The <meta> tag provides metadata (data about data) about a page.
This information is used by the browser to properly render the page.
Meta tags are placed in the <head> section of the page.
An example with two <meta> tags.
One specifies the character set, and the other the viewport.
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
</head>
meta = metadata
Metadata is additional information about the page, such as:
<meta> is an empty element and carries information within its attributes.
Web pages commonly have multiple <meta> elements placed inside their <head> sections.
Browsers, screen-readers, and search engines all use metadata to better interpret the page.
Note: Meta tags are not visible to the user.
Several <meta> tags that are commonly used in web pages.
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<meta name="author" content="Debbie Anderson">
<meta name="title" content="Web Developer Tutorials">
<meta name="description" content="HTML, CSS, JavaScript Tutorials for Web Developers.">
<meta name="keywords" content="HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Tutorials">
</head>
<meta> - defines a metadata element
charset - sets the HTML document character encoding
name - sets the metadata name
content - sets the value of the metadata
This table lists the <meta> tag attributes.
| Attribute | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| name |
application-name author description generator keywords viewport |
Metadata name |
| content | text | Gives the value associated with the http-equiv or name attribute |
| http-equiv |
content-type default-style refresh |
HTTP header for the information/value of the content attribute |
| charset | character_set | HTML document character encoding |
| id | identifier | Defines a unique identifier for the meta element. |
For additional global attributes see our global attributes list.
A <meta> tag that sets the page title.
Very important for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
<meta name="title" content="Tutorials for Web Developers">
A <meta> tag with a short description on what the page is all about.
<meta name="description" content="HTML Tutorials in C#, .Net, ASP.NET Core">
A <meta> tag with keywords associated with the page.
Keywords are comma-separated.
<meta name="keywords" content="HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, C#">
A <meta> tag that specifies the author of the page.
Can be a person or organization.
<meta name="author" content="Debbie Anderson">
A <meta> tag that refreshes the web page every 30 seconds.
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="30">
A <meta> tag that sets the user's visible area of the page according to the device size.
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
The viewport meta tag tells the browser how to control the web page's dimensions and scaling.
width=device-width - sets the web page width to follow the device screen width
initial-scale=1.0 - sets the initial zoom level when the page is first loaded
Note: The viewport <meta> element is important, especially for mobile responsive design.
The <meta> tag is part of a group of tags that
define the structure of a web page.
This group is referred to as the Page tag group.
Together, they allow you to create solid, well-structured web pages.
Here is the complete list.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| <!DOCTYPE> | Must appear on the first line of a page. Specifies the HTML version |
| <html> | Defines the root container for an HTML document |
| <head> | Creates a head container that holds page-level metadata elements |
| <meta> | Provides metadata about a web page |
| <link> | Defines a link to an external source, such as a style sheet |
| <base> | Sets the base URL for all relative URLs on a page |
| <script> | Adds JavaScript to a page. Either client- or server-side |
| <style> | Adds CSS style elements to a page |
| <title> | Specifies the page title that displays in the browser's tab |
| <body> | Specifies a container for the content of the page, with text, links, images, etc. |
Here is when <meta> support started for each browser:
 Chrome
|
1.0 | Sep 2008 |
 Firefox
|
1.0 | Sep 2002 |
 IE/Edge
|
1.0 | Aug 1995 |
 Opera
|
1.0 | Jan 2006 |
 Safari
|
1.0 | Jan 2003 |
