---
title: "Use exactly one H1 per page"
description: "Each page needs one H1 that names its topic. Multiple H1s usually come from logos or reused components that each include a heading. Audit rendered HTML, keep the H1 visible and near the main content, and let H2 and H3 carry the subsections. One H1 is a structure fix, not a ranking trick."
url: "https://seo-mcp.io/t/use-exactly-one-h1-per-page"
---

# Use exactly one H1 per page

Each page needs one H1 that names its topic. Multiple H1s usually come from logos or reused components that each include a heading. Audit rendered HTML, keep the H1 visible and near the main content, and let H2 and H3 carry the subsections. One H1 is a structure fix, not a ranking trick.

## Prerequisites

- A crawl of rendered HTML

## Steps

1. **Count H1s in rendered HTML** *(general best practice)* — Crawl the site and count h1 elements per URL. Flag pages with zero or more than one, and identify the component that emits the extra heading.
   Check: The crawl report lists H1 count per URL and the offending template for each anomaly.
2. **Make the page title the only H1** *(general best practice)* — Change reused components to accept a heading level, and change logo wrappers to a div. Keep the H1 visible and place it before the main content sections.
   Check: The rendered HTML contains exactly one h1 element containing the page topic.
3. **Check the outline** *(general best practice)* — Review the heading outline with an accessibility tool. Sections should start at H2, with H3 only inside an H2 section.
   Check: The outline has one H1 and no skipped levels.

## Source

@seo-mcp on 2026-10-19: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide

Canonical: https://seo-mcp.io/t/use-exactly-one-h1-per-page