When you are on the Internet, you cruise websites for certain kinds of information. You may know of a website that you are familiar with, or you may have to type in a keyword, to find the website that you need. No matter what website you find, the premise is the same, you find information on it and your browser displays this information. How does your browser know what to display? It goes by code. Your browser was created to recognize HTML (HyperText Markup Language). This is code is what the browser recognizes. When you type in the web address (URL) of the website you want to see, the browser finds the web page and reads the code associated with that page. It then displays the results on your screen.

HTML is basically a list of commands that tells your browser what to show on your monitor and where everything should be placed. The code tells the browser what colors to use, where the images are located, where to place them on your screen, what sound files to load, etc.

Every web page must contain certain elements to work. Without these elements the web page would not be pleasing to the eyes. The main thing any web page needs is content. This content is mainly in the form of words or copy. Every web page must use copy of some type in order to introduce the page to the visitor so the visitor knows what to expect while using the site.

Every web page needs images. Well placed images on a web page will make it more appealing. Images can also help the webmaster or web owner showcase their products or services in order to attract sales or to provide information, depending on what the site is all about.

Other elements that can be placed on web pages could be background music, slide-show presentations, streaming video, forms, and whatever else the browser can recognize and run. You could even write other types of code (_JavaScript) for example, to run an executable file so visitors can run certain software and perform the actions required. As technology changes and advances, more abilities will be given to the browser so webmasters can upgrade their sites to give it even more appeal.

The basic idea of having a web page or website is to provide something interesting and appealing to visitors so they can take some kind of action, whether that entails making a purchase or just reading information.