Headings are important in HTML documents.
HTML Headings
Headings are defined with the <h1> to <h6> tags.
<h1> defines the most important heading. <h6> defines the least important heading.
Example
<h1>This is heading 1</h1>
<h2>This is heading 2</h2>
<h3>This is heading 3</h3>
<h4>This is heading 4</h4>
<h5>This is heading 5</h5>
<h6>This is heading 6</h6>
Note: Browsers automatically add some white space (a margin) before and after a heading.
Headings Are Important
Search engines use the headings to index the structure and content of your web pages.
Users skim your pages by its headings. It is important to use headings to show the document structure.
<h1> headings should be used for main headings, followed by <h2> headings, then the less important <h3>, and so on.
Note: Use HTML headings for headings only. Don't use headings to make text BIG or bold.
HTML Horizontal Rules
The <hr> tag defines a thematic break in an HTML page, and is most often displayed as a horizontal rule.
The <hr> element is used to separate content (or define a change) in an HTML page:
Example
<h1>This is heading 1</h1>
<p>This is some text.</p>
<hr>
<h2>This is heading 2</h2>
<p>This is some other text.</p>
<hr>
The HTML <head> Element
The HTML <head> element has nothing to do with HTML headings.
The <head> element is a container for metadata. HTML metadata is data about the HTML document. Metadata is not displayed.
The <head> element is placed between the <html> tag and the <body> tag:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My First HTML</title>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
.
.
.
Note: Metadata typically define the document title, character set, styles, links, scripts, and other meta information.
HTML Tip - How to View HTML Source
Have you ever seen a Web page and wondered "Hey! How did they do that?"
To find out, right-click in the page and select "View Page Source" (in Chrome) or "View Source" (in IE), or similar in another browser. This will open a window containing the HTML code of the page.
HTML Tag Reference
W3Schools' tag reference contains additional information about these tags and their attributes.
You will learn more about HTML tags and attributes in the next chapters of this tutorial.
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <html> | Defines the root of an HTML document |
| <body> | Defines the document's body |
| <head> | A container for all the head elements (title, scripts, styles, meta information, and more) |
| <h1> to <h6> | Defines HTML headings |
| <hr> | Defines a thematic change in the content |
