4 Ways to Check Heading Structure
There are several ways to check the heading (H1–H6) structure of a web page. Here's a comparison by ease of use, capabilities, and cost to help you pick the right approach for your needs.
Comparison Table
| Method | Ease of Use | Skip Detection | Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visual inspection | ◎ | △ | Free | Quick check of short articles |
| Developer Tools | ○ | △ | Free | Direct HTML inspection |
| SEO audit tools | △ | ◎ | Mostly paid | Site-wide comprehensive audits |
| Chrome extension (Heading Checker) | ◎ | ◎ | Free | Instant per-page checks |
1. Visual Inspection
Simply look at the page and check whether the heading hierarchy appears correct.
- Pros: No preparation needed
- Cons: CSS styling can mask skipped levels, easy to miss duplicate H1s
2. Developer Tools
Open your browser's Developer Tools and search for h1–h6 tags in the Elements panel.
- Pros: Shows the exact HTML structure
- Cons: Poor overview, requires manual searching each time
3. SEO Audit Tools
Tools like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or SEMrush can crawl and analyze heading structure across an entire site.
- Pros: Site-wide analysis, checks other SEO factors at the same time
- Cons: Paid subscriptions, requires setup, not suited for quick per-page checks
4. Chrome Extension (Heading Structure Checker)
Install the extension and get a full heading outline with issue detection at the click of a button.
- Pros: Instant results, auto-detects skipped levels and duplicate H1s, copy-to-clipboard
- Cons: Works one page at a time, not for site-wide bulk audits
Which Method Should You Choose?
- Pre-publish check for a single page: Chrome extension is the most efficient
- Periodic site-wide audit: SEO audit tools
- HTML inspection during development: Developer Tools
- Quick glance at a short article: Visual inspection