10 Most Important HTML Meta Tags for SEO
Last Updated :
19 Jan, 2024
SEO or Search Engine Optimization refers to the techniques and practices for the process of improving the visibility and ranking of a web page in the result of the search engine. One of the methods for SEO is to add additional information about the webpage in the meta tag of the HTML document.
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Meta tags are the information added in the HTML document called “metadata” This is not visible in the output to the user but it provides the information in the background to the search engines or other web services. The meta tag is added in the <head> section of the document.
Most Important Meta Tags for SEO
Syntax: <title> tag
The <title> tag is used to provide the meta title which is generally the headline of your web page in search results. It is one of the most important factors that search engines consider when ranking your pages. Your title tag should be clear, concise, and relevant to the content of your page. It should also include the keyword that you want to rank for.
HTML
<head>
<title>
Title of the Webpage
</title>
</head>
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Syntax: <meta name=”description”> tag
A meta description tag is a fundamental element in search engine optimization (SEO) and web development. It is an HTML attribute that provides a brief and concise summary of the content on a web page. Search engines like Google often display this description in their search results to help users understand what a particular webpage is about.
HTML
<head>
<meta name="description"
content="Short Description">
</head>
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HTML components called meta heading tags (H1-H6) are used to organize and format the content of a web page. They are crucial for search engine optimization (SEO), even though they are not “meta” tags in the conventional sense. This is because they enable search engines to recognize the hierarchy and significance of the information on a page.
H1 Tag Syntax:
HTML
<h1>This is an H1 Heading</h1>
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H2 Tag Syntax:
HTML
<h2>This is an H2 Heading</h2>
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And so on, for H3, H4, H5, and H6 tags.
Syntax: <meta name=”keywords”> tag
The meta keyword tags give keywords about the content of the webpage which is used for indexing and ranking of the web page in the search results.
HTML
<head>
<meta name="keywords"
content="HTML, SEO">
</head>
|
Syntax: <meta name=”robots”> tag
The robot tag is used for instructing the search engine about indexing and following links on the page. The important instructions on the robot tag include-
- “index”: Index the page
- “follow”: Follow the links
- “index”: Do not Index the Page
- “nofollow”: Do not follow the links
HTML
<head>
<meta name="robots"
content="index, follow">
</head>
|
Syntax: <meta name=”viewport”> tag
The viewport tag is used for dimension and scaling to provide a better user experience on different screen sizes. It is recommended to use the <viewport> tag in the document because viewport tags are a ranking factor in search results.
HTML
<head>
<meta name="viewport"
content="width=device-width,
initial-scale=1.0">
</head>
|
When there are many versions of the same piece of information, the canonical tag, also known as the “rel=canonical” tag, is an HTML element used in search engine optimization (SEO) to designate the preferred or canonical version of a webpage. It aids search engines in determining the version of a page that ought to be indexed and shown in search results. The canonical tag is especially helpful in resolving difficulties with duplicate content.
Syntax:
HTML
<link rel="canonical" href="URL_of_preferred_page">
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An essential HTML element for search engine optimization (SEO) is the hreflang tag, which identifies the language and geographic targeting of online pages. This tag is useful for foreign or multilingual websites as it enables search engines to comprehend the language and geographic targeting of a page’s content.
Syntax:
HTML
<link rel="alternate" href="URL_of_alternate_page" hreflang="language_code">
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The meta charset tag, specifically meta charset=”UTF-8″>, is more closely related to web development and ensuring that a web page has the proper character encoding than it is to SEO (search engine optimization). But by ensuring that material is rendered correctly, which can effect user experience and search engine crawling, it indirectly affects SEO.
Syntax:
HTML
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
</head>
|
The <meta name=”author”> tag is an HTML element that can be used to specify the author of a web page’s content. While this tag is not a major ranking factor in SEO, it can still provide some benefits, particularly in terms of attribution and credibility.
Syntax:
HTML
<meta name="author" content="Author's Name">
|
Conclusion
HTML Meta tags are important for effective SEO and it is essential to properly add the various meta tags in the HTML Document as it enhances the visibility and improves chances of high ranking of the webpage in search results.
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