H1 tag

What the H1 actually does

The <h1> sits at the top of the heading hierarchy (<h1> through <h6>), and both browsers and assistive tech read it as the page’s primary subject. MDN’s guidance is to use one <h1> per page that describes the content, similar to the <title> element, and to avoid skipping levels (start at <h1>, then <h2>, and so on). Screen reader users often jump heading to heading to scan a page, so clear structure is an accessibility feature, not decoration.

Google’s position is narrower than most people assume. Per the SEO Starter Guide, there is no ideal number of headings, and using them out of semantic order does not hurt rankings from Search’s perspective (it matters for screen readers, not the algorithm). What a good H1 earns you is clarity: a descriptive heading tells Google and AI answer engines what the page is about in plain language.

One concrete payoff: Google lists <h1> elements as a source it can pull from when generating the blue title link in search results. If your <title> is weak or generic, a strong, distinctive H1 can become the clickable headline searchers see.

Practical rules:

• One H1, matching the page’s core topic and primary keyword phrase.
• Write it for a human, not a keyword parser.
• Keep <h2> and <h3> in logical order beneath it.