On-page SEO basics: headings, text, language and links
The structure and words on your homepage are what search engines, AI assistants and screen readers work from. Here's what each on-page finding means and how to fix it.
Short answer: your homepage should have one H1 headline that says what you do, headings in order (H1, then H2, then H3), and a few paragraphs of real text: at least 120 words about what you do, for whom and where. It also needs a lang attribute on the <html> tag, and plain links to your main pages.
Template leftovers (“Lorem ipsum”, “Coming soon”), frames and tags such as <font> and <center> are signs of an old or unfinished site. Fix the content first; the markup problems usually mean a rebuild is due.
These checks read your homepage's HTML as the server sends it, before any JavaScript runs, which is what most crawlers see first. If your site builds its content in the browser, see pages built by JavaScript.
The page has no main headline (H1)
Fix soon Shown in the checker's Search (SEO) tab as “No headline on the page”.
The checker flags this when there's no <h1> element, or the first one contains no text. An H1 that holds only a logo image counts as empty.
Why it matters
The H1 is the page's main heading. Google uses headings among other signals to understand a page and to build its title link (Google: title links). Screen-reader users often jump straight to it to learn where they've landed.
How to fix it
Give the page one visible H1 that states the main thing you do, for example <h1>Emergency plumbing in Yonkers and southern Westchester</h1>. In the WordPress block editor, set the Heading block's level to H1 in its toolbar; many themes make the page title the H1 but hide it on the homepage. In Wix, Squarespace and Shopify, pick “Heading 1” for the main headline in the text editor. If your logo is the H1, move the H1 to the hero headline.
How to check it's fixed
View the page source and search for <h1; there should be one, with words inside it. Then run the checker again.
Headings skip levels
Minor Shown in the checker's Search (SEO) tab as “Heading order jumps from H2 to H4” or “Heading order starts at H2”.
On pages with at least two headings, the checker flags the first heading if it isn't an H1. It also flags any step down that skips a level, such as an H2 followed directly by an H4. Stepping back up (an H4 followed by an H2) is fine.
Why it matters
Mostly for people. Screen readers list headings as an outline, and a skipped level makes it look like content is missing. The W3C's accessibility tutorial says skipping heading ranks “can be confusing and should be avoided where possible” (W3C WAI: headings). Google is frank that order doesn't matter to its ranking: its starter guide says semantic order is “fantastic for screen readers” but doesn't matter from Google Search's perspective (Google: SEO Starter Guide).
How to fix it
Choose heading levels by structure, not by size, and style them with CSS (MDN: heading elements). Usual culprits are footer or sidebar widget titles coded as H4 or H5, and H4 picked in the editor because it “looked right”. In WordPress, change the level in each Heading block's toolbar; for widget titles, look for a heading-level option in the theme settings.
How to check it's fixed
Browser extensions that show a page's heading outline make this quick, or search the source for <h. Run the checker again to confirm.
Very little text on the page
Fix soon Shown in the checker's Search (SEO) tab as “Only about 85 words” (with your count).
The checker counts visible words in the HTML, menus and footer included, and flags fewer than 120.
Why it matters
Google says there's no magic word count, and length alone isn't a ranking factor. But a homepage of 85 words, mostly menu labels, rarely says what you do, where, and for whom. That leaves search engines and AI assistants little to match against what people actually ask (Google: creating helpful content).
How to fix it
Write a few short, plain paragraphs: the services you offer, the areas you serve, what makes you different (licences, years in business) and how to get in touch. Use real text blocks, not text inside images or sliders. If the page looks full in a browser but the checker counts few words, the content is probably loaded by JavaScript, which is covered in the AI search guide.
How to check it's fixed
Run the checker again; the count updates each time.
Template placeholder text is still on the page
Fix soon Shown in the checker's Search (SEO) tab as “Placeholder text: “lorem ipsum”” (with the phrase it found).
The checker looks for these phrases in the visible text: “lorem ipsum”, “dolor sit amet”, “your company name”, “your business name”, “insert text here”, “add your text here”, “this is a sample page”, “sample text”, “click here to edit”, “coming soon”, “under construction” and “site is being updated”.
Why it matters and how to fix it
Customers notice leftover template text. Search the page for the phrase, including sliders, footers and hidden tabs, and replace it with real copy. WordPress's “Sample Page” is a common source, so delete it or rewrite it. If the phrase is genuine (“New menu coming soon”), it's safe to ignore, though a date (“New menu from March 1”) reads better.
How to check it's fixed
Run the checker again; it reports the first phrase it finds, so fix every one.
The site is built with frames
Fix soon Shown in the checker's Search (SEO) tab as “Built with frames”.
The checker flags any <frameset> or <frame> tag. An <iframe> embed, such as a map or a video, is a different thing and isn't flagged.
Why it matters
Frames split one screen into separate documents. Search engines can index an inner page on its own, so visitors land on a fragment without its navigation; the address never changes, so pages can't be bookmarked or shared; and frames don't adapt to phones. The HTML standard lists frame and frameset as entirely obsolete (HTML standard: obsolete features; MDN: frameset).
How to fix it
There's no setting for this: the layout has to be rebuilt as normal pages, each with its own address, and the old frame addresses should be 301-redirected to the new pages. That's usually the moment to move to a modern, mobile-friendly site (mobile-friendly websites).
The page uses obsolete HTML tags
Minor Shown in the checker's Search (SEO) tab as “Very old markup”.
The checker flags <font>, <center>, <marquee> or <blink> anywhere in the page.
Why it matters and how to fix it
font and center were deprecated back in HTML 4 in the late 1990s, and today's HTML standard lists all four tags as obsolete, telling authors to use CSS instead. Browsers still display most of them; the cost is what they signal, a site nobody has maintained in years, which often goes with outdated software. On a small site, a developer can replace them with CSS: text-align: center for center, and a font rule in the stylesheet for font. On a large old site, this is usually part of a rebuild.
The page doesn't declare its language
Minor Shown in the checker's Search (SEO) tab as “No language set”.
The checker flags an <html> tag with no lang attribute.
Why it matters
Screen readers use lang to choose the right pronunciation, and browsers use it to decide whether to offer translation (MDN: lang). Declaring it is a Level A requirement of the accessibility guidelines (WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page). Google says it works out a page's language from the visible text and doesn't use the attribute (Google: multi-regional sites), so the benefit is accessibility, not ranking.
How to fix it
<html lang="en">Use en-US if you want to be specific, or the right code for another language. WordPress sets it from Settings → General → Site Language when the theme calls language_attributes(), which standard themes do; if it's missing, the theme's header.php needs fixing. Hosted builders set it from the site's language setting.
The homepage links to very few other pages
Minor Shown in the checker's Search (SEO) tab as “Only 2 internal links on the front page”.
The checker counts <a href> links to your own site, ignoring # jumps on the same page and mailto:, tel: and javascript: links, and flags fewer than 3.
Why it matters
Crawlers find pages by following links, and Google can only reliably follow real <a> elements with an href (Google: crawlable links). Menus built from buttons or scripts, and one-page sites that only use #section jumps, give crawlers nowhere to go.
How to fix it
Link from the homepage to each main service page, your about page and your contact page, with descriptive link text (“Water heater repair”, not “Click here”), and make sure the menu outputs ordinary links. On a genuine one-page site this is minor, though a page per main service gives each one something to rank with.
How to check it's fixed
Run the checker again, or search the page source for href="/ and links to your domain.
Sources
- Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide
- Google Search Central: make your links crawlable
- W3C WAI: headings tutorial
- W3C: Understanding WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page
- MDN: the lang attribute
- WHATWG HTML standard: obsolete features
Common questions
Can a page have more than one H1?
HTML allows more than one, and Google's starter guide says there is no ideal number of headings. Still, one H1 per page gives visitors and screen readers the clearest outline: use it for the page's main subject and H2s for the sections under it.
How many words should my homepage have?
Google says there is no ideal word count. Write enough to say what you do, for whom, where and how to reach you; for most small businesses that is a few hundred words. The checker only flags pages under 120.
Does heading order affect Google rankings?
Google says it doesn't matter to Search if headings are out of order. It does matter for people using screen readers, which is why the checker still flags skipped levels as a minor issue.
What does lang="en" do?
It tells browsers and assistive technology the page is in English, so screen readers pronounce it correctly and browsers know when to offer translation. It is required for WCAG Level A accessibility.
Is a one-page website bad for SEO?
Not necessarily, but it can only match a narrow set of searches. A separate page for each main service, linked from the homepage, gives each one a page that can rank for it.
Check your homepage. The website checker runs every check on this page, plus titles, structured data, security and speed, and links each problem to its fix. If the findings point to a rebuild, that's what Remidiy's web development service does; tell us about your site.