Lesson 2Beginner 1 min read

HTML Elements & Tags

What is an HTML element?

An HTML element is a piece of content wrapped in tags. Most elements have an opening tag and a closing tag:

HTML

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

<p> is the opening tag.
</p> is the closing tag (note the /).
Everything between them is the content.

Some elements are self-closing — they don't have content or a closing tag:

HTML

<img src="photo.jpg" alt="A photo" />
<br />
<hr />

Common HTML elements

Here are the elements you'll use most often:

Headings — six levels from <h1> (biggest) to <h6> (smallest):

HTML

<h1>Main Title</h1>
<h2>Section Title</h2>
<h3>Subsection</h3>

Paragraphs and text:

HTML

<p>This is a paragraph of text.</p>
<strong>Bold text</strong>
<em>Italic text</em>

Links — the <a> tag makes clickable links:

HTML

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

Images:

HTML

<img src="cat.jpg" alt="A cute cat" width="300" />

Always include the alt attribute — it describes the image for screen readers and shows up if the image fails to load.

Lists:

HTML

<ul>
  <li>Unordered item</li>
  <li>Another item</li>
</ul>

<ol>
  <li>First step</li>
  <li>Second step</li>
</ol>

Nesting elements

Elements can go inside other elements. This is called nesting:

HTML

<div>
  <h2>About Me</h2>
  <p>I am learning <strong>HTML</strong>.</p>
</div>

The key rule: always close inner elements before outer ones. Think of it like stacking boxes — the last one opened must be the first one closed.

Key takeaway

HTML elements are the building blocks of every web page. Learn the common ones first (h1–h6, p, a, img, ul, ol, div), and you'll be able to build most page layouts.