Why Semantic Elements?

With HTML4, developers had styled page elements with their own favorite attributes with names such as:

  • article
  • bottom
  • container
  • content
  • footer
  • header
  • main
  • menu
  • navigation
  • sidebar
  • top
  • topnav

Unfortunately attributes makes it impossible for search engines to identify web page content.

Identifying webpage contents is much easier with tags. HTML5 has come up with a few semantic tags such as:

  • <article>
  • <footer>
  • <header>
  • <nav>
  • <section>


According to the W3C, a Semantic Web:

"Allows data to be shared and reused across applications, enterprises, and communities."

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