Welcome back to Leads Not Liabilities. Last week, you tackled Alt-Text—the easiest fix that improved both your SEO and accessibility.
This week, we’re moving onto something slightly more structural, but just as simple: How you organize your page titles and sections.
Think of your website as a job site. If your site is just a pile of materials with no blueprint, how can a customer find what they need? If your site structure is chaotic, Google gets confused, and customers—especially those using assistive technology—get frustrated and click away.
This is the power of Heading Structure (the H1, H2, H3 tags), and it’s the $100,000 organizational trick that makes Google trust your site and sends you the high-paying jobs.
What is Heading Structure?
Headings (H1, H2, H3) are not just about making text look big and bold. They are structural tags that give your web page a logical hierarchy, just like the table of contents in a textbook or the outline of a detailed quote.
Every well-built page must follow these strict rules:
- H1 (The Blueprint Title): This is the most important title on the page. It tells the user and Google exactly what the entire page is about. Rule: There can only be ONE H1 per page.
- H2 (The Main Sections): These are the main chapters or primary sub-topics that break down the H1. (e.g., “Our Plumbing Services,” “Emergency Call-Out Rate.”)
- H3 (The Sub-Sections): These break down the H2 sections into specific details. (e.g., Under “Our Plumbing Services,” you might have H3s like “Tankless Heater Installation” and “Sewer Line Repair.”)
🎯 The Leads Side: Google Rewards Organization
Google is an algorithm, and it rewards structure. When your headings are used correctly, you give Google a clean, organized blueprint of your services.
1. The SEO Authority Boost
Google uses your H1 and H2 tags to quickly understand the main topics on your page.
- If your H1 is “Emergency Furnace Repair in Vancouver,” Google knows immediately what your page is selling.
- If your main section H2 headings clearly list “Common Furnace Faults” and “24/7 Service Guarantee,” Google sees you as an authority on that topic, pushing you up the search rankings.
2. The Snippet Opportunity
When your H2 and H3 tags are structured as clear questions and answers (e.g., “What is a heat pump?”), Google can pull that text directly into the search results as a Featured Snippet. Getting a snippet means you jump past competitors and sit right at the top of the search page—a guaranteed click.
🛡️ The Liabilities Side: Why Headings are a WCAG Must
Heading structure is vital for accessibility because blind or visually impaired customers don’t read the page line-by-line. They use a screen reader to jump between the headings to quickly navigate the page.
Imagine trying to navigate a huge site with no headings at all—it’s like trying to find a wrench in a messy van, fumbling around in the dark.
- WCAG Requirement: Proper heading use (always structured H1→H2→H3 without skipping levels) is mandatory for effective screen reader use.
- The Penalty: If your website uses headings out of order (e.g., going straight from H1 to H4) or uses the bold function instead of the actual heading tag, it’s a failure. Screen readers completely miss the information, frustrating the customer who needs your service.
🚨 Common Technical Debt: The Biggest Heading Failures
The technical errors here are simple mistakes that are easy to fix once you know they exist.
1. The Double H1 Disaster
The biggest mistake I see: The page uses two or more H1 tags. You might have one for the page title and another one in the sidebar. This confuses Google and confuses the screen reader—it’s like having two titles on your blueprint. You must only have one.
2. The Fake Heading Failure
Many themes let you just bold or increase the font size of text instead of using a true H2 tag. To the user, it looks like a heading, but to Google and the screen reader, it’s just regular text. You must instruct your developer to use the correct HTML tag.
3. Skipping Levels (The Unorganized Van)
The order matters: H1 must be followed by H2, and H2 by H3. Never skip from H1 toH3. That is terrible organization for everyone.
Your Expert Blueprint for Headings
You hire me because I give your developer the exact instructions, so they don’t waste time figuring this out.
Here is the instruction I would include in your report:
Developer Action:
1. Review all core service pages (e.g., Furnace Repair, Rewiring, Drain Snaking).
2. Verify that each page uses only one H1 tag containing the main page topic and primary keyword (e.g., “Residential Electrician Services”).
3. Verify that all subsequent main sections use true H2 tags in a logical, sequential order (H1→H2→H3→H4). Remove all fake bolded headings.
This fix immediately improves screen reader compatibility (WCAG) and provides clear context to Google for improved SEO.
This simple fix turns your technical debt into a high-performance, legally compliant asset.
Leads Not Liabilities: Action Item
Look at your main Service Page (the one that earns you the most money). Does it have big, bold headings that actually use the H1, H2, H3 tags, or are they just bolded text? Send a quick email to your developer asking them to confirm the correct sequential use of heading tags on that single page.
Next week, I’m tackling the third easy fix: Colour Contrast (The simple visual fix that secures the aging customer base).