Anchor tags are paired, and the closing tag is required.

Anchor tags are used for two reasons:

As bookmark to a specific location on a page. A bookmark will not appear any differently in the browser. 

To create a bookmark, use the 'name' attribute:

<a name='myBookMark'>A Bookmark</a>

A Bookmark

As a hyperlink to another page entirely, either on your website or on a website anywhere in the world.  The link can also be to a bookmark on the current page or on any other page.

To create a hyperlink, use the 'href' attribute:

<a href='#myBookMark'>Text or image goes here</a>	Text or image goes here	This is a hyperlink to a bookmark on the current page.
<a href="somePage.html">Text or image goes here</a>	Text or image goes here	This is a hyperlink to another page on your website.
<a href="somePage.html#myBookMark">Text or image goes here</a>	Text or image goes here	This is a hyperlink to a bookmark on another page on your website.
<a href="http://www.google.com">Text or image goes here</a>	Text or image goes here	This is a hyperlink to Google website. Note that a hyperlink to a website other than yours MUST start with "http://"