Sectioning Semantic Elements / Structural Elements

Header Element

Typically this is used to create the heading section of a page; note that you can use this repeatedly. There could be a header inside each article, for example.

<header> and </header>

Nav Element

This element is used to create a navigational bar; to group a collection of hyperlinks.

<nav> and </nav>

Main Element

Includes content unique to that page but excludes content that is repeated on other pages (such as headings, navigation, etc). There should be only one main element per page.

<main> and </main>

Footer Element

Typically footer is used to group information related to a section, which might be the entire page or an article. Like header, there may be multiple footers per page.

<footer> and </footer>

Section Element

This element is used to define a generic section of a document. This is used to distinguish portions of content, not just for styling. If you just need to style a portion of the document use a div.

<section> and </section>

Article Element

This element represents a self-contained piece of content – the content should be able to stand alone.

<article> and </article>

Aside Element

This element contains content that is related to the primary content; for example a sidebar or something similar.

<aside> and </aside>