Headings
Headings structure the content of a page for both visitors and search engines. The H1 is the primary topic signal — it tells engines what the page is fundamentally about. H2s break the content into sub-topics, helping both readability and crawlability. When headings are missing, duplicated, out of sequence, or contain no readable text, the structural signals that help a page rank for specific queries are weakened. These twelve checks audit every dimension of heading quality from basic presence through cross-page duplication.
No H1 found — a key topical relevance signal is absent from the page.
More than one H1 on the page — dilutes the primary topic signal.
Same H1 text on multiple pages — weakens page differentiation across the site.
H1 exceeds 70 characters — harder to scan and loses topical focus.
H1 is identical to the title tag — a missed opportunity to use each for a distinct purpose.
H1 wraps only an image with no text — alt text is a weak substitute for heading text.
Another heading appears in the DOM before the H1 — document hierarchy is inverted.
An H2 precedes the H1 in DOM order — sub-section heading appears before the primary topic.
No H2 found — content has no sub-section structure beyond the primary heading.
More than one H2 found — typically expected, but review for non-content H2s in widgets.
Same H2 text appears on multiple pages — section headings are not differentiating the content.
An H2 exceeds 70 characters — heading reads as body copy rather than a section label.
Audit every headingacross your site
Run a full technical audit to get every heading issue flagged with affected URLs and fix guidance.