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Free on-page seo check

Heading Structure Checker (H1 to H6)

Headings are the outline of a page for screen readers, search engines and AI assistants. See the outline of any page and fix skipped levels, empty headings and missing or duplicate H1s.

Show the outline

Enter a page. Its headings are listed in order with their levels.

Runs 2 checks. A bare domain works, https:// is added for you.

Checks in this tool:page.h1page.heading-order

Why use the Heading Checker

The full outline

Every heading from H1 to H6, indented by level, in the order of the document.

One H1

Exactly one non empty H1 that names the page.

No skipped levels

An H2 followed by an H4 is flagged, because it breaks the outline for assistive technology.

Empty headings

Headings that contain only an icon or nothing at all are caught.

When to use the Heading Checker

Accessibility review

Screen reader users jump between headings. Make sure the outline makes sense.

Content structure

Check that long articles have a clear hierarchy of sections.

Theme bugs

Themes often use headings for styling, such as an H4 in the footer.

Landing pages

Builders produce several H1s. Find them.

AI readability

Clear headings help assistants find and quote the right section.

Editorial QA

Add the outline to the checklist of every published article.

Understanding Heading

Why headings matter

Headings describe the structure of a page. Screen reader users list them to navigate. Search engines and AI assistants use them to understand what each section is about and to pick passages to show.

Rules of a good outline

  1. 1One H1. The H1 names the page and matches its purpose.
  2. 2Descend one level at a time. H2 for sections, H3 for subsections. Do not jump from H2 to H4.
  3. 3Headings for structure only. Use CSS for size and weight, not a heading level.
  4. 4Text in every heading. An icon alone is not a heading. Add text, visually hidden if needed.

Is more than one H1 wrong?

HTML allows it and Google says it copes. One H1 is still the clearest signal and the most consistent experience for assistive technology, so the check recommends it.

Privacy, safety and limits

The page is fetched by AbackAuditBot from Aback servers with an ordinary GET request. No cookie, password or form data is sent, and nothing on the site is changed.

The tags are read from the HTML the server sends. Tags that a script adds after the page loads are not seen, and neither are they by most crawlers and preview bots.

Related tools and guides

Accessibility CheckerFind the accessibility problems that automated testing can catch reliably: missing labels, unnamed buttons, broken ARIA, missing landmarks and text that is hard to read.Meta Tag CheckerSee the title and description a search engine reads, how the result could look, and whether the canonical, robots, viewport and language tags are set correctly.SEO CheckerFind the technical problems that keep a page out of search results. The checker reads the page the way a search crawler does and lists what to fix first, with the evidence behind every verdict.JavaScript SEO CheckerMany crawlers, including most AI crawlers, read the HTML the server sends and never run your JavaScript. Check how much of the page they actually see.Image SEO CheckerImages without alt text are invisible to screen readers and image search. Oversized and legacy images slow the page down. Check both in one go.Structured Data CheckerStructured data tells search engines and AI assistants what a page is: an article, a product, an organisation, a set of questions. Check that your JSON-LD parses and carries the properties each type needs.

Frequently asked questions

Can a page have more than one H1?

Technically yes. One H1 that names the page is clearer for people using screen readers and for crawlers, which is why the check asks for exactly one.

Should the H1 match the title tag?

They should describe the same thing. The title can carry the site name and be tuned for search results, while the H1 speaks to the reader on the page.

Is skipping from H2 to H4 bad for SEO?

It is mainly an accessibility problem. A broken outline is also harder for machines to interpret, so it is worth fixing.

Do headings in the footer count?

Yes. Every heading in the document is part of the outline. Use plain text with styling for footer titles that are not real sections.

Are headings added by JavaScript counted?

No. The outline is read from the server HTML.

How many headings should a page have?

As many as the content has sections. There is no target number.

Does this check help with AI answers?

Clear, descriptive headings make it easier for assistants to find and quote the right passage.

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