{"id":50274,"date":"2023-10-31T08:51:14","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T08:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"\/tutorials\/?p=50274"},"modified":"2025-05-12T12:25:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T12:25:04","slug":"wordpress-table-of-contents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/tutorials\/wordpress-table-of-contents","title":{"rendered":"How to Add a WordPress Table of Contents: 2 Easy Ways and the Best Plugins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ideal blog post length for search engine optimization (SEO)<\/a> is around 2,000 words<\/a>, which is equivalent to four pages of text. It’s worth keeping in mind, however, that 43% of readers<\/a> say they only skim blog posts.<\/p>

Providing a table of contents (TOC) is therefore an excellent way to help readers navigate your posts and prevent them from clicking off your WordPress site within seconds.<\/p>

Compared to website builders<\/a>, WordPress lets users extend a website’s functionality more freely using plugins. This article will cover the steps to add TOCs to your WordPress site both manually and by using a plugin. We also listed five WordPress TOC plugins for your reference.<\/p>

Why Add a WordPress Table of Contents?<\/h2>

A table of contents helps readers jump to relevant sections of a WordPress<\/a> post, which can improve its readability – particularly for long-form content.<\/p>

Adding a TOC also enhances search engine optimization. For example, it may reduce your website’s bounce rate<\/a> as users can easily navigate to the sections that answer their search intent.<\/p>

Furthermore, TOCs can help make your web pages look more attractive on search engine results pages (SERPs). Providing a table of contents helps Google automatically generate jump links to different sections of your post.<\/p>

\"Screenshot<\/a><\/figure>

How to Create a WordPress Table of Contents Manually<\/h2>

In this section, we’ll go over how to create a table of contents using WordPress’ Gutenberg block editor<\/a>.<\/p>

This method doesn’t offer much flexibility, but it is a good alternative for those who want to avoid installing too many plugins<\/a>.<\/p>

Note that the tutorial above does not work if you’re using other page builders<\/a>, in which case, consider using a WordPress plugin to create a TOC.<\/p>

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  1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and access the post where you wish to add a TOC.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Add a heading<\/strong> block for every section you want to include in the TOC.

    Skip this step if the headings are already present – you can tell by the different font sizes between the headings and the body text.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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    \"Screenshot<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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    1. Then, place the cursor on a heading and write an HTML anchor for it under Advanced<\/strong> settings. Note that the anchor text should be without spaces.

      Repeat this step for all headings and ensure each anchor name is different.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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      1. Add a List<\/strong> block on a section of the page where you want to insert the table of contents. Then, insert all the TOC headings consecutively.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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        \"Screenshot<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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        1. With your cursor, highlight an entry from the list, then click on the Link<\/strong> icon in the toolbar. <\/li>\n<\/ol>
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          \"Screenshot<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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          1. Type the heading’s targeted HTML anchor using a hashtag<\/strong> into the pop-up box, then hit Enter<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          2. Repeat steps five and six for all entries on the list so that they each link internally to the targeted sections.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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            \"Screenshot<\/a><\/figure><\/div>

            How to Add a WordPress Table of Contents with a Plugin<\/h2>

            Manually creating a table of contents might be time-consuming for long posts containing many headings. Fortunately, a WordPress plugin<\/a> can help ease the process.<\/p>

            For example, we’ll demonstrate the steps to create a TOC using Easy Table of Contents<\/strong>:<\/p>

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            1. Install and activate<\/a> the plugin.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            2. Navigate to Settings <\/strong>-> Table of Contents<\/strong> on the WordPress dashboard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            3. Under General <\/strong>-> Auto Insert<\/strong>, select the post types you want the plugin to automatically add TOCs to. Here, we selected Posts<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>

              Under the same section, you can also configure the table’s position, header labels, and the number of headings to display.<\/p>

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              \"Screenshot<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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              1. Then, customize the TOC’s width and alignment in the Appearance <\/strong>section. Altering the TOC’s font size, table theme, and colors are also possible.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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                \"Screenshot<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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                1. Navigate to the Advanced<\/strong> configuration settings to define the conditions of how the TOC will appear. For example, only selecting H1, H2, and H3 headings will exclude H4 headings and below from the TOC.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
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                  \"Screenshot<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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                  1. Hit the Save Changes<\/strong> button.<\/li>\n<\/ol>

                    This free tool automatically generates the table of contents upon publication. However, we recommend previewing the TOC before publishing to ensure there are no configuration errors.<\/p>

                    Top 5 Plugins to Add WordPress Table of Contents<\/h2>

                    Many WordPress SEO plugins<\/a> already include a table of contents creation tool. However, if you prefer using a dedicated WordPress TOC plugin, here are our five recommendations.<\/p>

                    1. Easy Table of Contents<\/a><\/h3>
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                    \"Easy<\/a><\/figure><\/div>

                    Stats:<\/strong><\/p>