Heading Tags
Heading tags are the H1 to H6 elements that structure a page's content. The H1 states the page's subject, and lower levels nest beneath it. They help readers scan, assistive technology navigate, and search engines understand what each section actually covers.
Why it matters for your rankings
Headings are the outline of your page made machine-readable. A crawler uses them to work out which passage answers which question, which is exactly how featured snippets and AI citations get extracted.
They are also an accessibility requirement rather than an optimisation. Screen reader users navigate by jumping between headings, so a page where visual hierarchy is faked with bold text and font sizes is genuinely unusable for them. The common failures are mundane: multiple H1s from a template that wraps the logo in one, levels skipped from H2 to H4 for visual reasons, and headings written as vague labels like 'Our Approach' where a descriptive phrase would tell both readers and engines what follows.
How to check it on your site
Check the heading outline
Use the HeadingsMap browser extension or Screaming Frog's H1 and H2 tabs to see the real structure of each template.
Confirm one meaningful H1
Each page should have a single H1 describing that page, not the site or the logo.
Fix skipped levels
Headings should descend in order. Style them with CSS if you want a different visual size.
Make headings descriptive
'How to check crawl budget' beats 'Method'. Question-shaped headings also improve snippet eligibility.