Learning to use CSS can be such a great asset to your HTML and to your website in general. CSS, as you know is a coding style that brings in more elements of design and makes your website look more appealing. CSS and HTML work together well to ensure that you not only have a great structure to your website, but you can add in colors and other great elements to make it unique and better suited to your needs. Linking these two coding styles together will be incredibly important if you want your website to function correctly. So, you are linking your CSS to your HTML, but it is not working. Why is that happening, and how can you fix it?

CSS won’t link to HTML if there is too much HTML, the path to the CSS file has been coded wrong, or if the HTML thinks that CSS is in the file when it’s actually in a separate folder. In order to fix this, make sure that the HTML coding is correct and the path to the CSS file is correct.

The process of linking CSS to HTML is fascinating and slightly complicated. As with most code, it may take some trial and error to ensure it works, but there are lots of things you can try to get your website in proper working order. There are a variety of reasons that your code will not link to your HTML, but be sure to go through each section in order to diagnosis the problem and find a way to fix it.

My CSS Link to My HTML

Too Much HTML

If CSS is not linking to HTML correctly, then there may be too much HTML. Many people tend to put HTML in places that it shouldn’t be—it is a very common error. However, this messes with the external style sheets, so they will not be able to be linked to HTML properly. If you are linking or importing an external style sheet, like CSS, make sure that there is no HTML coding on that style sheet, even if you want to include HTML-related comments. Source

If you make sure that the HTML coding is where it should be, then your CSS should be able to link to the HTML without an issue. Not only does the HTML need to be in the right place, but it also needs to be completed. Make sure there are closing brackets for each part, and that each section has the correct content, the correct opening, and the correct closing. It’s easy to misplace one simple character, so make sure you double-check all of your HTML content for small errors. 

Path To CSS File Is Coded Wrong

If your CSS won’t link to your HTML properly, then there may be something wrong with the path to the CSS file. According to experienced coders, if the CSS file is not saved to the same folder as the HTML, then the path to the CSS will not work properly.

Also, if you do not specify in the HTML that the CSS file is in a different folder and file than the rest of the HTML, then the HTML will not be able to read the CSS, and the style of the webpage will not be correct. The programming will look for CSS in the document with the HTML, and it will not be able to find it and implement it.

What Is CSS?

CSS is short for Cascading Style Sheets. CSS saves the programmer a lot of work when it comes to controlling and designing the layout of web pages. CSS is used to format the layout of a web page or multiple web pages. CSS lets you control the font, color, text size, spacing between the different elements of the page, the positioning and layout of the different elements, the images and colors that are used, how the website fits different screen sizes, and the different things that will be displayed (Source). It is often what helps to give a website style and character, making each website on the internet unique and personalized.

The world of CSS and HTML will also introduce you to the world of colors and color code. It will open up your website to greater sections, colors, fonts, and other aspects of designs. 

What Are HTML Links?

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, and HTML links are hyperlinks that you can click on to be immediately redirected to another document or website. For example, if you get on a website and see a word highlighted/a different color and underlined (sometimes it also changes as you hover over it), then it is most definitely a hyperlink to another site.

The HTML link element specifies that there is a relationship between the document that you are currently looking at and a resource that is found externally. It also specifies the kind of relationship between the document you are currently looking at and the resource that is found externally. HTML links can also be used to establish icons, like the brand’s logo. Source

Benefits to Linking CSS to HTML

There are many benefits for people who link their CSS to their HTML. The main one is that it ensures that the design of the webpage, or multiple different web pages, will be consistent throughout the website that you create. The linked CSS will maintain the format and designs that you have chosen to use. And when you link CSS to the HTML, then you don’t have to go to each individual webpage to format and design it. Also, when you change something on the CSS to improve the design or the format of the webpage, you will not need to go to each webpage to change it. The changes will automatically be implemented across your website.

Linking CSS to HTML also allows the website and web pages to load faster, which means that the people going on to the website will not get frustrated with a slow loading time, which is always a good thing. Since it only takes one CSS to style multiple different HTML files, there are fewer strings of code to read, and the website can load more quickly than if there was not a linked CSS.

Linking CSS to HTML will also improve the SEO of your website. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and improving your SEO makes it more likely that your website will appear on the first few pages of the search engine results. The higher up on the search page your website is, the more people will go to your website. This will eventually make you more money, which is something that everyone would like to see from their website.

Linking the CSS files to the HTML file will make the HTML file more organized and concise, which will make it easier for the programming to read. This will also make the website appear on the search engine result pages because the website has clean and lightweight code.Source

How To Link CSS To HTML

There are three ways to add CSS to the HTML: inline, internal, and external.

Inline

You can link the CSS with the inline process by using the style attributes inside of the HTML elements. Inline CSS is typically used when someone wants to add a unique style element to one single HTML element instead of all of the web pages that they control, so this is not the easiest way to implement CSS to your websites. However, it is great for the times when you want to change the style of one factor on a website, but you do not want the change to be implemented on other parts of the website.

Internal

Internal CSS is typically used to define the style of one single HTML page, rather than an entire website. While this is a good way to link your CSS, it is not the most efficient if you want to have CSS for an entire website. Internal CSS is typically defined in the head section of the HTML page, so the programming can be read first and implemented throughout the page.

External

When you attach CSS externally, you use a link element to link to a CSS file that is not found in the HTML file. Basically, you put a link to the CSS file into the HTML file so the program can read it and then go to the CSS file to read the actual CSS file and implement the design that you have put into that file. It is the easiest way to implement CSS to a website, especially when you know that you will eventually change items on the CSS. If you link the CSS externally and change something on the document, then all of the changes will be implemented without you needing to go in to change it on each webpage.

In order to link an external CSS document, put the link in the head section of the HTML page after the title. Do this for each HTML page of your website so the CSS will be implemented on each webpage.

Externally linked CSS is the easiest way to link CSS because the style sheet can be written in almost any text editor that you choose. So, you can write the CSS in a word document, google docs, or in a separate word editor. However, the file cannot have any HTML code written inside, or it will confuse the program reader. The CSS file must be saved with a .css extension, or else it will not be seen as a CSS document.
Source

CSS Still Won’t Link To HTML?

If the CSS still won’t link to the HTML, then there may be something wrong with the HTML that makes it so the CSS is not being read, or cannot be read correctly.

There may also be something wrong with the CSS document. If you are using a google doc as your linked CSS, make sure that it can be viewed by other people, and that you have copied the correct link into the HTML. Otherwise, the program will not be able to read the CSS, and it will not be implemented correctly.

What Are the Differences in Coding HTML and CSS?

Coding HTML and coding CSS is very different. The process of coding HTML is much more complicated than the process of coding CSS. As mentioned before, HTML helps to get the main structure or the bones of your post together, while CSS helps with the design elements that are added to the structure of the CSS.

According to a coder, HTML coding focuses more on the content that is on a webpage rather than the formatting of the webpage. That is what CSS is used for. The HTML coding is the basic coding of the webpage. It deals with telling the program reading the code what items are in paragraphs, what is included in those paragraphs, what content to include on the page, and any other things that are important to the base content of the webpage.

CSS tells the program reading the code what color the font should be, the specific font and spacing of the words and paragraphs, what pictures should be included and where, and where to put the brand’s logo. It can also customize margins, buttons, images, videos, and other important aspects of modern websites. The CSS focuses on the design and formatting of the webpage rather than the content of the website.

Check out the video below if you would like to learn more about coding, HTML, and CSS. It also goes through a variety of the things we have talked about and may help you to be able to visualize the important aspects of how to link HTML to CSS and how the two codes are related and used to create the worldwide web!

Style sheets and coding have become so increasingly important that learning this valuable skill will help you to progress in the world of business, design, and web development.