Many successful authors close their mind to learning HTML because they figure they don't need to know it. I've been in technology, marketing and writing on the Internet for a decade+ now and I too shut my mind to learning HTML... until earlier this year. My thinking was that HTML coders only make $8-$10/hr and why would I want to learn a skill that I can outsource to someone who specializes in HTML coding?

Guess what? You don't have to learn more than 15 minutes of HTML knowledge to significantly improve the quality of your articles. In today's issue, I'm going to show you the top 7 easy-to-learn essential HTML skills that can help any article author make better looking articles before the day is over.

The 7 HTML "MUST KNOW" article author skills include how to format a URL or an email address, how to enhance your text with BOLD, ITALICS, or the UNDERLINE font attribute and how to set up a bullet or numbered list in HTML.

1. How To Make A URL/Website Address "Linkable":
   
   This: <a target="_new" rel="nofollow" href="http://EzineArticles.com/">http://EzineArticles.com/</a> will create this: http://EzineArticles.com/
   
   Just substitute your website address from the above code and now you know how to "link" up a website address. Some like to create anchor text links. Here is the code to create links out of keywords:
   
   <a target="_new" rel="nofollow" href="http://EzineArticles.com/">Ezine Articles</a> will create this: Ezine Articles
   
   One Note: Use anchor text links *sparingly* when submitting articles to directories as some have limitations on the number of times the same URL can be linked up. For example, with EzineArticles.com, you are only allowed to have one URL in a given article that is the same and your article could be rejected if you have two links to the same URL regardless as to whether you linked it up like the first and/or second example above.
   
   
2. How To Make Your Email Address "Linkable":
   
   This: <a href="mailto:youraddress@your-domain-name.tld">youraddress@your-domain-name.tld</a> will create this: youraddress@your-domain-name.tld
   
   One Note: It is never a good idea to put your email address in your article because your email address will get harvested by spammers who use web email extractor bots to scour the Internet. Better to put a link to your contact information if you must.
   
   
3. How To Make Something BOLD:
   
   This: <b>Make my words bold</b> will create this: Make my words bold
   
   
4. How To Make Something ITALICS:
   
   This: <i>Make my words italics</i> will create this: Make my words italics
   
   
5. How To Make Something UNDERLINED:
   
   This: <u>Make my words underlined</u> will create this: Make my words underlined
   
   
6. How To Make A Bullet Point List:
   
   This: <ul><li>First bullet</li><li>Second bullet</li><li>Third bullet</li></ul> will create this:
   
   • First bullet
   • Second bullet
   • Third bullet
   
   
   
7. How To Make A Numbered List:
   
   This: <ol> <li>First point</li> <li>Second point</li> <li>Third point</li> </ol> will create this:
   
   1. First point
   2. Second point
   3. Third point

By opening up your mind to allow yourself to learn the above 7 essential HTML tips for article authors, you can improve the quality of your articles immediately.