Heading checker

Use this heading checker to see the H1 to H6 outline of a page. It flags a missing or repeated H1, skipped levels, and empty, hidden or very long headings, with a fix for each.

Free, no account. Ten checks per hour across the link extractor, heading checker and image alt text checker.

We send the address to our API for this check. Results can be cached for five minutes.

Headings give a page its outline. Screen reader users jump between them, and search engines read them to understand how a page is organized. This checker lists every H1 to H6 tag in the HTML as an indented outline and flags a missing or repeated H1, skipped levels, empty or hidden headings and headings over 70 characters.

How to use this checker

One page, robots.txt first
Our server reads the site’s robots.txt as AiGrowScan, then requests the page with the limits the SEO checker uses: public addresses on standard ports, every redirect checked, at most 1.5 MB of HTML. No JavaScript runs, so anything a script adds after loading is not read.
The outline
Every h1 to h6 element in the HTML, in order, indented by level. A heading with no words but an image takes the image’s alt text, as a screen reader would. Headings in a hidden part of the page are listed and marked.
The problems
No H1. Several H1s, which HTML allows, though one is easier to scan. A skipped level, such as an H4 right after an H2. An empty heading with no words and no image alt. A hidden heading, through the hidden attribute, an inline style, aria-hidden or a screen reader only class. A long heading, over 70 characters: our own reading rule, since no standard sets a length.
What it cannot see
Headings added by JavaScript are not read, and neither are stylesheets, so a heading hidden by a CSS class other than the common screen reader classes shows as visible.

Questions about this checker

Google has said several H1 headings on a page are fine for its systems. One H1 that names the page is still the clearest outline for readers and screen reader users, so the check marks several H1s as something to review.

Search engines publish no penalty for it. Skipped levels make the outline harder to follow with a screen reader, and WCAG asks for structure that shows visually to be in the markup too. Change the tag level and use CSS for the size you want.

It, or an element around it, has the hidden attribute, a display:none or visibility:hidden inline style, aria-hidden="true" or a class such as sr-only. Text for screen readers only suits skip links and labels. A main heading hidden from view is worth checking.

They can differ. The title tag shows in search results and browser tabs, and the H1 shows on the page. Both should describe the same topic. The meta title and description checker reviews the title tag.

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