These simple code elements tell search engines exactly what your webpage is about and how to interpret it. Mastering HTML tags can significantly boost your rankings and traffic.

Understanding the role of HTML code helps developers understand what that code is doing. Semantic HTML tells developers (or search engines) what the purpose of that code is.

Later search engines introduced so-called XML sitemaps meant to replace manual “search engine submission.” More than 25 years later, HTML sitemaps are less preferred.

Google's John Mueller advises using semantic HTML. Though not a ranking factor, it helps search engines understand content and boosts accessibility.

A start-up called Perplexity shows what’s possible for a search engine built from scratch with artificial intelligence.