Headings are not for "prettifying" text. They are the skeleton of your page: they tell Google what each section is about and tell the reader where they are. Using them well improves SEO and readability at once; using them badly (everything in bold, several H1s, skipped levels) confuses both. Let's see how to order them.
Good use of headings is like a good table of contents: Google and the reader understand your page at a glance.
What each level is, from H1 to H6
Think of it as a document outline. The H1 is the main title of the page and there is only one. H2s are the main sections. H3s are subsections inside an H2. H4 to H6 are finer levels that are rarely needed. It is a hierarchy: each level hangs from the previous one.
The golden rules
- A single H1 per page, with the main keyword.
- Do not skip levels (from H2 to H4); go down one at a time.
- Use headings to organize, not to style: size is controlled with CSS.
- Each heading must describe what comes below it.
- Think of the person scanning: the headings should tell the story on their own.
Why it matters for SEO
Google uses the heading hierarchy to understand the structure of your content and the weight of each topic. Clear headings, with related terms, reinforce relevance and help win featured snippets. They also improve accessibility: screen readers navigate by jumping between headings, so a good hierarchy makes your page usable for everyone.
Common mistakes
Mistake | Problem | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Several H1s | Confuses the hierarchy | A single H1 |
Jumping from H2 to H4 | Breaks the structure | Go down level by level |
Headings as styling | Text that looks like a title without being one | Style with CSS, not with Hx |
Vague headings | Give no context | Describe the section |
Everything in H2 | No real hierarchy | Use H3 for subtopics |
A clear structure is part of a well-built page, just like performance optimization. And if your content lives in a headless WordPress system, keeping that semantic hierarchy on the front end is just as important for SEO.
The outline before the text
The simplest method for good headings is to write them first. Before drafting, build a list with only the H1, H2s and H3s, and read it in order as if it were the table of contents of a book. If it tells the whole story of the page, you can start writing; if it jumps topics or does not make sense alone, reorganize before spending a paragraph.
Then, when the content is ready, repeat the test: copy only the headings and see whether they still tell the same story. It is the fastest way to catch sections that drifted.
One H1 per page and levels that go down one at a time. With that settled, the reader scanning from a phone and Google understand your page almost at the same time.
Is your content good but disorganized and not ranking as it should? At Codegea we work on the structure and on-page SEO of your site so Google and your readers understand it at first glance. Write to me and we will review it.
Written by
Derian Pinto
Founder & Full Stack Developer
Founder of Codegea. Builds custom websites, stores and platforms, and integrates and supports Arc XP for media companies.