This factor counts how many times your keyword variations appear across the lower three heading levels — H4, H5, and H6 — combined into a single occurrence total. It is a structural observation, not a target to inflate: more matches here relate to how top pages structure deep content, but they do not by themselves move a page up the results.
| Factor ID | RG-HDG-040 |
|---|---|
| Family | Headings |
| Measurement | Variation occurrence count |
| Measured zone | H4, H5, and H6 text |
What it measures
RankGear counts keyword-variation occurrences across the lower three heading levels of your page. Every match found in an H4, H5, or H6 element is tallied, and the three levels roll up into one combined score for the page.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear parses the text of every H4, H5, and H6 element and sums case-insensitive, whole-word matches against the variation set for the run. Longer phrases are evaluated first, and any text already matched is consumed so it cannot be counted again — this deliberately prevents overlapping phrases from being double-counted. The result is a count of occurrences, not a count of distinct variations.
| If the page shows… | How to read it |
|---|---|
| A count near the top pages’ range | Your deep subheadings already carry relevant variations. Leave the outline as it serves the reader. |
| A count of zero or well below the set | Detailed subsections may exist without variation-bearing labels — consider it only where genuine subtopics warrant clearer headings. |
How to optimize it
Use relevant variations in lower-level headings only where detailed content structure and distinct subtopics genuinely justify them. Treat this number as an observation of how your outline is worded, not as a quota to hit. The right move is to write clear headings for the subsections your content actually contains; the count follows from that, not the other way around.
Important considerations
- H4, H5, and H6 results are combined into a single score — the factor does not separate the three levels.
- The metric counts occurrences, not unique variations, so the same variation used twice adds two to the total.
- Overlapping phrases are deliberately not double-counted; matched text is consumed once and longer phrases win first.
- Do not deepen or fragment your outline merely to influence this factor — adding H4-H6 levels that the content does not need hurts readers more than any signal it might add.
- This is a correlation-based prioritization signal drawn from the measured result set. It relates to how competitive pages structure deep content; it does not cause a ranking or guarantee one.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.