Element.innerHTML is pretty much the way to go. Here are a few ways to use it:
HTML
<div class="results"></div>
JavaScript
// 'Modern' browsers (IE8+, use CSS-style selectors)
document.querySelector('.results').innerHTML = 'Hello World!';
// Using the jQuery library
$('.results').html('Hello World!');
If you just want to update a portion of a <div> I usually just add an empty element with a class like value or one I want to replace the contents of to the main <div>. e.g.
<div class="content">Hello <span class="value"></span></div>
Then I’d use some code like this:
// 'Modern' browsers (IE8+, use CSS-style selectors)
document.querySelector('.content .value').innerHTML = 'World!';
// Using the jQuery library
$(".content .value").html("World!");
Then the HTML/DOM would now contain:
<div class="content">Hello <span class="value">World!</span></div>
Full example. Click run snippet to try it out.
// Plain Javascript Example
var $jsName = document.querySelector('.name');
var $jsValue = document.querySelector('.jsValue');
$jsName.addEventListener('input', function(event){
$jsValue.innerHTML = $jsName.value;
}, false);
// JQuery example
var $jqName = $('.name');
var $jqValue = $('.jqValue');
$jqName.on('input', function(event){
$jqValue.html($jqName.val());
});html {
font-family: sans-serif;
font-size: 16px;
}
h1 {
margin: 1em 0 0.25em 0;
}
input[type=text] {
padding: 0.5em;
}
.jsValue, .jqValue {
color: red;
}<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.11.3.js"></script>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width">
<title>Setting HTML content example</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- This <input> field is where I'm getting the name from -->
<label>Enter your name: <input class="name" type="text" value="World"/></label>
<!-- Plain Javascript Example -->
<h1>Plain Javascript Example</h1>Hello <span class="jsValue">World</span>
<!-- jQuery Example -->
<h1>jQuery Example</h1>Hello <span class="jqValue">World</span>
</body>
</html>