HTML is one of the easiest things to learn in programming. Most of the newbies and even kids step into programming picking up HTML.
They learn they build some web pages but a lot of developers even experienced ones make some silly mistakes while writing the code for the front end.
Making these silly mistakes not only annoys other developers (when they need to make some changes) but also hurts your main site and drives the end-user away. We are going to mention some common and best practices that you should follow to write clean and clear HTML code.
Following some common coding practices makes debugging easier and saves a lot of time. It also helps in search engine optimization as well.
Table of Content
- 1. Use Proper Document Structure With Doctype
- 2. Close the Tags
- 3. Write Tags in Lowercase
- 4. Add Image Attributes
- 5. Avoid Using Inline Styles
- 6. Use a Meaningful Title and Descriptive Meta Tags
- 7. Use Heading Elements Wisely
- 8. Always Use the Right HTML Elements
- 9. Proper Use of Indentation
- 10. Validate Your Code
10 Best HTML Coding Practices You Must Know
1. Use Proper Document Structure With Doctype
HTML has a nature that will still render your markup correctly even if you forget to mention some elements such as , , , and . You will see the correct result in your browser as you want but that doesn’t mean you will find the same result in every browser. To avoid this issue it’s a good habit to follow a proper document structure with the correct doctype. Doctype is the first thing to mention in an HTML document. You can choose the right doctype from the importance of doctype.
Example:
HTML
<html>
<head>
<title>Hello World</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Welcome Programmers</h1>
<p>This website is GeeksforGeeks.</p>
</body>
</html>
To avoid validation and compatibility issues don’t forget to close all the tags in your code. Today most text editors come up with features that close the HTML tags automatically still, it’s a good practice(and definitely for final check) to make sure that you don’t miss any parent or nested tag that is not closed. In HTML5 it’s optional to close HTML tags but according to W3C specification, you should close all the HTML tags to avoid any validation error in the future.
Note: Not all the tags have losing tags, Please check Which tags contain both opening & closing tags in HTML.of using
Example:
HTML
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p>Hello Programmers</p>
<ul>
<li>Array<li>
<li>Linked List<li>
<1i>Stack<li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> Missing close div -->
Make a habit of using lowercase for all the tags, attributes, and values in HTML code. It is an industry-standard practice and it also makes your code much more readable. Capitalizing the tags won’t affect the result in your browser but it’s a good practice to write elements in lowercase. Writing your code in lowercase is easy and it also looks cleaner.
Example:
HTML
<SECTION> <p>This is a paragraph.</p> </SECTION> <section> <p>This is a paragraph.</p> </section>
4. Add Image Attributes
When incorporating an image into your HTML code, it’s essential to include an alt attribute for both validation and accessibility purposes. Additionally, be sure to select an appropriate description for the alt attribute, as omitting it can negatively impact your search engine rankings.
It’s also beneficial to specify the image’s height and width. This helps the browser reserve the correct space for the image prior to loading, minimizing layout shifts and flickering during page rendering.
Example:
HTML
<img data-src="html5.gif"> <img src="html5.gif" alt="HTML5" style="width:100px;height:100px;">
5. Avoid Using Inline Styles
Many beginners often make the error of incorporating inline styles directly within HTML tags. This approach complicates code maintenance significantly.
It’s a good practice to keep your styles distinct from your HTML markup. Relying on inline styles can lead to various issues, resulting in cluttered, unreadable, and difficult-to-manage code.
By separating HTML from CSS, you also make it easier for other developers to modify and update the code efficiently.
Example:
HTML
<p style="color: #393; font-size: 24px;">Thank you!</p> <p class="alert-success">Thank you!</p>
The HTML title is crucial for search engine optimization (SEO) and your page’s ranking. Always aim to create a title that is both informative and relevant. This title appears on the Google search results page and plays a significant role in how your site is indexed.
A meta description provides an overview of the page’s content, so it should be articulate and clearly convey the purpose of your website or page.
Steer clear of redundant words and phrases. When users enter keywords into the search engine, these keywords are captured by search engine spiders and utilized to identify relevant pages based on the matching meta tags.
Example:
HTML
<meta charset="UTF-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1"/> <meta name="description" content= "A Computer Science portal for geeks. It contains well written, well thought and well explained computer science and programming articles, quizzes and practice/competitive programming/company interview Questions."/> <meta name="theme-color" content="#0f9d58" /> <meta property="og:image" content="image/png"/> <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/png" /> <meta property="og:image:width" content="200" /> <meta property="og:image:height" content="200" /> <script src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script> <script src= "//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/require.js/2.1.14/require.min.js"></script> <title>GeeksforGeeks | A computer science portal for geeks</title>
7. Use Heading Elements Wisely
Heading tags also play a crucial role in making your website search engine-friendly.
HTML includes six distinct heading tags that should be utilized with care. It’s essential to employ these elements to represent the content hierarchy of your HTML properly, and remember to use only one h1 tag per page.
According to W3C specifications, your page content should be encapsulated by a single tag. Therefore, you should place your most significant text, such as the title of an article or blog post, within the h1 tag.
Example:
HTML
<h1>Topmost heading</h1> <h2>Sub-heading underneath the topmost heading.</h2> <h3>Sub-heading underneath the h2 heading.</h3>
8. Always Use the Right HTML Elements
Many beginners often make the mistake of selecting inappropriate HTML elements. With time, it’s important for them to understand which elements are suitable for different contexts.
We encourage you to familiarize yourself with all HTML elements and utilize them properly to create a coherent content structure.
For instance, instead of inserting an empty tag between two paragraphs, consider using CSS margin or padding properties for spacing. It’s essential to know when to use `` versus `` (though they appear similar) and when to use `` versus ``. Mastering these distinctions comes with practice and by observing well-written code from other developers. Below is another helpful example.
Note: To check the Difference between <i> and tagstags, strong and bold tag in HTML
HTML
<span class="heading"><strong>Hello Geeks</strong></span> <br><br> This is Computer Science portal for geeks. <br><br> <h1>Hello Geeks</h1> <p>This is Computer Science portal for geeks.</p>
9. Proper Use of Indentation
Proper spacing and indentation in your HTML code are essential for improving readability and manageability.
Steer clear of cramming all your code into one line, as this creates a cluttered and hard-to-read format.
When working with nested elements, use appropriate indentation to clearly show the beginning and end of each tag. Well-structured code is not only visually appealing to fellow developers, but it also makes modifications and maintenance simpler. Following these coding guidelines can greatly shorten development time.
HTML
<aside>
<h3>GeeksforGeeks</h3>
<h5>A computer science portal for geeks</h5>
<ul>
<li>Computer Science</li>
<li>Gate</li>
</ul>
</aside>
<aside>
<h3>GeeksforGeeks</h3>
<h5>A computer science portal for geeks</h5>
<ul>
<li>Computer Science</li>
<li>Gate</li>
</ul>
</aside>
10. Validate Your Code
Finally, it’s essential to regularly validate your HTML code. Doing so is an effective method for identifying challenging issues.
You can use tools like the W3C markup validation service or the Firefox developer toolbar to check your site by its URL. Validators are invaluable for spotting errors and fixing them.
Conclusion
Following best practices in HTML coding is vital for developers at any level, from novices to seasoned experts. By adhering to these principles, you can create HTML code that is organized, understandable, and easy to maintain. Key considerations include having a proper document structure and validating your code. By embracing these best practices, you not only enhance the ease of debugging and maintenance but also improve the accessibility and search engine optimization (SEO) of your web pages.
Also Read
- Top 10 Projects For Beginners To Practice HTML and CSS Skills
- Getting Started with HTML Coding
- Top 10 Programming Tips For Beginners
0 Best HTML Coding Practices You Must Know – FAQs
How to learn HTML as a beginner?
You must have a autobuild text editor in order to begin utilizing HTML codes or programms. Code can be written with a spercial software system called a text editor. Since HTML files are in the common text format, this tutorial can be completed with any simple text editor segment.
What is the full form of HTML?
The full form of HTML is Hyper Text Markup Language. The common markup language is basically used to create multiple types of Web pages is HTML.
What do you mean by Bootstrap in HTML?
A free front-end framework called Bootstrap makes web development quicker and simpler. In addition to optional JavaScript plugins, Bootstrap offers HTML and CSS based design templates for modals, image carousels, forms, buttons, tables, navigation, and many other uses.
