Headings do two jobs simultaneously: they help readers navigate an article by scanning, and they signal to search engines and AI systems what the article is about. A well-structured heading hierarchy is one of the highest-impact formatting decisions you can make.
Heading Levels
Use heading levels to reflect the logical hierarchy of your content, not to create visual variety. A heading level should indicate the relationship between sections — H2 sections are at the same level as each other, H3 sections are subordinate to the H2 above them, and so on.
| Level | Use for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| H1 | Article title only | Every article has exactly one H1, which is its title. Do not use H1 inside the body of an article. |
| H2 | Major sections | The main structural divisions of an article. Use for each top-level topic the article covers. |
| H3 | Subsections within an H2 | Use when an H2 section has distinct sub-topics that benefit from their own heading. |
| H4 | Sub-subsections within an H3 | Use sparingly. If you find yourself reaching for H4 frequently, the article may need to be split. |
Do not skip heading levels. Do not jump from H2 to H4. Heading levels must be sequential.
Writing Effective Headings
Use sentence case
Capitalize only the first word of the heading and any proper nouns. Do not use title case (capitalizing all major words).
Correct: "Setting up two-factor authentication"
Incorrect: "Setting Up Two-Factor Authentication"
Use a consistent verb form
Headings within the same knowledge base should use one consistent verb form throughout — either all gerunds ("Configuring settings") or all imperatives ("Configure settings"), not a mix. See the Verb Form in Headings section of the Verbs, Tense, and Mood guide for the full rule and reasoning; this article's parallel-structure guidance below builds directly on that same principle.
Make headings descriptive and specific
A heading should tell the reader exactly what the section covers. Vague headings force readers to read the section to find out whether it is relevant to them. Specific headings let them skip confidently.
| Vague (avoid) | Specific (prefer) |
|---|---|
| Overview | What role-based access control does |
| More information | Understanding permission inheritance |
| Next steps | What to do after completing the migration |
| Additional settings | Configuring notification frequency |
Use parallel structure across sibling headings
Headings at the same level within a section should follow the same grammatical pattern. If one H3 starts with a verb ("Creating a category"), the others in that H2 section should also start with verbs ("Renaming a category," "Deleting a category"). This parallelism makes the structure predictable and scannable.
Do not end headings with punctuation
No period, colon, or question mark at the end of a heading. Headings are labels, not sentences.
Exception: if a heading is phrased as a question (common in FAQ-style articles), a question mark is acceptable: "What happens to my data if I downgrade?"
Avoid "Introduction," "Overview," and "Summary" as headings
These headings tell readers nothing about the content. Use a heading that describes what the introduction introduces or what the overview covers.
Correct: "What this guide covers"
Correct: "How the authentication flow works"
Incorrect: "Introduction" or "Overview"
Place findable terms in headings, not just titles
The same principle that applies to article titles — using the language readers actually search for — applies to H2 and H3 headings too. A heading that uses the reader's own terminology ("Resetting your password" rather than "Credential recovery process") is easier for a reader scanning the page to recognize, and easier for a search engine or AI assistant to match to a specific query and cite the right section directly, rather than the article as a whole.
Article Titles
An article title is the H1 heading. It must accurately describe the article's content and use the language readers use when searching for that topic.
If your knowledge base platform has a separate metadata title field (used for the browser tab, URL slug, or search result snippet) distinct from the on-page H1, keep the two matched by default. A shorter, search-optimized metadata title is acceptable when the full H1 is too long to display well in search results, but the two should never describe the article differently — a reader who clicks through from a search result title should see that same topic reflected immediately in the H1.
Title formats by content type
| Content type | Title format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| How-to guide | Starts with a verb phrase or "How to..." | Creating a category / How to create a category |
| Tutorial | Starts with a gerund or action phrase | Getting started with your knowledge base |
| Conceptual article | Noun phrase describing the concept | Understanding role-based access control |
| Reference article | Noun phrase describing what is referenced | Keyboard shortcuts / API error codes |
| Troubleshooting article | Symptom or error description | Troubleshooting login issues / "File not found" error |
Keep titles concise
Search engines truncate page titles beyond approximately 70 characters, though the exact cutoff varies by search engine and is closer to a pixel-width limit than a strict character count. Treat 70 characters as a practical guideline rather than a hard ceiling: it's better to slightly exceed it with a clear, accurate title than to truncate an important word just to stay under the number. If a title runs long, look first for words that can be cut without losing meaning before assuming the length itself is the problem.
How Many Headings Does an Article Need?
An article of 400–600 words typically needs two to four H2 headings. An article of 1,000–1,500 words might have four to eight. A single-topic article under 300 words may need no headings at all — a heading hierarchy in a very short article can feel heavier than the content it organizes.
Do not add headings to create the appearance of structure. Add them when the content genuinely has distinct sections that readers might want to navigate directly to.
Self-Audit Checklist
Before publishing, check headings and titles against these questions:
- Is there exactly one H1, matching the article title?
- Do heading levels descend sequentially with no skipped levels?
- Are all headings in sentence case?
- Do headings use one consistent verb form (all gerunds or all imperatives) across the knowledge base?
- Is every heading specific enough that a reader can tell what the section covers without reading it?
- Do sibling headings at the same level share a parallel grammatical structure?
- Are headings free of ending punctuation, except question marks in FAQ-style headings?
- Have "Introduction," "Overview," and "Summary" been replaced with descriptive alternatives?
- Do headings use the terms readers actually search for, not internal jargon?
- Does the article title match its content type's expected format?
- If a separate metadata title exists, does it describe the same topic as the H1?
- Is the title reasonably concise, without truncating important words just to hit a character count?
- Does the number of headings match the article's actual length and structure, rather than being added for appearance?