Titles and Headings

Effective titles and headings help users scan webpages. They improve search engine optimization (SEO).

Title (H1) case

Capitalize

• The first word
• All “major” words: nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and pronouns
• Prepositions of four or more letters (for example: over, from, with)
• Conjunctions of four or more letters (for example: unless, than)
• If, and, how, why – if you use as conjunctions
• To – if you use it as part of an infinitive

Only capitalize articles (a, an, and, as, but, for, if, in, nor, of, on, or, the, to [as a preposition], or up) if it’s the first word in the title.

General rules for titles

Titles must be fewer than eight words long. If you include a program or other proper name plus its acronym, and that creates a title that's longer than eight words, use only the acronym(s).

Header case (H2, H3, H4, and H5)

• Capitalize the first word.
• Use lowercase for all other words, except for proper nouns.

Rules that apply to both H1 and H2-H5

• Aim for eight words or less.
• Make meaningful, strong, unique, descriptive, and clear.
• Use numerals—do not spell out numbers.
• Avoid ineffective headings
  • Introduction
  • Welcome
  • Overview
  • About…
  • Background
  • Questions & Answers
  • More Information
• Put in order: H1, H2, H3, H4, H5
• Do not use a link.

Guidelines

• Front-load headings with keywords—the words and phrases people may use in search engines.
• Eye tracking studies show that readers pay most attention to the first few words.
• Active voice and positive statements are best.
  Example of active voice: The subject performs the action. The man grabbed the ball.
  Example of passive voice: The subject is acted upon. The ball was grabbed by the man.

Citations

• Set the titles of books, journals, and magazines in italics.
• Do not set the titles of published reports in italics.
• Use quotations, not italics, for chapters in books, sections of reports, and articles in journals or magazines.