Passage-level answers: sections that can rank without the whole page

Give each section one job

A heading should announce the question. The next paragraph should answer it. If the answer starts after a story, move the answer up.

Long pages can hold several passages. They should not hold several unrelated topics. Split those into pages that can earn their own links.

Use headings as labels, not as decoration

An H2 that says ‘A note on canonicals’ is a label. An H2 that says ‘Our approach’ is not. Passage systems need the label to match the query language a person would use.

Keep the section’s text in the HTML. A tab that loads later may never become the passage that gets stored.

• One question per heading.
• Answer in the following paragraph.
• Text present in the initial HTML.

Link the passage when it deserves a URL

If a section starts ranking for a query the rest of the page does not serve, consider a dedicated guide and a summary left behind. That is how a passage graduates into a page.

Until then, keep the section maintained. A stale passage is still a passage, and it can be the one that gets quoted.

Can you mark a passage for ranking?

No. There is no passage tag that requests a ranking. Structure and clarity are the levers.

Are longer pages better for passages?

Only if each section is genuinely about a sub-question. Length without headings does not create passages.