Intro to HTML Concepts

Learning objective: By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to explain the role and key components of HTML in website development, including its significance in providing structure and enabling SEO.

What is HTML?

HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser.

HyperText? Markup? HyperText is text displayed on a digital device with references to other text that can be navigated to using hyperlinks (commonly called links). Markup provides both structure and semantic meaning to content. For example, an <h1> indicates the main heading for a document, while <p> represents a paragraph of text.

In other words, HTML is a language for writing structured documents that link to one another.

When a web browser makes a request, it receives HTML documents from a web server and renders those documents into web pages.

HTML is one of the three main technologies used in creating web content in browsers, joined by CSS and JavaScript.

Why use HTML?

Just like a house needs structural framing to stand, websites need structural content to style and assign behavior to. Fun and interactive sites are built on a base of HTML.

In addition to HTML providing the structure of web content, it can also play a key role in search engine optimization (SEO). Depending on how documents are structured, HTML can improve their chances of appearing in requested searches. This can lead to improved visibility and success from a marketing perspective.