Recently, It's re-occurred to me that the vast majority of websites that implement forms for whatever functionality - do NOT follow best practice rules.

Sure it's easy to forget an element here and there but doing so, can degrade the user experience some what.

Enter... net.tutsplus.com - they have an excellent tutorial that's probably worth going through, if your a beginner or simply need to brush up on your skills.

'Forms can be difficult and sometimes even annoying for users; often, a form interrupts a user's main focus and direction on a page: they're intent on purchasing that gift, or trying out your new web app, not giving you their shipping address or coming up with yet another password. These tips will make forms easier for you as a developer/designer, and them as a user.'

See

• 20+ HTML Forms Best Practices for Beginners

If you can't be bothered to head on over - just remember this:

1. Semantics
2. Accessibility
3. Functionality
4. Design

Snippets: labels

1. <fieldset>  
2.     <legend>Billing Affress</legend>  
3.     <label for="billAddress">Address</label><input type="text" id="billAddress" name="billAddress" />  
4.     <label for="billCity">City</label><input type="text" id="billCity" name="billCity" />  
5.     <label for="billProvince">Province</label><input type="text" id="billProvince" name="billProvince" />  
6.     <label for="billPC" >Postal Code</label><input type="text" id="billPC" name="billPC" />  
7. </fieldset>
   

Snippets: categorize options

1. <select>  
2. <optgroup label="USA">  
3.     <option>Alabama</option>  
4.     <option>Alaska</option>  
5.     <option>Arizona</option>  
6. </optgroup>  
7. <optgroup label="Canada">  
8.     <option>Alberta</option>  
9.     <option>British Columbia</option>  
10.     <option>Manitoba</option>  
11. </optgroup>  
12. </select> 
    

Snippet: accessibility

1. <input type="text" tabindex="2" />  
2. <input type="text" tabindex="1" />  
3. <input type="text" tabindex="3" /> 
   

Those snippets are just a few examples of best practice.