What is Heading Hierarchy and Why It Matters for SEO

Headings are one of those HTML basics that most people think they understand — until they actually audit their site and realize it's a mess. Multiple H1 tags, headings chosen for font size instead of structure, levels skipped entirely. These aren't just accessibility problems. They directly impact how search engines interpret and rank your content.

What Heading Hierarchy Actually Means

HTML gives you six heading levels: <h1> through <h6>. They create an outline of your page content, similar to how a book has chapters (H1), sections (H2), and subsections (H3). The hierarchy part is key — each level should nest logically inside the one above it.

Think of it like this:

H1: The main topic of the page (your page title)
H2: Major sections within that topic
H3: Subsections under each H2
H4-H6: Further subdivisions (rarely needed, but available)

A well-structured heading hierarchy tells both readers and search engines exactly how your content is organized. You could strip away all the paragraph text, read just the headings, and still understand what the page covers.

Why Search Engines Care About Headings

Google has said repeatedly that headings help them understand page content. John Mueller confirmed in 2022 that headings give Google "a little bit of extra context on what that section is about." That hasn't changed.

Content Structure Signals

Search engines use headings to build a semantic map of your page. When your H2 says "How to Install a Hardwood Floor" and the paragraphs beneath explain the installation process, Google connects those dots. When your headings are random or misleading, that connection breaks down.

Featured Snippet Opportunities

Many featured snippets pull directly from heading + paragraph combinations. If your H2 asks a question that people search for and the following paragraph gives a clear, concise answer, you have a real shot at position zero. Poorly structured headings mean you're invisible for these opportunities.

Passage Ranking

Google's passage ranking system can surface specific sections of a page for relevant queries, even if the overall page targets a different keyword. Clear headings help Google identify which passages are relevant to which queries.

The Rules (They're Simpler Than You Think)

Heading hierarchy isn't complicated. Here are the rules that matter:

One H1 Per Page

Your H1 is the title of the page. There should be exactly one. It's not technically invalid HTML to have multiple H1s, but it dilutes your topical signal. If everything is equally important, nothing is. Google's Mueller has said they can handle multiple H1s, but "using it in the way that HTML is defined" is the better approach.

Don't Skip Levels

Going from H1 straight to H3 (skipping H2) breaks the logical hierarchy. It's like having chapters in a book that jump from Chapter 1 to Chapter 1.1.1 with no Chapter 1.1. Screen readers announce heading levels to visually impaired users, so skipping levels creates a confusing experience. Search engines similarly expect a logical progression.

Use Headings for Structure, Not Style

This is the most common mistake. Someone wants bigger text, so they wrap it in an H2. Or they want smaller subheadings, so they use H4 even though there's no H3 above it. Use CSS for styling. Use headings for content structure.

Headings Should Be Descriptive

A heading that says "More Info" tells nobody anything. A heading that says "How Broken Links Affect Your Search Rankings" tells everyone — including Google — exactly what that section covers. Be specific.

Common Heading Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Multiple H1 Tags

This happens constantly on WordPress sites where the theme outputs an H1 for the site name and another H1 for the page title. It also happens in single-page designs where each "section" gets its own H1.

The fix: Audit your templates and make sure only the page title is wrapped in an H1. Your site name should be a regular link, styled with CSS. Use AuditMySite's heading analyzer to quickly check every page on your site for H1 issues.

Skipping Heading Levels

You see an H1, then an H3, then an H2, then an H4. It's structural chaos. This usually happens when developers or content editors choose heading levels based on how they look rather than their meaning.

The fix: Map out your content outline before writing. Start with H1, break it into H2 sections, and only add H3s where you need subsections within an H2. If you need different visual sizes, use CSS classes.

Using Bold Text Instead of Headings

Some sites have no headings at all — just bold paragraph text to visually separate sections. This is a missed opportunity. Google gets zero structural signals from bold text. Headings are specifically designed to communicate content hierarchy.

The fix: Replace bold paragraph text with proper heading tags where the text introduces a new section or topic.

Keyword Stuffing in Headings

"Best SEO Tools | Free SEO Tools | Top SEO Tools 2026" as an H2 isn't optimization — it's spam. Search engines have been penalizing keyword stuffing for over a decade. Write headings for humans.

The fix: Each heading should contain one clear topic. Include your keyword naturally where it makes sense, but don't force it into every heading.

Empty Headings

Yes, this happens. An empty <h2></h2> tag with no text, usually left over from a CMS template or a deleted section. It's invisible to users but confusing to crawlers and screen readers.

The fix: Search your HTML for empty heading tags and remove them.

How to Audit Your Heading Structure

You can check headings manually with browser dev tools (right-click → Inspect → search for h1, h2, etc.), but that only works one page at a time. For a full site audit:

Run a scan with AuditMySite — it checks heading hierarchy across every crawled page and flags issues like missing H1s, multiple H1s, and skipped levels.
Review the results page by page, starting with your highest-traffic pages.
Fix the structural issues in your templates first (these fix multiple pages at once), then address individual content pages.

Heading Hierarchy and Accessibility

This isn't just an SEO consideration. Screen readers use heading structure to navigate pages. A visually impaired user can pull up a list of headings and jump between sections — but only if the hierarchy makes sense. Skipped levels, missing headings, and multiple H1s all make this navigation broken or confusing.

Good heading hierarchy is one of those rare SEO wins that also makes your site more accessible. There's no trade-off here — it's purely upside.

A Quick Cheat Sheet

✅ One H1 per page (the page title)
✅ H2s for major sections
✅ H3s for subsections within H2s
✅ Sequential order (no skipping levels)
✅ Descriptive, natural language
❌ Multiple H1s
❌ Headings chosen for visual size
❌ Skipping from H1 to H3 or H2 to H4
❌ Keyword-stuffed headings
❌ Empty heading tags

Bottom Line

Heading hierarchy is one of the simplest things to get right in SEO, yet most sites get it wrong. It takes minimal effort to fix, improves your rankings, makes your content more accessible, and gives search engines a clearer picture of what your pages are about.

Check your site's headings with a free AuditMySite scan and fix what you find. It's one of those 15-minute improvements that keeps paying off.