Rankelle

Heading levels skip a step

Headings jump a level (for example H2 straight to H4). This makes the page harder to follow for screen readers and slightly muddies the structure search engines read.

How to fix it

Use heading levels in order, without skipping.

When it is not a problem

This is an accessibility finding first. It is on the list because the same fix serves both audiences, not because skipped levels are a ranking factor.

How Rankelle handles it

  • SeverityInformational. Often correct as it stands, and reported so you can see the pattern rather than so you can clear it.
  • DetectionDetected on a single page while crawling it, then grouped with the other pages under the same URL pattern.
  • GroupingEvery page with this finding under the same URL pattern becomes one cause, with a confidence taken from how much of the pattern is affected. 400 of 400 is a template; 6 of 14 is phrased as a question.
  • LandingThe affected URLs stay under cheap watch. When this finding is gone from all of them, the fix is marked landed without anyone reporting the deploy.
  • VerdictAt landing, comparable untouched URLs are frozen as a control set. Twenty-eight days later the two are compared, and the fix can come back as having done nothing.

Try it on your own site, free

No card, and the free tier does not expire — the first verdict takes about six weeks to arrive.