• Use one clear H1 that states the page topic. Multiple H1s are not penalised but rarely help.
• Nest headings logically and do not skip levels for visual effect.
• Headings should describe the section beneath them.
• Use real heading elements, not bold text styled to look like one.
• Question-style and descriptive headings make content easier for AI systems to extract.

Headings are the elements h1 through h6. Together they form the outline of a document: the H1 is the title of the page, H2s are the main sections, H3s sit inside H2s, and so on.

 <h1>Canonical Tags</h1>
  <h2>How to implement a canonical tag</h2>
    <h3>In the HTML head</h3>
    <h3>As an HTTP header</h3>
  <h2>Common mistakes</h2> 

Why headings matter

• Users scan. Most visitors read headings first to decide whether the page has what they need.
• Accessibility. Screen reader users navigate by jumping between headings. A broken outline makes a page hard to use.
• Search engines use headings to understand structure and topical emphasis. They are a light signal, not a magic one.
• Featured snippets and AI answers often lift a heading together with the paragraph or list that follows.

The H1

The H1 should describe the page in plain terms and broadly agree with the title tag. It does not have to be identical: the title is written for the search result, the H1 for the person who has arrived.

Google has said that using several H1s is not a problem for its systems, and HTML5 technically permits it. One H1 per page is still the clearest choice for users, accessibility tools and consistency.

Best practice

• Follow the hierarchy. Do not jump from H2 to H4 because the H4 styling looks nicer. Fix the styling in CSS.
• Be descriptive. "How to test your canonical tags" is better than "Testing". "More information" tells nobody anything.
• Keep them concise. A heading is a label, not a paragraph.
• Use natural language. Include the terms people use where they fit. Do not force a keyword into every heading.
• Reserve headings for content. Sidebar titles, footer labels and cookie banners should not be heading elements, or they pollute the outline.
• Make sure headings are in the HTML, not inserted late by JavaScript.

Headings and intent

A good outline mirrors the questions a reader has, in the order they have them. Researching "People also ask" questions and related queries is a quick way to check whether your headings cover what people want to know.

Common mistakes

• No H1, or the logo wrapped in an H1 on every page.
• The same H1 across many pages.
• Headings chosen for font size, not meaning.
• Bold paragraph text used instead of heading elements.
• Keyword-stuffed headings that read awkwardly.
• Long runs of text with no subheadings at all.
• Vague, clever or pun-based headings that hide what the section is about.

How to test

• Crawl the site to find missing, duplicate and multiple H1s.
• Use a browser extension or accessibility tool to view the heading outline of a page.
• Read only the headings. If they tell the story of the page on their own, the structure is working.

The GEO angle

AI retrieval systems split pages into chunks and pull back the ones that best match a question. Headings are natural chunk boundaries. A descriptive heading followed immediately by a direct answer makes a self-contained passage that is easy to retrieve and quote. Headings phrased as the question a user would ask ("What is a canonical tag?") line up especially well with how people prompt assistants.

Add your title here

This is a paragraph. Writing in paragraphs lets visitors find what they are looking for quickly and easily. Make sure the title suits the content of this text.