Fix your headings in an afternoon: a quick win for Google and AI search
Headings are the table of contents that Google, AI tools and visitors read first. Fixing them is one of the quickest wins in SEO: nothing new to write, often no developer, and every page you publish from now on benefits too.
Key takeaways
- One H1 per page, saying what that page is about. It is the page's main headline in the code, not just big text.
- Look at the whole site, not one page at a time. Each H1 targets its own search, so no two pages compete. Only a brand-new site that isn't found for its own name yet needs the name in the home page H1.
- H2, H3 and H4 work like a menu. Starters, mains, desserts, then the dishes under each. Each level sits inside the one above it.
- Labels are not headings. "About us", "Contact" and "Follow us" repeat on every page and blur what each page is about. Style them as normal text instead.
The short answer
Give every page one H1 that names its topic, then break the content into H2 sections and H3 and H4 sub-points, like the courses and dishes on a menu. Let every page, the home page included, target its own search. Keep menus, footers and sidebars out of your headings.
It's a small change with a big reach: one fix in your site's template can make every page clearer at once.
- 1 afternoonis usually enough to fix the headings on a small site
- 0new pages to write, and often no developer needed
- 71.6%of screen reader users first navigate a long page by its headingsWebAIM
Why do headings matter?
Headings are the code behind a page's headlines: <h1> for the main headline, <h2> for the sections, <h3> for the points inside a section, and so on down to <h6>. What makes something a heading is the tag, not its size or colour.
Four kinds of readers lean on them:
- reads the H1 and headings, together with the title tag, to confirm what a page is about. It can even use a heading as the title in its results.
- AI tools
- such as Copilot, ChatGPT and Perplexity quote short passages that answer a question. Microsoft, which runs Bing and Copilot, says headings work like chapter titles that show AI where one idea ends and the next begins.
- Visitors
- skim before they read. Good headings let them find their part of the page in seconds.
And people who use screen readers jump from heading to heading: in WebAIM's 2024 survey, 71.6% said that's the first thing they do on a long page. Headings are a supporting signal, not a magic ranking switch. The win is clarity, for every reader at once.
How should a page be structured from H1 to H4?
Think of a restaurant menu. Everyone knows how one works: the restaurant's menu at the top, then the courses, then the dishes under each course. Headings follow the same order. One H1 at the top, H2 for the main sections, H3 inside an H2, and H4 inside an H3.
Here is the outline of a dinner menu page for a restaurant in Camden, London:
A menu page, as headings
Each level sits inside the one above it
- H1Seasonal dinner menu in Camden, London
- H2Starters
- H3Burrata with heritage tomatoes
- H3Soup of the day
- H2Mains
- H3From the grill
- H4Ribeye steak
- H4Lamb chops
- H3Fish
- H4Pan-fried sea bass
- H4Fish and chips
- H2Desserts
- H3Sticky toffee pudding
- H3Lemon tart
Don't skip a level to get a smaller font, for example an H4 straight after an H2. If a heading looks too big, change its style, not its level. H5 and H6 exist too, but most pages never need them. If you go that deep, the page probably wants splitting into two.
Notice what makes "Starters" a real heading: it's part of this page's content. That will matter in a moment.
On articles and service pages, a heading like "How much does a private dining room cost?" matches real searches and gives AI tools a clean question and answer to quote. See how AI tools choose which sites to cite.
What should the H1 say on each page?
Look at the whole site, not one page at a time. Each page gets one H1, and each H1 is a chance to be found for one search. Give every page its own topic, so no two pages compete for the same search. If you're not sure which search a page is for, write pages people search for shows how to pick one.
This is what that looks like for our restaurant, Rosie's Kitchen:
| Page | Example H1 | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Home page | Seasonal British food in Camden, London | Targets the main search the restaurant wants to win |
| Menu page | Seasonal dinner menu in Camden, London | For people looking for a place to eat nearby |
| Blog post | How to cook the perfect steak at home | Answers a question people ask |
| About page | Meet the chefs behind Rosie's | Its own topic, and a natural place for the name |
| Contact page | Book a table in Camden | Says something useful, not just "Contact" |
Most sites already show up when people search their name, so the logo and the title tag carry the brand and the H1 can work on a search you don't win yet. But if your site is brand new and Google doesn't show it yet when people search your name, put the name in the home page H1, together with what you do: "Rosie's Kitchen: seasonal British food in Camden". It helps Google and AI tools connect the name to the site. Once you're found for your name, the H1 can go back to targeting a search.
It makes every page look like the home page and spends the one headline each page gets on a search you probably win already.
The title tag and the H1 should be about the same thing, but they don't have to match word for word. The title tag is what people see in Google's results; the H1 is what they see on the page.
Why shouldn't "About us" and "Contact" be headings?
Many website themes mark up the labels in menus, footers and sidebars as headings: "About us", "Contact", "Opening hours", "Newsletter", "Follow us", "Recent posts". Some even make the logo an H1 on every page.
Those labels repeat on every page. So every page's outline ends with the same headings, and every page looks a little alike to Google and AI tools. Screen reader users have to wade through the same headings again and again before they reach the content. "Starters" belongs to the menu page. "Contact" in the footer belongs to no page in particular.
Let each page speak for itself
When every page carries the same "Contact" heading, they start to blur together. Turn the labels into normal text, and each page's own topic shines.
The fix keeps the look
You don't have to change anything visitors see. Change the tag, keep the style:
The footer label is a heading on every page.
<h3>Contact</h3>on 40 pages- Every outline ends with the same headings
- Screen readers announce it on every page
The same label, as normal text with the same class.
<p class="footer-title">Contact</p>- Looks exactly the same
- Each page's outline is only its own content
A real "About us" page can of course have its own H1, such as "Meet the chefs behind Rosie's". The point is the labels that repeat everywhere.
The Mandalytics weekly report checks every page it crawls: pages with more than one H1 or none at all, headlines that repeat across your site's template, and labels marked up as headings. It tells you exactly which text to change, and checks again the week after.
How do I check my headings?
The quickest way is a free Chrome extension. These two show the heading outline of any page in one click:
- Detailed SEO Extension
- Shows the page's H1 to H6 outline, plus the title, meta description, canonical and more, in one click.
- H-tag
- Highlights the headings right on the page and lists the meta tags, so you can see which headlines are real headings.
- No extension?
- Right-click the page, choose View page source, and search for "<h1". There should be exactly one.
Check three pages to start: your home page, one important product or service page, and one blog post. If the same label shows up as a heading on all three, it comes from your template, and one fix will clean up the whole site.
How do I fix my headings?
Four steps, and most of them need no developer. Tick them off as you go:
-
Give your home page H1 the main search you want to win
Say what you do and for whom, in the words people search with. Is your site brand new and not found for its name yet? Add your name too.
-
Give every key page one H1 for its own search
Each product, service and blog page gets one H1 about its own topic. No two pages share the same H1.
-
Turn template labels into normal text
Change footer, sidebar and menu labels such as "Contact" from headings to normal text with the same look. If the logo is an H1, make it a normal link.
-
Sort the H2s, H3s and H4s into a clean outline
Sections become H2s and points inside them H3s and H4s, without skipping a level. Fix your most visited pages first.
Where to change headings on popular platforms:
- WordPress
- Turning a heading into normal text in the block editor usually changes how it looks too, and footer and sidebar widget titles come from your theme. So this is usually a developer task: they change the tags and keep the look with CSS.
- Shopify
- Section headings are set in the theme editor. The logo and footer headings live in the theme code, a small job for a developer.
- Wix and Squarespace
- Choose Heading 1 to 6, or Paragraph, in the text style menu. Pick Paragraph for footer labels.
Myths about headings
- Two H1s on a page get you penalised.Google has said it handles more than one H1 fine. But one clear H1 is still the clearest signal, for Google and for people.
- Bigger text is a heading.Only the tag makes text a heading. Screen readers, and the page outline that Google and AI tools read, go by the tag, not the font size. Google does also look at large, prominent text when it writes a page's title in its results, which is one more reason to have one clear H1.
- Stuff keywords into every heading.Write for people. Headings that read naturally, in the words your customers use, work best.
- The brand name belongs in every H1.Only a brand-new site needs it, in the home page H1. Elsewhere the title tag and the logo carry the name.
Every page you publish from now on starts with a clean outline. Next, help your best pages climb with how to reach the top 3 in Google, or give slipping pages new life with how to refresh pages that are losing visitors.
Frequently asked questions
Can the H1 be different from the title tag?
Yes. The title tag is what shows in Google's results and can be shorter and include your brand. The H1 is the headline people see on the page. They should be about the same thing, but they don't have to match word for word.
Should my logo be the H1?
Usually not. A logo that is an H1 on every page makes every page say the same thing. Make the logo a normal link, and give each page its own H1. The exception is a brand-new site that does not show up yet when people search its name: there the home page H1 can carry the name.
Do headings matter for AI search?
Yes. Microsoft, which runs Bing and Copilot, advises clear H1 to H3 headings that reflect real questions or topics, because they show AI systems where one idea ends and the next begins. A heading written as a question, followed by a direct answer, is easy for an AI answer to quote.
How many H2s should a page have?
As many as the page has real sections. A short page might have two or three, a long guide ten or more. If a section runs for many screens without a break, it probably needs H3s.
Does heading order affect my Google ranking?
Not directly. Google says it doesn't matter for Search if headings are out of order. But a clear order helps visitors and screen reader users, and helps Google and AI tools understand which text belongs to which topic.
Keep learning
Where this comes from
- Google: SEO starter guide (headings)
- Google: influencing your title links in search results
- Google Search Central: my site's template has multiple H1 tags (video)
- W3C WAI: headings tutorial
- MDN: the H1 to H6 heading elements
- WebAIM: screen reader user survey #10 (2024)
- Microsoft Advertising: optimizing your content for inclusion in AI search answers