Page title identical to the H1
What it is
The page title, the text in <title>, matches the page’s first H1 heading word for word, ignoring upper and lower case. The two do different jobs: the title names the page in search results, tabs and shared links, where it has to stand on its own, while the H1 heads the page for someone who is already reading it.
Why it matters
This is not an error, and for many pages it is fine. The HTML standard notes that a title often differs from the first heading , since the heading does not have to make sense out of context. When both are the same, you give up a second phrasing: the title could add the audience, a place or your brand for searchers, while the H1 stays short and plain for readers. Google lists both the title and headings among the sources it uses for title links.
How Asky checks it
Asky reads the first <title> inside the <head> and the first <h1> anywhere in the page’s raw HTML (text added by JavaScript is not seen), takes the H1’s text including nested elements, trims whitespace at both ends of each and compares them, ignoring case. Nothing else is normalized: a line break or double space inside the H1 makes them differ, and close variants are not reported. Other H1s on the page are not compared. A page whose title or first H1 is empty or missing is not checked here.
Reported as an opportunity with low severity.
How to fix it
- Keep the H1 as the plain heading readers see, and extend the title with what a searcher needs to choose your result: the audience, a location, the year for time-bound content, or your brand after a separator.
- Keep the title between 30 and 60 characters, so it raises neither length finding.
- Many CMSs fill both from the page or post name. Change the SEO title field, not the name: in WordPress, the SEO plugin’s title field; in Webflow CMS templates, bind the Title tag to a separate field or add text around the name.
- To leave it as it is: if the shared wording is exactly what people search for and already describes the page well, mark the issue resolved.
Example
https://example.com/pricing used the same words for both:
<!-- Before -->
<title>Pricing Plans</title>
<h1>Pricing plans</h1>
<!-- After: the title adds the audience and the brand, the H1 stays plain -->
<title>Pricing Plans for Teams and Agencies | Example Co</title>
<h1>Pricing plans</h1>