How to fix multiple h1 on WordPress.org

Steps for WordPress.org

1. In WordPress admin, navigate to Appearance → Theme File Editor. Always work in a child theme to avoid losing changes on updates.
2. Open the template for the affected page type (single.php, page.php, index.php, archive.php) and search for '<h1'.
3. Ensure only the primary content title — <?php the_title('<h1>', '</h1>'); ?> — uses the H1 tag. Convert all others to <h2> or <h3>.
4. If using Gutenberg (block editor): open the page/post, click any Heading block that is set to H1 but is not the main title, and use the block toolbar to change it to H2 or H3.
5. Install a heading-audit plugin or use the 'Headings Map' browser extension to scan all flagged pages after saving.
6. Use an SEO plugin (Rank Math or Yoast SEO) to get a per-post H1 check under the 'SEO Analysis' tab in the post editor.

<!-- WRONG: multiple H1 tags on one page -->
<h1>Menu</h1>
<h1>OVERview Digital Magazine – June 2026</h1>
<h1>Survey Coming Via Email</h1>
<h1>The Story of Shannon</h1>

<!-- CORRECT: one H1 for the page topic; others demoted to H2/H3 -->
<h1>OVERview Digital Magazine – June 2026</h1>
<nav aria-label="Site menu">…</nav>   <!-- no heading needed, or use H2 -->
<h2>Survey Coming Via Email</h2>
<h2>The Story of Shannon</h2>

What is multiple h1?

The H1 is the main headline of a webpage — think of it as the title printed at the top of a magazine article. HTML allows multiple H1 tags on a page, but best practice (and good information architecture) says each page should have just one. When a page has multiple H1s — for example, one for the site navigation label, one for the article title, and two more for featured sections — search engines and visitors receive conflicting signals about what that page is actually about. The extra H1s are usually accidental, caused by themes, page-builder widgets, or CMS templates that automatically wrap certain elements in H1 tags without the store owner realizing it.

Google uses the H1 as one of the strongest on-page signals to understand a page's topic and decide how to rank and label it in search results. Multiple H1s dilute that signal — instead of one clear topic, Google sees several competing ones, which can hurt rankings for your target keywords. Visitors using screen readers (a legal requirement under accessibility laws like ADA and WCAG) rely on a single H1 to orient themselves on the page; multiple H1s create a confusing, broken reading experience that can expose your store to accessibility complaints. Fixing this is a quick, high-confidence on-page SEO improvement that directly strengthens your page's relevance signal for the keyword you care most about.

See the complete Multiple h1 guide for every platform and the full background.