Headings
Maintaining the correct hierarchy of heading levels is crucial to show the relationships between different sections on a page. This helps readers navigate and understand the content better, especially for those using screen readers, who often rely on headings to skim through a webpage.
Follow a Logical Order
Headings and subheadings act like a table of contents for assistive devices and organize a page's structure. They should follow a logical order, guiding all visitors through the page's information.
Importance for SEO
Heading tags can also improve a webpage's search engine optimization (SEO). Headings are ranked in order of importance, from Heading 1 to Heading 6. Heading 1 is typically reserved for the title of a page. Search engines crawling webpages favor headings, so it's also a good practice to include keywords in headings.
Don't Create Fake Headings
Even though bold text might seem like a heading, it won't show up in the content outline. This means screen reader users can't recognize its importance or jump to its content. Using real heading tags instead of just making text bold ensures that everyone, including those using screen readers, can find and understand the content easily.
Best Practices
- Keep headings brief and clear.
- Format headings using the tools in the text editor.
- Do not skip heading levels.
- Never use headings decoratively or to make text a preferred size.
- Do not use bold text to create fake headings.