other words, but on the product pages there is the opportunity to use the product name as an H1 but at the moment it is an H2 tag and the H1 tag is in the breadcrumbs. Should this be changed or is it ok?

THanks

[GlobeRunner]

Generally speaking, if that's the only H1 tag that is going to be on the page, then it should be just fine. I would style the text so that it looks appropriate for the page and looks like the rest of the breadcrumb text on the page. An alternative would be to select another location, such as the sidebar somewhere towards the top of the page, and include a heading as an H1.

[OlegKorneitchouk]

I'd just swap it. Make the breadcrumbs H2 (or just regular paragraph text) and product title H1 on the product pages. Having the same text for H1 & H2 should be fine, just don't keyword stuff.