Tags and elements are the building blocks of HTML. These two videos explain the difference and walk through the tags you will use on almost every page.
Tags vs elements
A tag is the code in angle brackets, like <p>. An element is the whole thing: opening tag, content and closing tag, like <p>Hello</p>. Some elements, such as <img> and <br>, have no closing tag; these are called empty or void elements.
Basic tags you will use all the time
| Tag | What it does |
|---|---|
| <h1> to <h6> | Headings, from most to least important |
| <p> | A paragraph of text |
| <a href=""> | A link to another page |
| <img src="" alt=""> | An image with alternative text |
| <ul>, <ol>, <li> | Bulleted and numbered lists |
| <strong>, <em> | Important and emphasised text |
| <br> | A line break |
| <div>, <span> | Containers for grouping and styling |
| <table> | Tabular data |
| <form>, <input>, <button> | Forms and buttons |
Good habits
- Close every tag you open, in the right order.
- Use tags for meaning, not looks: headings for headings, lists for lists.
- Always add alt text to images.
Practise with our text to HTML converter, and see real button HTML in the CTA button generator.
Watch: basic tags in HTML
Basic Tags in HTML || Types of HTML Tags4:05Basic Tags in HTML || Types of HTML Tags
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