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Why a long page needs a contents list
Where to place the list on the page
Put the list where a reader will meet it before they start scrolling — directly under the page title, above the first heading. A contents list further down is found only by people who no longer need it.
On a narrow screen the list sits between the title and the body, so keep it short. Six or seven entries read as a map of the page; twenty read as another thing to scroll past.
Keeping the list accurate as you edit
The list is built from the headings already on the page, so it never falls out of step with the writing. Rename a heading and the entry renames itself; add a section and a new entry appears.
That also means the headings are the only thing to maintain. Style a line as a heading and it joins the list; leave a line as ordinary body text and it stays out of it.
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