HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the skeleton of every website on the internet. It is not a programming language — it is a markup language: it labels pieces of content so the browser knows what they are.
How it works
You wrap content in tags. <h1>Hello</h1> tells the browser "this is a main heading". <p> means paragraph, <a> means link, <img> means image. The browser reads these labels top to bottom and paints the page.
Your first page
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body> <h1>My First Page</h1> <p>Hello, world!</p> </body> </html>
Save that as index.html, double-click it, and your browser opens your first website. No installation, no compiler.
What HTML is NOT
- It does not style pages — that is CSS
- It does not add behaviour — that is JavaScript
- Together the three make every website you have ever visited
Start properly with our free HTML course or the Complete HTML Guide.