Fixing Vague or Missing Subheadings
Most visitors scan a page before they decide to read any of it, and headings are what they scan. When a page has no subheadings, or has labels such as "Overview", "Our approach" or a clever pun, readers cannot tell where their answer is and many give up.
This guide is about the words in your headings and where they go, not the HTML levels. It shows how to spot vague and missing headings, rewrite them so each one says what the section delivers, space them sensibly and test a page by reading its headings alone.
What headings do for a reader
A reader arriving from a search result or a link has a question in mind. Before committing to a page, they check whether it answers that question and where. On a screen that check is mostly done by glancing at headings, bold text and the first words of paragraphs. Eye-tracking studies by the Nielsen Norman Group described this as an F-shaped pattern: people read the first lines, then scan down the left edge picking up the start of headings and paragraphs.
Good subheadings serve that behaviour in three ways:
- They act as a table of contents. Read in order, the headings should summarise the page.
- They let readers skip. Someone who only needs the delivery costs can jump straight to them.
- They reset attention. A heading breaks a long stretch of text into chunks the reader can take one at a time, which matters most on a phone where a single paragraph can fill the screen.
This guide deals with the wording and placement of headings. The HTML side, such as having one h1,
not skipping levels and not faking headings with bold text, is covered in fixing
heading hierarchy. A page can have a perfect outline and still have headings that tell a reader nothing.
The kinds of heading that fail readers
Vague headings fall into a few recognisable types. Once you know them, you will spot them quickly in your own pages.
| Type | Example | Why it fails | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generic label | Overview, Introduction, Details, More information | Could sit on any page; says nothing about this one | What a boiler service includes |
| Company-centred | Our approach, Why choose us, Our philosophy | Answers a question the reader did not ask | How we price a garden redesign |
| Clever or punning | Getting to the root of it, A cut above | Only makes sense after reading the section | Tree root damage to drains |
| Single word | Pricing, Features, Process | Too broad to tell readers whether their detail is there | Prices for one, two and three bedroom homes |
| Question with no clue to the answer | What about costs? | Promises a topic but not a finding | Costs start at £90 for a basic check |
| Keyword-stuffed | Best Cheap Plumber Chesterfield Plumbing Services | Reads as spam and hides the actual content | Emergency call-outs across Chesterfield |
The prices and places in the "better" column are fictional examples. The pattern is what matters: each better heading tells the reader what they will learn if they read the section beneath it.
Missing headings
The other failure is having too few headings. A 1,500-word article with only a title and a conclusion heading is a single wall of text. Readers cannot tell whether their question is covered without reading everything, and on a phone they may scroll through several screens of paragraphs with no landmark at all.
Finding vague and missing headings
Print the headings on their own
Open the page, open the browser developer tools console, and paste this line. It lists every second and third level heading in page order, so you can read them as a reader would scan them.
[...document.querySelectorAll('main h2, main h3')].map(h => h.tagName + ' ' + h.textContent.trim()).join('\n')If your theme does not use a main element, remove main from both selectors.
Paste the output into a document and look for generic labels, single words and duplicates.
Measure the gaps between headings
The Readability Checker reports paragraph length and flags sentences that need attention, which shows you where the dense stretches are. Then scroll the page on a phone and count how many screens you pass without seeing a heading. Several screens in a row of unbroken paragraphs is the clearest sign that headings are missing.
Try the "any page" test
For each heading, ask whether it could appear unchanged on a competitor's page, or on a different page of your own site. If it could, it is too generic. "Our services" passes that test for every business in the country; "Chimney sweeping and bird guard fitting" does not.
The fix, step by step
Step 1
List the headings on their own
Extract every subheading on the page in order, using the console snippet or by copying them from the CMS outline view, and paste them into a plain document with nothing else. Read the list top to bottom as if it were the whole page. Mark each heading that is generic, company-centred, a pun, a single word or a question that gives no clue to its answer, because these are the ones you will rewrite first.
Step 2
Find the long unheaded stretches
Scroll the page on a phone and note every place where you pass more than a couple of screens without a heading. Run the text through the Readability Checker to see where the long paragraphs and flagged sentences cluster, because dense stretches usually coincide with missing headings. Mark each spot where the subject of the text changes, even slightly, since those are the natural places to add a new heading.
Step 3
Rewrite each label as a statement of content
For every marked heading, read the section beneath it and write down in one short line what a reader learns there. That line is usually your new heading. Replace "Overview" with what the product does, "Pricing" with what the prices cover, and "Our process" with the steps a customer goes through. Where a section already answers a question clearly, a heading that states the answer can work better than the question.
Step 4
Put the key words first
Rearrange each heading so the words that identify the topic come in the first few words, because scanning readers often see only the start of a line. Write "Returns: 30 days, free collection" rather than "Everything you need to know about returning an item". Cut leading filler such as "A guide to", "All about" and "How to understand". Use sentence case, and keep headings short enough to fit on one line on a phone where possible.
Step 5
Add headings where readers change task
Insert a new subheading wherever the reader moves to a different question, such as from what something is to what it costs, or from choosing to ordering. Do not add headings at fixed word counts, because a heading that splits one idea in half is as unhelpful as a missing one. Group related paragraphs beneath each new heading, and use a lower level only when a section genuinely contains sub-topics of its own.
Step 6
Test the page by its headings alone
Extract the headings again and give the list to a colleague or friend who matches your audience. Ask them what the page covers and where they would look for two or three specific facts. If they guess wrong or hesitate, the heading for that section still needs work. Finally, check the page on a phone to confirm headings wrap neatly and appear often enough to keep readers oriented.
Writing headings that work
Statements, questions or labels?
Each style has a place. Choose by what the reader is doing on that page.
- Statements such as "Delivery is free over £40" work well on information pages, because the reader gets the fact without reading on. They also help people who only scan.
- Questions such as "Can I change my delivery date?" suit help pages and FAQs where readers arrive with that exact question. Keep them in the reader's words, not yours.
- Task labels such as "Change your delivery date" suit instructions, because they match what the reader wants to do.
- Short noun labels such as "Specifications" or "Care instructions" are fine where the convention is familiar, for example on product pages, and a longer heading would add nothing.
Mixing styles on one page is not a problem in itself. Mixing them within one set of sibling headings, where three are questions and two are statements, makes the list harder to scan. Keep siblings parallel.
Wording rules of thumb
- Use the words your readers use. If customers say "boiler service" and you say "heating system maintenance", use theirs.
- Make each heading unique on the page. Two sections called "Costs" confuse readers and any tool that builds a contents list.
- Avoid ending headings with a colon or a full stop; they are labels, not sentences in the running text.
- Do not rely on the text beneath to finish the heading's meaning. "Why it matters" means nothing out of context.
- Use sentence case. Title Case On Every Word is harder to read in longer headings.
How many headings?
There is no correct number and no rule that search engines count. Space them by meaning, not by word count: a new heading where the reader's question changes. In practice, if a reader on a phone passes several screens without a heading, the section is probably covering more than one idea.
Platform notes
- WordPress. In the block editor, open the Document Overview panel and its Outline tab to see every heading in order, which makes the "headings alone" check quick. Some themes put a heading into widgets, sidebars and related-post blocks; those do not help the reader of the article, so judge only the headings in the content area.
- Shopify. Product and page descriptions are edited in a rich text editor with a heading drop-down. Many themes add their own section headings, such as "Description" or "You may also like", around the description. Check what the theme adds before writing your own so you do not end up with "Description" followed by "Product description".
- Page builders. Elementor, Divi and similar tools make it easy to style any text as a large heading. When reviewing the wording, make sure you are reading the real headings and not decorative display text; the heading hierarchy guide shows how to tell them apart.
- Markdown and static sites. Headings start with
##and###. Many static site generators build an automatic table of contents and anchor links from heading text, so a vague heading also produces a vague contents entry and an unhelpful link such as#overview.
Edge cases
Headings and search
Search engines use headings, along with everything else on the page, to understand what a section is about, and clear headings make it easier for search features and AI assistants to find and quote the right passage. That is a good reason to write descriptive headings, but not to stuff them with keywords. A heading written for the reader will naturally contain the words people search with.
Accordions and tabs
On pages that hide content in accordions, the accordion titles are the headings readers scan. They need the same care: "Delivery and returns" is better than "More info". Use a real heading element for each accordion title so screen reader users can find them too.
Very short pages
A contact page or a 150-word product blurb does not need subheadings. Adding them to hit a checklist creates clutter. Headings earn their place when a page covers more than one question.
Headings as the only content
Occasionally rewriting headings shows that a section has no real content, only a heading and a sentence of filler. That is useful to discover. Either write the section properly or remove it.
Keeping headings useful
- Put heading guidance in your content brief. Ask writers to submit the heading list first, before the body text. A weak outline is easier to fix than a finished draft.
- Remove stock headings from templates. If every service page template starts with "Overview" and ends with "Why choose us", every page inherits vague headings. Replace them with placeholders that force a specific heading, such as "What [service] includes".
- Review headings when content changes. When a section is rewritten, its heading often stays as it was and no longer matches.
- Keep the scan test in your checklist. Reading the headings alone takes a minute and catches most problems.
Long unbroken sections often go with long paragraphs; fixing paragraphs over four sentences covers that side.
1. How often should I use subheadings?
There is no fixed number of words between headings that you need to hit, and search engines do not count them. Add a heading wherever the reader's question changes, such as moving from what a service is to what it costs. A practical check is to scroll the page on a phone: if you pass several screens of paragraphs without a heading, that stretch probably covers more than one idea and would benefit from being split and labelled. Very short pages may need none at all.
2. Should subheadings be questions?
Questions work well on help pages and FAQ sections, where readers arrive with that exact question and want to see it matched. On information pages, a statement that gives the answer, such as delivery is free over a set amount, often serves scanning readers better because they get the fact without reading on. Task labels suit instructions. Choose by what the reader is doing, and keep sibling headings in the same style so the list is easy to scan.
3. Is this the same as fixing heading hierarchy?
No. Heading hierarchy is about the HTML: one main h1, levels that do not skip, and real heading elements rather than bold text, which matters mostly for screen reader users and document structure. This guide is about the words and placement of headings, so that a sighted reader scanning the page can find what they need. A page can pass every hierarchy check and still have headings such as Overview and Details that tell a reader nothing. Most pages benefit from both fixes.
4. Do keywords in headings help SEO?
Headings help search engines understand what each section covers, so a heading that clearly names the topic is useful. That happens naturally when you write headings in the words your customers use. Forcing extra keywords into headings, or repeating the same phrase in every heading, makes them harder to read and can look like spam. Write each heading to tell a reader what the section delivers, and check that it uses the terms your audience would search with.
5. How long should a subheading be?
Short enough to take in at a glance, and ideally short enough to fit on one line on a phone, but long enough to say something specific. A single word is often too broad, while a full sentence of twenty words stops being a heading. Most useful headings land somewhere between three and ten words. Put the words that identify the topic first so readers who only see the start of the line still know what the section covers.
6. Should I use title case or sentence case for headings?
Either is acceptable if you are consistent, but sentence case is generally easier to read, especially for longer headings, and it is the style used by many plain English style guides, including GOV.UK. Title case capitalises every major word, which makes long headings look busier and blurs the distinction between ordinary words and names. Whichever you choose, write it into your style guide so that every author and every template uses the same convention across the site.
7. Why doesn't my page need a heading every few paragraphs?
Because headings are for navigation, not decoration. A short page that answers one question, such as a contact page or a brief product description, reads perfectly well without subheadings, and adding them can make it feel fragmented. Headings earn their place when a page covers several questions or tasks and readers need to find one of them. If you find yourself inventing headings to fill space, the page probably does not need them, or it needs more substance first.
The Readability Checker measures paragraph length, sentence length, passive voice share and jargon density alongside Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and Gunning Fog, and flags the sentences that need attention.
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