HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, and it’s the foundation of documents on the web. HTML tags tell browsers how to present content. HTML tags are written in brackets that look like arrows: < >.
A good digital copywriter will also be able to use basic HTML to lay out copy, knowing that the appearance of the page will get his or her words read. It should be easy for users to skip and skim the copy, and it should be easy for them to find the parts that are most relevant to them.
When writing online copy, you can use an HTML editor, where you insert the tags yourself, or a ‘What You See Is What You Get’ (WYSIWYG) editor, which works in a similar way to a word processor.
Basic HTML is not hard to use, and will help you format your content. Here are some basic HTML tags:
• To bold: <b>phrase you want to bold</b>
• To italicise: <i>phrase you want to italicise</i>
• To underline: <u>phrase you want to underline</u>
• To list:<li>lines you want to list</li>
• To create a paragraph: <p>paragraph text</p>
• To insert a line break: <br>
• To insert a link: <a href=“page url”>phrase you want to link</a>
• To insert a heading: <h1>Level one heading</h1>
• To insert a sub-heading: <h2>Level two heading</h2>
The tags also help search engines to identify how the content has been laid out on the page.
The best way to get to grips with HTML is to start using it online, where you can see how the tags work.
