Writing headings that help readers and search engines

Most people don’t read a web page from top to bottom. They skim. They glance at the headings to decide whether the page answers their question, then jump to the part they need. If the headings are vague (“Introduction,” “More tips,” “Final thoughts”), the skimmer learns nothing and often leaves.

Search engines skim too, in their own way. Headings are one of the clues they use to understand what a page covers and how it is organized. Good headings won’t rescue a weak article, but muddled ones make a good article harder for both people and search engines to understand. The fix costs nothing but a little care.

What headings do for readers

• They let people judge the page quickly. A reader should be able to scan the headings and know whether the page is for them.
• They help people find their place. Someone who only needs step four can jump straight to it.
• They make long content bearable. A long guide broken into clear sections feels manageable. The same words in one block feel like homework.
• They help people using screen readers. Many people who use screen readers move around a page by jumping from heading to heading. Real headings, marked up as headings, are part of making your site accessible under guidelines such as WCAG.

What headings do for search engines

A search engine reading your page uses its headings as a rough outline. A heading that says “How to keep a sourdough starter alive while you travel” tells it plainly what the section below is about. That helps the page match specific searches and helps search engines pick out the right section when someone asks a narrow question.

Keep your expectations realistic. Headings are a clarity tool, not a secret ranking lever. Stuffing them with keywords won’t push a page up; writing them clearly simply removes a source of confusion.

Build a logical outline

Headings come in levels. Think of them like the outline of a report:

• The main heading is the page title that appears at the top. There is normally one, and it states the page’s topic. Your content system usually handles this for you.
• Second-level headings mark the main sections.
• Third-level headings divide a main section into smaller parts.

Two rules keep the outline tidy. First, don’t skip levels: a third-level heading belongs inside a second-level section. Second, choose a heading level for its place in the outline, not for how big the text looks. If you want a larger or bolder look, change the style, not the level.

Write headings that say something

A useful heading makes sense on its own, out of context. Compare these before-and-after pairs:

• Before: Introduction. After: Why sourdough starters go flat.
• Before: Tips. After: Feed your starter at the same time each day.
• Before: Step 3. After: Step 3: Shape the loaf so it holds its height.
• Before: The fun part! After: Scoring the loaf before it goes in the oven.

A few more guidelines:

• Use the words your readers use. If people search “dense sourdough,” a heading about “crumb structure deficiencies” will miss them.
• Use a question when the reader has one. “Can you use a starter straight from the fridge?” is a heading people will recognize as their own question.
• Keep them short. A heading is a signpost, not a paragraph.
• Keep lists parallel. If one step starts with a verb, they all should.
• Vary your wording. Repeating the same keyword in every heading reads badly and helps nobody.

A worked example: restructuring a baking guide

Delia runs a sourdough baking membership. Her most popular public article, “Your first sourdough loaf,” had these headings:

Getting started / The fun part / Patience! / Nearly there / Final thoughts

Read on their own, they say almost nothing about bread. Delia rewrote them as a proper outline:

• What you need before you start
• Day one: mixing the dough
• Stretch and fold: building strength without kneading
• Shaping the loaf without tearing it
• Baking with steam in a home oven
• Troubleshooting a dense or flat loaf
  • If the loaf spreads sideways
  • If the inside is gummy

Now a reader with a flat loaf can jump straight to the troubleshooting section, and each heading tells search engines exactly what the section below covers. The words of the article barely changed. Only the signposts did.

A useful test is to read nothing but the headings. If they tell the story of the page in order, the outline works.

Common heading mistakes

• Using heading levels for decoration. A promotional sentence set as a heading to make it big confuses the outline.
• Using bold text instead of real headings. It looks like a heading but isn’t one, so screen readers and search engines can’t treat it as one.
• Too few headings. Long stretches of text with no signposts lose skimmers.
• Too many headings. A new heading every two sentences chops the page into fragments.
• Clever puns. A witty heading that hides the meaning costs you the skimmer.
• Headings inside images. Words in a graphic can’t be read by screen readers or indexed as text.

Your heading checklist

Before you publish your next article, and on your five most-visited existing pages, run through these steps:

1. Read only the headings. Do they tell the story of the page in a sensible order?
2. Replace any heading that wouldn’t make sense on its own, such as “Introduction” or “More.”
3. Check that main sections use second-level headings and subsections use third-level ones, with no skipped levels.
4. Turn any bold lines that act as headings into real headings.
5. Make sure the phrase people search for appears naturally in at least one heading, and that it fits the intent behind the search.
6. Pair your headings with a strong opening, so readers who land on the page stay long enough to use them; see write introductions that make members keep reading.