Build a Real Website · Module 1 · HTML: the skeleton
Tags, elements and the shape of a page
6 min read · lesson 1 of 5
HTML is not a programming language — it is labelling. You wrap content in tags that say what it is: this is a heading, this is a paragraph, this is a link. The browser does the rest.
The four tags you will use constantly
- <h1> to <h3> — headings, biggest to smaller. One <h1> per page.
- <p> — a paragraph of text.
- <a href=...> — a link somewhere else.
- <img src=... alt=...> — an image, with a text description.
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Waseem's Tea Stall</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Waseem's Tea Stall</h1>
<p>Irani chai in Hyderabad since 2026.</p>
<img src="tea.jpg" alt="A glass of cutting chai">
<a href="menu.html">See the menu</a>
</body>
</html>That is a complete, valid page. Save it as index.html and open it in a browser — you are officially a website owner.
Practice
Type the example by hand (do not paste), changing the name, drink and image alt text to your own.