Enhance Your Coding Skills: Beginner’s Guide to HTML: Create Your First Website

If you want to learn how websites are made, you’ve found the perfect starting point. HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the foundation of every web page on the internet. Without it, there would be no headings, images, links, or paragraphs — just plain text.

This beginner-friendly HTML guide will walk you through the basics step by step. By the end, you’ll know how to structure a web page, add images and links, create forms, and follow best practices to build clean, accessible websites.

What is HTML?

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is not a programming language but a markup language. It gives structure to content so browsers know how to display it.

HyperText: Connects pages through links.
Markup: Uses tags to define elements (like headings, paragraphs, or images).
Language: A set of rules browsers can understand.

👉 Think of HTML as the skeleton of a website.

Basic Structure of an HTML Page

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>My First Webpage</title>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Hello World!</h1>
  <p>This is my first HTML page.</p>
</body>
</html>

Breakdown of the structure:

<!DOCTYPE html> → Declares HTML5.
<html> → Wraps the entire page.
<head> → Metadata (title, encoding, styles).
<body> → Visible content users see.

Common HTML Tags You Need to Know

HTML uses elements (tags) to structure content. Most elements have opening and closing tags.

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

Essential Tags:

Headings: <h1> to <h6>
Paragraph: <p>
Links: <a href="url">
Images: <img src="file.jpg" alt="description">
Lists: <ul>, <ol>, <li>
Tables: <table>, <tr>, <td>, <th>

HTML Attributes Explained

Attributes provide extra details about elements. They always go inside the opening tag.

<a href="https://example.com" target="_blank">Visit Example</a>

href → Destination of the link.
target="_blank" → Opens in a new tab.

Formatting Text in HTML

<strong> → Bold
<em> → Italics
<br> → Line break
<blockquote> → Quote

<p><strong>Tip:</strong> Always close your tags properly.</p>

Adding Links and Images

Links:

<a href="https://google.com">Visit Google</a>

Images:

<img src="cat.jpg" alt="A cute cat">

SEO Tip ✅: Always use descriptive alt text for accessibility and better search rankings.

Creating Lists and Tables

Unordered List:

<ul>
  <li>HTML</li>
  <li>CSS</li>
  <li>JavaScript</li>
</ul>

Ordered List:

<ol>
  <li>First Step</li>
  <li>Second Step</li>
</ol>

Simple Table:

<table border="1">
  <tr>
    <th>Name</th>
    <th>Age</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Alice</td>
    <td>25</td>
  </tr>
</table>

HTML Forms and User Input

<form action="/submit" method="post">
  <label for="email">Email:</label>
  <input type="email" id="email" name="email">
  <input type="submit" value="Subscribe">
</form>

action → Where data is sent.
method → How data is sent (GET/POST).

Why Use Semantic HTML?

Semantic HTML uses meaningful tags instead of generic <div>s. This helps search engines and screen readers understand content better.

<header> → Top section of a page.
<nav> → Navigation menu.
<article> → Standalone content.
<footer> → Bottom section.

SEO Tip ✅: Semantic tags improve ranking and accessibility.

Best Practices for Writing HTML

Use lowercase for tags and attributes.
Indent code for readability.
Always use alt for images.
Validate your HTML with W3C Validator.
Keep your structure semantic and clean.

HTML + CSS: Adding Style

HTML provides structure, but for styling you’ll need CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

<p style="color: green; font-size: 18px;">
This is styled text.
</p>

Later, you’ll separate CSS into an external stylesheet for better organization.

Learning Path After HTML

CSS → Add colors, fonts, and layouts.
JavaScript → Make your website interactive.
Responsive Design → Make websites mobile-friendly.

Conclusion

HTML is the foundation of web development. With just a handful of tags, you can build your own web pages, add links, images, forms, and even structure content for SEO.

👉 Keep practicing by creating small projects like a personal webpage or a blog layout. Combine HTML with CSS and JavaScript, and you’ll be on your way to becoming a full-fledged web developer.

Happy coding and welcome to the world of web development! 🚀

Enhance Your Coding Skills

Beginner’s Guide to HTML: Create Your First Website