Document Structure Tags

Essential tags that form the skeleton of every HTML document

Document Structure

Every HTML document follows a specific structure. These tags form the skeleton that browsers use to parse and render content.

html

// Complete Document Structure
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <!-- Metadata — not visible on page -->
  <meta charset="UTF-8" />
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
  <meta name="description" content="Page description for SEO" />
  <title>Page Title — Site Name</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css" />
  <link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" />
  <base href="https://example.com/" />
  <style>
    body { font-family: system-ui; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <!-- Visible content goes here -->
  <h1>Content</h1>
  <script src="app.js" defer></script>
</body>
</html>

Tag Reference

<html> — Root element, wraps entire document. Use lang attribute for accessibility.
<head> — Contains metadata, styles, scripts, and links. Not rendered visually.
<body> — Contains all visible content rendered in the browser viewport.
<title> — Sets the page title shown in browser tab and search results.
<meta> — Defines metadata: charset, viewport, description, Open Graph tags.
<link> — Links external resources: stylesheets, icons, preloads.
<style> — Embeds CSS directly in the document head.
<script> — Embeds or links JavaScript. Use defer or async for performance.
<base> — Sets base URL for all relative links in the document.