10 Common HTML Mistakes
If you’ve coded a document and it isn’t rendering the way you expect, check for these common HTML mistakes:
- Did you include your doctype? A missing or incorrect doctype could cause your page to load incorrectly or not at all.
- Do you have all your required elements? Remember, all HTML coding must include the <html>, <head>, <title>, and <body> elements.
- Have you spelled your elements correctly? Spelling the <title> element incorrectly—like <ttile>, for example—means that the browser won’t recognize what element it is. It may skip the misspelled element entirely or your coding could be visible on the page.
- Did you include both angle brackets? Remember that both opening and closing tags need to be surrounded by angle brackets.
- Did you remember your closing tag? Forgetting to close a section of HTML is common. You can avoid this by typing your opening and closing tags before you begin entering your content.
- Does your closing tag have a backslash? Closing tags are always formatted as </element>. Missing the backslash means that the HTML doesn’t know where that particular element is supposed to stop.
As a digital writer, being able to troubleshoot basic HTML errors could come in handy. If you aren’t able to figure out the problem, contacting someone more familiar with HTML may be necessary.