Heading tags are HTML elements (<h1> through <h6>) that create a content hierarchy on your page. Search engines use this structure to parse what your page covers and how sections relate to each other. The H1 is your primary heading—usually your page title—and should contain your main target keyword. H2 tags break content into major sections, H3s subdivide those sections, and so on down to H6, though most pages rarely need anything below H4. From an SEO perspective, heading tags serve two roles. First, they signal topical relevance. Google's algorithms look at headings to confirm that your content actually delivers on the query. If you're targeting "Ottawa web design pricing" and your H1 says "Contact Us," that's a mismatch. Second, they improve user experience by making content scannable. Pages with clear headings tend to have lower bounce rates and longer dwell time, which are indirect ranking factors. Best practices we follow at Ottawa SEO: One H1 per page, containing your primary keyword naturally. Use H2s for main sections—these often include secondary keywords or question variations. Keep headings descriptive but concise; "How We Price Web Design Projects" beats "Pricing." Avoid keyword stuffing; "Ottawa SEO Ottawa Web Design Ottawa Marketing" in an H2 looks spammy and reads worse. Common mistakes include skipping heading levels (jumping from H2 to H4), using headings purely for styling instead of structure, or burying your H1 halfway down the page in the HTML even if it visually appears at the top. Search engines read the DOM order, not visual layout. Headings also feed featured snippets and People Also Ask boxes. A well-structured H2 that directly answers a common question can pull traffic from question-based queries even if your page doesn't rank number one for the main keyword. We've seen pages at position five win the featured snippet purely because the H2 matched the question format exactly.