Meta Tags
Meta tags are snippets of code in the header section of a webpage that provide information about the webpage to search engines and web browsers. Meta tags are not visible to website visitors but are essential for search engine optimization (SEO) and improving the visibility of a webpage in search results. The information provided in meta tags can help search engines understand the content and purpose of a webpage, which can lead to higher rankings in search results and more traffic to the site.
Meta tags come in many different forms, but the most commonly used ones include the meta description, meta keywords, and meta robots tags. The meta description tag provides a brief summary of the webpage that is displayed in search results, while the meta keywords tag used to provide a list of keywords related to the content of the page. However, the meta keywords tag is no longer used by most major search engines due to abuse by website owners.
The meta robots tag provides instructions to search engine crawlers on how to index and follow links on a webpage. Other meta tags such as author, viewport, and verification tags are used for various purposes such as identifying the author of the webpage, specifying the width of the viewport for mobile devices, and verifying ownership of a website with Google.
Understanding and properly utilizing meta tags can significantly improve the SEO of a webpage and increase its visibility in search results. In this page, we’ll explore the different types of meta tags, how to use them, and their impact on search engine rankings. Please click on each one for a post with more details about the usage of this specific tag.
<meta name="keywords" content="keyword1, keyword2, keyword3">– This tag used to be important for search engines to understand the main keywords of a webpage, but it is no longer used by major search engines like Google.<meta name="description" content="A brief description of the webpage">– This tag is still important for search engines to display a brief description of the webpage in search results.<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">– This tag tells search engine crawlers whether or not to index the webpage and follow the links on the page.<meta name="author" content="Your Name">– This tag identifies the author of the webpage.<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">– This tag is important for mobile-friendly design and specifies the width of the viewport.<meta name="google-site-verification" content="your verification code">– This tag is used to verify ownership of a website with Google.<meta name="revisit-after" content="3 days">– This tag used to tell search engines how often to revisit a webpage for indexing, but it is no longer used by major search engines.<meta name="distribution" content="global">– This tag used to specify the distribution of the webpage, but it is no longer used by major search engines.<meta name="copyright" content="Your copyright info">– This tag specifies the copyright information of the webpage.<meta name="classification" content="Your classification">– This tag used to specify the classification of the webpage, but it is no longer used by major search engines.<meta name="language" content="Your language">– This tag specifies the language of the webpage.<meta name="expires" content="0">– This tag used to specify when the webpage should expire in the browser cache, but it is no longer used by major search engines.<meta name="abstract" content="A brief summary of the webpage">– This tag used to provide a summary of the webpage, but it is no longer used by major search engines.<meta name="rating" content="general">– This tag used to specify the rating of the webpage, but it is no longer used by major search engines.<meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no">– This tag disables automatic phone number detection on mobile devices.<meta name="referrer" content="no-referrer">– This tag specifies the HTTP referrer policy for the webpage.<meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#ffffff">– This tag specifies the background color for Microsoft tile icons.<meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="url to an image">– This tag specifies the image for Microsoft tile icons.<meta name="cache-control"><meta name="doc-class"><meta name="doc-rights"><meta name="generator"><meta name="page-topic"><meta name="publisher"><meta name="robots">