The structured use of H1-H6 tags to organize content, helping search engines understand topic relationships and page structure.
Heading hierarchy refers to the logical organization of H1 through H6 HTML tags that create a structured outline for web content. This hierarchy functions like a table of contents, with H1 serving as the main title, H2 tags as major sections, H3 tags as subsections, and so on down to H6.
Proper heading hierarchy serves dual purposes: it makes content scannable for users and provides search engines with clear signals about content organization and topic relationships. When implemented correctly, headings create a semantic roadmap that helps both human readers and crawlers understand the relative importance and connection between different content sections.
Why It Matters for AI SEO
Modern search algorithms, particularly those powered by natural language processing like BERT and MUM, rely heavily on heading hierarchy to understand content context and topical relationships. AI systems use headings as semantic anchors to determine how different content sections relate to each other and to the overall page topic. Google's passage ranking algorithm specifically examines heading structure to identify distinct content sections that might rank for different queries. When AI content tools generate long-form articles, proper heading hierarchy becomes even more critical because it prevents the content from appearing as an undifferentiated wall of text that search engines struggle to parse and understand.
How It Works
Heading hierarchy follows a descending order of importance: each page should have one H1 tag (typically the main title), multiple H2 tags for major sections, H3 tags for subsections under H2s, and so forth. Never skip heading levels—don't jump from H2 directly to H4 without an H3 in between. Tools like Screaming Frog and Sitebulb can audit your heading structure across entire websites, identifying pages with missing H1 tags, multiple H1s, or skipped heading levels. Content optimization tools like SurferSEO and Clearscope analyze top-ranking competitors' heading structures to suggest optimal organization for target keywords. When using AI writing tools, always review and refine the generated heading structure to ensure logical flow and proper hierarchy.
Common Mistakes
The most frequent error is using multiple H1 tags on a single page, which dilutes the main topic signal. Another common mistake is choosing heading levels based on visual appearance rather than content hierarchy—headings should reflect logical structure, not just desired font sizes. Many sites also skip heading levels or use headings solely for styling purposes without actual content structure underneath, which confuses both users and search engines about the page's organization.