You open one of your service pages in the WordPress editor and realise you have never really thought about headings. Some lines are bold and large because they looked right. One heading is an H4 because the H2 seemed too big. The page title appears twice, once from the theme and once typed into the content. It all looks fine on screen, so does any of this matter?
It does, though not for the reasons people often give. Headings for SEO are less about scoring points with Google and more about making the page’s structure clear to everyone who reads it: visitors skimming on a phone, people using screen readers, and search engines working out what each part covers. This post explains how H1, H2 and H3 fit together, what makes a heading useful, and the common WordPress mistakes to fix. Page titles and meta titles are a separate topic, covered in the post on changing the SEO title and description.
What headings actually do
Headings are labels for sections. In HTML they come in six levels, H1 to H6, and the level shows how sections relate: an H2 is a main section, an H3 is a part of the H2 above it, and so on. Visually, themes make higher levels larger, but the size is a side effect. The level is about structure.
That structure serves three audiences at once:
- Readers who skim. Most visitors scan headings first to see whether the page has what they need, then jump to the relevant section.
- People using assistive technology. Screen reader users often move through a page heading by heading, the way a sighted reader scans. A page with no headings, or headings in a muddled order, is hard to navigate this way.
- Search engines. Headings help them understand what each section of a page is about and how the topics on the page relate.
Search engines cope with imperfect heading markup. A page will not vanish because one heading is the wrong level. But clear structure helps every one of those audiences, and it costs nothing.
A sensible H1 H2 structure
One main heading
The H1 is the page’s main heading: what the whole page is about. In most WordPress themes the post or page title is shown as the H1 automatically. That means you usually should not add another H1 inside the content. Start your content headings at H2.
Some page builders and themes behave differently, so check. View the live page, right-click the title and choose “Inspect”, or use a browser extension that lists headings, and confirm there is a single main heading that matches the page’s purpose.
H2 for main sections
Each main section of the page gets an H2. On a service page, that might be what the service includes, how it works, who it suits, pricing information and FAQs. On a blog post, each H2 usually answers one of the reader’s main questions.
H3 for parts of a section
Use H3 when an H2 section has distinct parts: steps, options, types. Every H3 should belong to the H2 above it. If an H3 does not really fit under its H2, it may need to be its own H2.
H4 and below, rarely
Most small business pages never need H4. If you find yourself going that deep, the page may be trying to cover too much, or the structure could be flatter.
Writing descriptive headings for SEO
A heading should tell the reader what the section covers before they read it. Compare these:
| Vague heading | Descriptive heading |
|---|---|
| Introduction | Why your geyser trips the switch |
| Our process | What happens on the day of installation |
| More information | What to bring to your first appointment |
| Things to consider | Choosing between a split and a window AC |
| Conclusion | When to call a technician instead |
A few habits help:
- Use the words your customers use. If people say “geyser”, do not write “water heating appliance”.
- Phrase some as questions where the section genuinely answers one. It matches how people search and how they think.
- Keep them short. A heading is a label, not a sentence.
- Include your main phrase in one heading where it reads naturally, not in every heading. Repeating a keyword in every heading makes the page awkward and does not help.
- Make them distinct. Two headings that say almost the same thing suggest two sections that should be one.
Common heading mistakes in WordPress
Bold text instead of headings
Making a paragraph bold and larger looks like a heading but is not one. Screen readers and search engines see a paragraph. In the block editor, use a Heading block and choose the level.
Choosing a level for its size
Picking H4 because H2 looks too big breaks the structure. If the heading size looks wrong, the fix is in the theme’s styling, not in the heading level.
Skipping levels
Going from H2 straight to H4 leaves a gap in the outline. Keep levels in order: H2, then H3 beneath it if needed.
A second H1 in the content
Typing the title again as a heading at the top of the content often creates a second H1 and repeats what the theme already shows.
Headings used for decoration
Short slogans, phone numbers or calls to action set as headings confuse the outline. Style them as text or buttons instead.
Page builders adding their own headings
Some page builder widgets output heading tags for things like testimonial names or box titles. Check what your builder produces, and change widget settings to plain text where a heading is not appropriate.
Structure beyond headings
Headings are the skeleton, but the rest of the page needs to follow it.
- Short paragraphs under each heading, so sections are easy to read on a phone.
- Numbered lists for steps that must be done in order, and bullets for items that need not be.
- Tables only for genuine comparisons across the same points.
- The answer before the detail in each section, so a reader who stops early still gets the point.
- A logical order that follows the reader’s questions: what it is, why it matters to them, how to do it, what goes wrong, when to get help.
The guide on writing a blog post that answers the search shows how headings fit into the rest of the drafting process.
Checking the outline of an existing page
- Use the document outline in the block editor, the panel that lists every heading and its level. Look for warnings about skipped levels or several H1s.
- Read only the headings, top to bottom. Do they tell you what the page covers, in a sensible order?
- Check the live page with a heading-listing browser tool, because themes and builders can add headings the editor does not show.
- Fix levels first, then rewrite any vague headings.
- Repeat for your main service pages, since those matter most.
Good structure is one of the basics behind content that works, which the small business content marketing guide covers as a whole. For how content sits beside the other channels, see our digital marketing guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put a link inside a heading?
You can, but it is usually better not to. Links in headings can be awkward for screen reader users and easy to tap by accident on a phone. Keep headings as plain labels and put the link in the first sentence of the section beneath.
Should the H1 be exactly the same as the SEO title?
It does not have to be. The H1 is shown on the page and can be written for readers already there, while the SEO title is shown in search results. Both should describe the same topic, so a visitor arriving from search sees what they expected.
Do headings in an accordion or tabs still count?
Headings inside accordions and tabs are still part of the page’s HTML, so they still form part of its structure. Make sure they follow the same level rules as the rest of the page, and that the hidden content is genuinely useful when opened.
If your service pages and posts have grown messy over time, our writing and editing for WordPress sites includes restructuring existing pages with clear headings, as well as writing new ones.
Next in this series: Hire a Content Writer: Questions, Samples and Ownership
