An on-page table of contents is a navigation block near the top of an article with links that jump down to each major section. It helps readers scan long content and reach the part they want, which improves engagement and reduces pogo-sticking back to search. It also gives Google the anchor text and structure that can power jump-to links (sometimes shown as sitelinks under your result), making your listing more prominent and useful.

It scans the page HTML for the common patterns of a TOC: a navigation or container element whose class or id references 'toc' or 'table of contents', the visible text 'table of contents', and clusters of in-page anchor links (links whose target begins with a hash) that point to heading IDs further down the page. When these signals are present it reports that a TOC was detected, along with the signals it matched.

No. A TOC adds value on long, multi-section content — in-depth guides, documentation, and pillar articles where readers benefit from jumping around. Short posts, landing pages, and product pages usually do not need one and can look cluttered with it. As a rough rule, consider a TOC once an article runs past roughly 1,500 words or has several distinct H2 sections.

It should list your real H2 (and optionally H3) headings as descriptive links that scroll smoothly to each section, ideally with each heading carrying a stable id for the anchor. Keep the labels concise and matching the headings, place it near the top so it is visible early, and ensure it is built from actual links rather than JavaScript-only behavior so crawlers can read the structure.

It improves your eligibility but does not guarantee them. Google generates jump-to links and anchor sitelinks algorithmically when a page has clear heading structure and on-page anchors, and when it judges them useful for the query. A well-built TOC backed by proper heading IDs gives Google the raw material; whether it displays them depends on the query and competition. Building the TOC is the part within your control.

If your table of contents is rendered entirely by client-side JavaScript after the page loads, or it uses unusual markup that does not reference 'toc' and lacks hash-anchor links, the detector reading the raw HTML may not recognize it. The fix is also the SEO best practice: render the TOC as real anchor links in the server HTML so both crawlers and this tool can see it.

A heading structure analyzer maps your H1–H6 hierarchy to check for skipped levels and logical order. This tool answers a narrower question: does the page provide a navigable, linked table of contents for readers? They pair well — first confirm your headings form a clean hierarchy, then verify a TOC links to those headings so long content is easy to navigate.