## Heading / Paragraph ### Menu items * **H1 – Document title** — Typically should be the first heading in the document and used only once. * **H2 – Section title** — Describes a main or top-level section in the document. * **H3 to H6 – Subsection title** — Describes a subsection within a top-level section or other subsection of the document. * **Normal** — The default paragraph format, typically with significant top and bottom margins. * **Preformatted text** — Use this for computer code blocks to maintain spacing and indentation. * **Address line** — Use this to type a series of address lines styled in italics and with minimal top and bottom margins. When you press enter at the end of a line, the next line is also an address line. ### About headings * The Heading / Paragraph menu only enables the **allowed** heading levels. * The cursor position relative to other headings in the document determines which heading levels are allowed. ### About paragraph formats * Visual styling for paragraph formats is predetermined by your organization, thus freeing up your time and energy for concentrating on the structure and meaning of the content within your document. ### Why headings and paragraph formats are important * The purpose of a heading is to label the content that follows it. * The proper nesting of heading levels improves the ability of all users to find and comprehend information on a page. * Headings used consistently and in meaningful ways improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO). * Properly nested headings enable people using assistive technologies to easily navigate to each section of a document. * When paragraph formats are used properly (e.g. *Preformatted* or *Address*), they help users of assistive technologies understand the intended role of the content. * Thinking in terms of blocks such as headings and paragraph formats within your document is a higher-level approach to providing structure and semantics that are important for all users. ### More information * Documents are easier to read and understand when headings identify the topics they contain. * Headings make it easier to scan and find topics of interest within a document. * Heading levels identify the structural relationships between sections of content in a document. * Higher-level headings (Levels 1 and 2) identify the main topics of a document and lower-level headings (Levels 3, 4, 5 and 6) identify subsections of the document. * A subsection is identified by using the next lower-level heading. For example, subsections of Level 2 headings use Level 3 headings, subsections of Level 3 headings use Level 4 headings, and so on to Level 6 headings. * Break content into subsections when there are two or more ideas or concepts that correspond to the topics covered in the section. Use headings of the same level to label each subsection. * Heading levels should **never** be used for inline visual styling of content (e.g. larger or smaller font size, bold or italic). Instead, use the `Inline Style` options.