Fixing a Messy Hierarchy: A Full Header Tag Audit & Fix
Client: A large e-commerce store with 10,000+ pages (products, categories, blogs).
Challenges We Faced
The client’s complex Magento site had a “broken” header structure from years of neglect, confusing Google:
Duplicate H1 Tags
A Full Header Tag Audit found 5,000+ pages (products, blogs) all using the same H1 tag (the brand name).
Missing H1 Tags
Over 1,000 key product pages had no H1 Tag Optimization at all.
Keyword Cannibalization
Multiple category pages were using similar H1s, confusing Google and splitting their ranking power.
No Logical Structure
The site used H1, H4, and H2 tags in a random, non-logical order, which is bad for SEO and Accessibility (a11y).
Inconsistent Subheadings
Many pages had random H2/H3 tags, making content hard to read for users and confusing for search engines.
Fix Your Site Structure
“Are duplicate or missing H1 tags confusing Google? Our Full Header Tag Audit will find and fix every error on your site, at scale.”
Our Approach – How We Solved These Challenges
Comprehensive Header Tag Audit
We used Screaming Frog to crawl the entire site and export all H1, H2, and H3 tags. This created a “to-fix” list of 6,000+ pages.
Customized SEO Strategy
We developed a new, logical Header Tags Optimization template for each page type:
Category: H1 = [Category Name], H2s = Subcategories, Shopping Guide
Product: H1 = [Product Name], H2s = Description, Specs, Reviews
Execution & Copywriting
Our header tag optimization agency worked with their developers to programmatically fix the templates.
We fixed 5,000+ duplicate H1s to be unique and keyword-rich.
We fixed 1,000+ missing H1s.
Technical Optimization
We ensured the new structure was 100% logical and sequential (H1 -> H2 -> H3), fixing the Keyword Cannibalization issue.
Results
| Metric | Before | After | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duplicate H1 Tags | 5,000+ | 10 | -99.8% |
| Missing H1 Tags | 1,000+ | 0 | -100% |
| Organic Traffic (Site-wide) | 150,000/mo | 210,000/mo | +40% |
Free Header Tag Audit
“Not sure if your headers are optimized? Book a Free 1,000-Page Audit and let our header tag optimization agency find your errors!”
Advice for Marketers & Brand Owners
- Your H1 tag is the single most important on-page header. Every page must have one, and it must be unique.
- A Full Header Tag Audit is the first step. You can’t fix what you can’t see. Use Screaming Frog to find your errors.
- Create header templates for your page types (product, category, blog) to ensure consistency.
- Don’t use your brand name as your H1 on every page. This is a massive, common mistake that kills your website header tag optimization.
Extra Factors That Made It Work
- The Screaming Frog audit was 100% essential for a site of this size.
- Working with the developers to fix the templates (not just individual pages) was the key to scaling the fix.
- Fixing the 5,000+ duplicate H1s was the single biggest win, as it allowed Google to finally understand what each page was about.
