Heading structure that hides the outline of the page

Give the page one subject

One H1 should state what the page is. Section headings underneath should be H2s that a reader could turn into a question. Skipping from H1 to H4, or using bold paragraphs instead of headings, throws away that outline.

Design systems sometimes style a logo or a label as H1. The visual size and the document outline are different jobs. The outline should follow the argument.

Make headings specific enough to stand alone

‘Overview’ and ‘Our solutions’ could belong to any business. A heading that names the decision — who the service is for, what the limit is, how the route works — is usable in a table of contents and in a passage result.

Do not hide the only copy of an important claim inside a heading with no paragraph. Headings label the section; the paragraph carries the answer.

• One H1 that matches the page job.
• H2s in the order a reader needs them.
• No headings used only to enlarge a slogan.

Check the outline, not the font size

Use the browser’s heading map or a crawl’s H1 report. Multiple H1s on a template usually mean a component library treated every card title as the page subject.

After the fix, the outline should read like a contents page. If it does, both readers and extraction systems have a fair chance of finding the section they need.

Is more than one H1 a ranking penalty?

No. It is a clarity problem. Multiple H1s usually mean the template is confused about the page’s subject, which weakens the outline.

Should the H1 and title tag be identical?

They should describe the same page. The title can be shorter. A deliberate difference is fine; a contradiction is not.