Chapter 14: How Does Google Understand What a Page Is About?

A hierarchical page layout on a laptop, wooden boxes arranged from large to small and a sketch notebook

Last updated: November 1, 2026.

So far we’ve talked about how Google crawls, how it indexes, how it ranks pages and how we find keywords.

So when Google lands on a page, how does it find the answer to the question “What is this page about?”

It doesn’t actually look at just one place. It evaluates many signals together. The most important of these are:

  • Page title
  • H1
  • H2
  • H3

And of course, the content of the page.

The meta description is also one of the fields that describe the page, but Google doesn’t use it for ranking; I explain below why I still write it.

So all of these actually serve the same purpose.

Explaining the page’s topic to both Google and the user.

1. Page title

I think this is one of the most important fields. Because it’s the first thing the user sees on Google. And it’s one of the first places Google looks when trying to understand the page’s topic.

For example, Coffee Machines and The Best Coffee Machine Recommendations for 2026 may look like the same topic, but they promise the user different things.

That’s why I don’t see the title as just an SEO field. I see it as the page’s promise.

Does Google always show the title we wrote?

No. Many people don’t know this. Google can sometimes change the title we wrote.

Especially:

  • With very long titles
  • When the same title is used on many pages
  • When the title doesn’t match the content

Google may show a different title it generates itself.

That’s why you need to look not just at the source code but also at what Google actually shows in the search results.

2. H1

The H1 is usually the page’s main heading. It’s generally the first big heading the user sees when they land on the page.

I compare the H1 to a chapter title in a book. It should sum up what the page is really about.

I generally prefer to use a single H1 on a page. Because we’re really covering one main topic.

3. H2 and H3

H2s and H3s are the subheadings of that topic. You can think of them like a book’s table of contents.

For example:

  • H1: The Best Coffee Machine Recommendations
    • H2: Drip Coffee Makers
      • H3: Who should choose one?
    • H2: Espresso Machines
      • H3: Recommendations for beginners

This structure makes reading easier for the user and also tells Google how the page is organized.

Headings shouldn’t be used for design

I think this is one of the most common mistakes. Sometimes we see structures like this on client sites:

  • H1: Home
    • H2: Products
    • H2: About Us
    • H2: Contact

These are really design headings. They don’t describe the topic of the content.

Heading tags shouldn’t be used to make text bigger but to build the hierarchy of the content.

Meta description

The meta description is a bit different. Google can often show its content to the user. But it doesn’t have to. Sometimes it may show a description it generates itself.

Google clearly says the meta description isn’t a ranking factor. But I still write it. Because the user sees it in the search results. A well-written description can bring more clicks.

I write the meta description for the user, not for Google.

Is it right to use the same keyword in every heading?

I don’t think so. For example:

  • Title: Coffee Machines
  • H1: Coffee Machines
  • H2: Coffee Machines
  • H2: Coffee Machines
  • …

Going this way doesn’t look natural.

Google no longer understands a page’s topic by looking at a single keyword. That’s why headings should develop the topic naturally instead of repeating each other.

What do I check when preparing a new page?

Before publishing a page, I usually ask myself these questions:

  • Does the title really describe the page’s topic?
  • Would I click on it if I saw it on Google?
  • Do the H1 and the title repeat the same thing unnecessarily?
  • Do the H2s build the flow of the post correctly?
  • Can I understand the whole post just by looking at the headings?

Because sometimes you can spot what a post is missing just by looking at the headings.

For me, a well-prepared page is one that gets both the user and Google to say “This page is about exactly this.”

I think that’s exactly the real purpose of headings.

Previous: Chapter 13: How Do We Place Keywords on the Site? · Contents · Next: Chapter 15: How to Write Content Google Will Love

This chapter was first published in Turkish on X (September 14, 2026).