The Ultimate Guide to HTML tags for Text Formatting: 15 HTML Tags You Can’t Ignore

HTML Tags for Text Formatting

Introduction

In web design, text is a critical element that can make or break the user experience. Text formatting is an essential tool that can help you emphasize important information, highlight key points, and make your content more readable and engaging. With HTML tags for text formatting, you can control the appearance of your text and improve its visual appeal.

In this article, we will explore the different HTML tags that you can use for text formatting. We will provide examples of each tag and explain how to use them effectively to enhance the design of your website. By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of the various text formatting tags available to you and how to use them to create aesthetically pleasing and engaging content.

There are several HTML tags available for text formatting, including:

• <b>: Bold text
• <strong>: Emphasized text (typically displayed in bold)
• <i>: Italicized text
• <em>: Emphasized text (typically displayed in italics)
• <u>: Underlined text
• <s>: Strikethrough text
• <sub>: Subscript text
• <sup>: Superscript text

It’s worth noting that while some of these tags may affect the appearance of the text on the page (such as <b> and <i>), their primary purpose is to add semantic meaning to the text, which can be useful for accessibility and search engine optimization. Additionally, it’s generally recommended to use CSS styles instead of these tags for styling text, as it provides more flexibility and separation of concerns.

You might also want to Mastering HTML Head Tag: A Comprehensive Guide to its child Tags and Their Uses.

Below are the examples of some of the HTML Tags for Text Formatting

Examples and Explanation of Each Tag

<p>This text is <b>bold</b>.</p>

<p>This text is <strong>important</strong>.</p>

<p>This text is <i>italicized</i>.</p>
<p>This text is <em>Emphasized</em>.</p>

Difference between similar HTML Tags for Text Formatting, such as <b> vs. <strong>, <i> vs. <em>

The main difference between similar tags like <b> and <strong>, and <i> and <em> is the level of importance or significance they convey.

<b> and <i> tags are known as presentational tags, which means they only change the appearance of the text without any special meaning attached to them. They are often used for styling purposes only, such as making text bold or italicized.

On the other hand, <strong> and <em> are semantic html tags for text formatting, which means they carry a level of importance or emphasis to the text they enclose. <strong> indicates that the text is important or urgent, while <em> indicates that the text is emphasized or stressed.

While they may appear visually similar to <b> and <i>, <strong> and <em> are important for accessibility purposes, as they provide additional meaning to screen readers and other assistive technologies used by individuals with disabilities.

In summary, while <b> and <i> are used for presentational purposes, <strong> and <em> are used to provide semantic meaning to the text, which is important for both SEO and accessibility reasons.

<p>This text is <u>underlined</u>.</p>

<p>This text is <s>strikethrough</s>.</p>
<p>This text is <strike>strikethrough</strike> too.</p>

<p>This text is <sup>superscript</sup>.</p>

<p>This text is <sub>subscript</sub>.</p>

<p>This is <code>code text</code>.</p>

<p>This text is <small>small</small>.</p>

<p>This text is normal size.</p>
<p><big>This text is bigger.</big></p>

Output:

This text is normal size.

This text is bigger.

<p>This text is <mark>marked</mark>.</p>

<p>This text is <ins>inserted</ins>.</p>

<p>This text is <del>deleted</del>.</p>

Summary of the HTML Tags for Text Formatting

In this blog post, we have explored the importance of text formatting in web design and introduced the topic of HTML tags for text formatting. We have discussed various HTML tags for text formatting, including <b> and <strong>, <i> and <em>, <u>, <s> and <del>, <sup> and <sub>, <mark>, <small>, and <big>.

For each tag, we have provided examples of its usage with appropriate HTML code and explained the difference between similar tags, such as <b> vs. <strong> and <i> vs. <em>. We have also discussed best practices for using HTML tags for text formatting, including using tags appropriately and sparingly and designing aesthetically pleasing and readable text using these tags.

In conclusion, text formatting plays a crucial role in web design and enhances the readability and aesthetics of a website. By experimenting with HTML tags for text formatting, web designers can create visually appealing and user-friendly websites that effectively convey their message to their audience.

Importance of text formatting in web design

Text formatting plays a crucial role in web design. It is not only about making the content look visually appealing but also about improving its readability and accessibility. When the text is properly formatted, it becomes easier for the user to skim through the content and find what they are looking for. Additionally, text formatting also helps to emphasize certain parts of the text and make them stand out, which can be useful for conveying important information or calls to action.

Moreover, using appropriate HTML tags for text formatting can also improve the search engine optimization (SEO) of a web page. Search engines use various algorithms to understand the content of a web page, and properly formatted text can help them better understand the hierarchy and importance of the content.

Overall, text formatting is an important aspect of web design that should not be overlooked. By using the appropriate HTML tags, designers can not only improve the visual appeal of the content but also enhance its readability, accessibility, and SEO.