Meta tags in HTML are special elements that provide metadata about the HTML document. Metadata is information about data, and in the context of web pages, it refers to information about the contents of the page. These tags are placed within the <head> section of the HTML document and are not visible to users on the webpage itself. Instead, they serve various purposes such as instructing web browsers and affecting how websites are described and displayed in search engine results.
Key Functions of Meta Tags
Page Description and Keywords: Meta tags can specify a page description and keywords that are relevant to the content of the webpage. This information is often used by search engines to understand the content of the page and to display a snippet in search engine results[1][2][3][4][6].
Character Encoding: They can define the character set used on the webpage, ensuring that text is displayed correctly across different browsers and devices. The most commonly used character encoding is UTF-8[2][3][7].
Viewport Settings: For responsive design, the viewport meta tag specifies how the page should be rendered on different devices, controlling dimensions and scaling to ensure the site is mobile-friendly[2][3].
Authorship and Copyright: Meta tags can include information about the author of the document, copyright details, and other intellectual property information[2][4].
Browser Behavior: Some meta tags can control browser behavior, such as refreshing the page automatically after a specified number of seconds or redirecting to a different URL[2][4].
Syntax and Placement
The <meta> tag is a self-closing tag and includes attributes that define its properties. The most common attributes include:
name: Specifies the type of information contained (e.g., `d...
