Keep the page structure tidy
Underneath every page is a structure of headings and sections, and it matters more than it looks: visitors skim by headings, blind visitors navigate by them, and search engines and AI assistants use them to work out what the page is about. A tidy structure — one main heading, sub-headings in order, sections built consistently — quietly helps all of them.
How it works
- Get your access prompt. Log in to bernard, open your site, and copy the prompt from Edit with AI (it contains a key that works for 12 hours).
- Paste it into your AI — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, whichever you already use — then ask for a structure check using the prompt above. It reports what's untidy first; you choose what gets fixed.
- Approve. The fixes land on a draft and the AI sends back a preview link. The pages should look the same, just better organised underneath — check, then press Approve.
Consistency beats cleverness
The rules of tidy structure are short: one main heading per page that says what the page is; sub-headings stepping down in order without skipping levels; and every new section built the same way as the ones already there. That last rule does the most work — when a new gallery item or news entry copies the markup of an existing one, the page stays consistent, the styling keeps working, and the next change is easier too. Structure fixes are invisible by design: if a tidy-up changed how a page looks, something went wrong — reject the draft and say so.
If you're the AI doing this: read the page before editing and learn its conventions — which heading levels it uses, how sections are built, which CSS classes it relies on. When adding a section, copy the markup of an existing one and change its content rather than inventing a new structure; invented classes will be unstyled. Fix heading-order problems by restructuring, not by restyling: never demote a page's only main heading, and tell the owner before any structural change that would alter how the page reads in search results.
The prompt
“Check the heading structure on [the page or whole site] — one main heading per page, headings in order, consistent markup — and report what you find first; don't change anything until I choose. When you add anything new, follow the site's existing conventions.”
The [bracketed] parts are yours to fill in. First time? Log in to bernard → your site → Edit with AI → copy your access prompt, paste that into your AI first, then ask the above.
Questions people ask
- Why does heading structure matter on a website?
- Headings are the skeleton of a page — visitors skim them, screen readers navigate by them, and Google and AI search use them to understand what the page is about. One main heading per page, with sub-headings in order, helps all three.
- What does a tidy page structure look like?
- Each page has exactly one main heading saying what the page is, sub-headings that step down in order without skipping levels, and new sections built the same way as existing ones — same markup, same style.
- Can AI tidy up my page structure without changing how the site looks?
- Yes — ask it to report structural problems first and fix only what you pick, keeping the site's existing markup conventions. Every fix sits on a draft until you check the preview and press Approve, so you'll see the page looks the same before anything goes live.