Heading Tags (H1 to H6)
Heading tags are the labels in a web page's code, written h1 through h6, that mark its titles and subtitles. The HTML standard, the rulebook browsers follow, says each one heads its own section: h1 for the top level, h2 for a section under it, h3 for the part under that, and so on.
Source: WHATWG, HTML Living Standard, section 4.3.6: the h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 and h6 elements, checked October 29, 2026
What Heading Tags (H1 to H6) means for your business
You'll also hear them called header tags or H tags. The h1 is the headline people see on the page. It's a different thing from the title tag, which lives in the page's code and doesn't show on the page itself.
Google's SEO starter guide says headings in order are great for screen readers, but for Google Search it doesn't matter if they're out of order. It also says there's no ideal number of headings for a page. So we'd keep them in order for people using screen readers, but we wouldn't sell a skipped level or an h2 count as a search fix.
We'd spend the time on the words. A heading should say what its section answers, the way a customer would ask it. For a made-up septic company, "How often should a septic tank be pumped?" tells a reader where to look, and "Our approach" doesn't.
If your page headings read like slogans and a buyer can't spot their question in them, rewriting them as the questions buyers ask is where our citation-ready content work starts.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, Google's AI Overview cited coding tutorial sites, MDN, an SEO tool blog and Quora, and said never to skip heading levels, which Google's starter guide says doesn't matter for Search. ChatGPT gave a plain definition with a table and cited nothing.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
Related terms in answers and how content gets used
Find out where your brand stands.
Tell us what you're trying to figure out. We'll get back to you within one business day with a time to talk.