Web page layout is very important to improve the appearance of your website.
A page layout defines the appearance of a website. An HTML layout is a structure that helps the user navigate through web pages easily. It is a way in which you can design web pages using simple HTML tags.
Website Layout
Most websites arrange content into multiple columns (like a magazine or newspaper).
Most websites can use <div> or <table> elements to create multiple columns. CSS is used to position elements, or to create backgrounds and colorful appearances for pages.
 | Although we can use HTML table tags to design beautiful layouts, table tags are not recommended as a layout tool – tables are not layout tools. |
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HTML Layout – Using the <div> Element
The div element is a block-level element used to group HTML elements.
The following example uses five div elements to create a multi-column layout:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>Tutorials for Beginner</title> </head> <body> <div id="container" style="width:500px"> <div id="header" style="background-color:#FFA500;"> <h1 style="margin-bottom:0;">Main Page Title</h1></div> <div id="menu" style="background-color:#FFD700;height:200px;width:100px;float:left;"> <b>Menu</b><br> HTML<br> CSS<br> JavaScript</div> <div id="content" style="background-color:#EEEEEE;height:200px;width:400px;float:left;"> Content is here</div> <div id="footer" style="background-color:#FFA500;clear:both;text-align:center;"> copyright © tutorialsbyte.com</div> </div> </body> </html>
The above HTML code will produce the following result:
HTML Layout – Using Tables
Using HTML <table> tags is an easy way to create layouts.
Most sites can use <div> or <table> elements to create multiple columns. CSS is used to position elements, or to create backgrounds and colorful appearances for pages.
| Even though HTML tables can be used to create beautiful layouts, tables are designed to present tabular data – tables are not layout tools!. |
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The following example uses a table with three rows and two columns – the first and last rows span two columns using the colspan attribute:
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>Tutorials for Beginner</title> </head> <body> <table width="500" border="0"> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFA500;"> <h1>Main page title</h1> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#FFD700;width:100px;"> <b>Menu</b><br> HTML<br> CSS<br> JavaScript </td> <td style="background-color:#eeeeee;height:200px;width:400px;"> content is here</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFA500;text-align:center;"> copyright © runoob.com</td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>
The HTML code above produces the following result:
HTML Layout – Helpful Tips
Tip: The biggest benefit of using CSS is that your site is easier to maintain if you store your CSS code in an external style sheet. By editing a single file, you can change the layout of all pages. To learn more about CSS, visit our CSS tutorial .
Tip: Since creating advanced layouts can be time-consuming, using templates is a quick option. Search engines can find many free website templates (you can use these pre-built website layouts and optimize them).