Headings

Headings communicate the organization of the content on the page.  Web browsers, plug-ins, and assistive technologies use them to provide in-page navigation.  Headings are also used by Search Engines. Using them incorrectly can negatively impact Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Accessibility. 

Nesting and Order

Headings are considered ranked content. Each heading can have a rank between 1 and 6. The most important, top-ranked heading level is heading 1 (H1). This heading level should be reserved for things like your page title, which is automatically added for you via Page Properties.

Following heading level 1 (i.e., your Page Title), only heading levels 2 through 6 should be used in a consecutive and nested fashion.  The selected heading level for each consecutive heading should either match the previous heading level, decrease the heading level by one, or jump to a higher heading level (which does not have to be consecutive).

The best way to think of headings is to think of your page as an outline, where the content of your page is split into sections and related sub-sections, etc.  Headings define those sections and how the various levels of headings define how they related to one another. For example, using a heading of level 2 would be the equivalent of defining a new main item of your page outline, while a following heading of level 3 would be considered a sub-item of the previous heading level, showing that the new content is related but also stands on its own.  This concept is demonstrated further, visually by our Page Structure example.