Heading Hierarchy Checker
Visualize your H1–H6 structure and catch SEO issues before they hurt rankings
Heading Analyzer
How to Use the Heading Hierarchy Checker
- Open your webpage in a browser, then right-click and choose View Page Source (Ctrl+U / Cmd+U). Copy all the HTML.
- Paste the HTML into the text area above and click Analyze Headings.
- Review the visual hierarchy. Each heading is shown at the correct indent level matching its H1–H6 tag.
- Fix any flagged issues — missing H1, multiple H1s, or skipped heading levels (e.g., H2 → H4) — before publishing or submitting to Google.
Why Heading Structure Matters for SEO
Google’s crawlers use heading tags to understand the topical structure of your page. Each H2 signals a major sub-topic. H3s signal sections within that sub-topic. Proper hierarchy helps Google’s entity understanding and contributes to how your page is evaluated for semantic completeness under the NLP-based ranking signals used since BERT (2019) and MUM (2021).
An H1 must be present exactly once on every page — it is the topical anchor for the page. Multiple H1s create ambiguity. Skipped levels (H2 → H4 without H3) create structural gaps that are flagged in Core Web Vitals accessibility audits and may reduce content organization scores in Lighthouse SEO audits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should the H1 match my title tag exactly?
Not necessarily. Your title tag (in <head>) is for the SERP snippet. Your H1 (on-page) is for users reading your content. They should contain the same primary keyword but can differ slightly in phrasing — the H1 can be more descriptive while the title tag is more optimized for click-through.
How many H2s should a page have?
There is no set limit. For a 2,000-word page, 4–8 H2s is typical. Each H2 should represent a distinct sub-topic that advances the page’s coverage of the main H1 topic. Avoid H2s that repeat the same sub-topic — this dilutes topical focus.
Can I use H tags for styling purposes only?
No. Using heading tags for visual styling (making text bold/large) without semantic purpose is an SEO anti-pattern. Use CSS classes for visual styling and reserve heading tags for actual document structure. Screen readers and Google’s crawler treat all heading tags as structural signals regardless of visual rendering.