What’s the first thing your visitors read when they come to your site? It should not be a Flash animation announcing its loading time. If it is, you need to update your site—immediately! Moreover, you need to think type first because that’s what readers are heading for: the typography. Thinking type first and considering hierarchy, visitors will initially notice your headings. Headings are your attention grabbers. Size is one way to establish dominance and make your headings stand out. And while bigger is usually better, contrast and weight can also get the reader’s attention. Make sure you mind the details too, especially since a heading can make or break your entire layout.

Heading Hierarchy & Functionality

Heading elements have six levels, with h1 being the major heading that descends to h6, the most minor heading.

Heading 1

Headings descending from h1 to h6, set in the Amasis™ eText typeface.

In HTML, headings are known as block-level elements because they occupy their own space set off in a block. Block elements are different from inline elements. Inline elements can exist within block elements.