Use elements for their documented meaning
MDN recommends choosing the correct HTML element for its intended purpose before adding ARIA. Headings describe section hierarchy; main identifies the dominant page content; nav identifies major navigation; article represents a self-contained composition; and time can provide a machine-readable date.
These semantics improve accessibility and create a clearer document tree. They do not replace accurate writing, crawlable links, server-rendered content or valid canonical controls.
Implementation priorities
- Keep one descriptive page heading and use heading levels to reflect the actual hierarchy.
- Place the primary content in main and use article or section only when their meaning fits.
- Use standard anchor elements with href values for links that crawlers and users need to follow.
- Render essential facts, headings and references as HTML rather than making them available only after an interaction.
- Validate HTML and accessibility, then test the rendered page as a crawler receives it.
Evidence boundary
Google documents crawlable links, accessible text and matching structured data as useful Search foundations. For AI features in Search, Google says no special AI file or schema markup is required. Semantic HTML should therefore be justified by structure, accessibility and reliable delivery, not by an unsupported promise of AI citations.