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META Tags

What are META Tags?

META tags are HTML elements placed in the <head></head> of a web page.
They are not displayed directly on the screen, but provide essential information:

to browsers (encoding, mobile display, cache…),
to search engines (SEO, indexing),
to social networks (Open Graph previews, Twitter Cards),
to devices and applications (PWA, mobile, iOS/Android).

In short, they describe the page and control its behavior for both users and bots.

Standard tags (HTML & browser)

Table : Standard tags (HTML & browser)
Tag	Description	Example
`charset`	Defines the document encoding	`<meta charset="UTF-8">`
`viewport`	Controls zoom and mobile scaling	`<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">`
`description`	Page summary for SEO	`<meta name="description" content="Complete HTML course for beginners.">`
`keywords`	Keywords (SEO – rarely used today)	`<meta name="keywords" content="html, web, tutorial">`
`author`	Document author	`<meta name="author" content="Baptiste Save">`
`robots`	Tells search engines whether to index	`<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">`
`generator`	Software used to create the page	`<meta name="generator" content="Notepad++">`

http-equiv tags (equivalent to HTTP headers)

Table : http-equiv tags (equivalent to HTTP headers)
Tag	Description	Example
`refresh`	Reloads or redirects the page	`<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5; url=https://example.com">`
`content-type`	Specifies the MIME type (often redundant with `charset`)	`<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">`
`default-style`	Defines a default stylesheet	`<meta http-equiv="default-style" content="main">`
`x-ua-compatible`	Forces an Internet Explorer version (deprecated)	`<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">`
`cache-control`	Controls browser cache	`<meta http-equiv="cache-control" content="no-cache">`
`pragma`	Another way to disable caching	`<meta http-equiv="pragma" content="no-cache">`

Table : Open Graph (social networks – Facebook, LinkedIn…)
Tag	Description	Example
`og:title`	Title displayed in previews	`<meta property="og:title" content="Complete HTML Course">`
`og:description`	Description for shares	`<meta property="og:description" content="Learn the basics of HTML">`
`og:type`	Content type (`website`, `article`, etc.)	`<meta property="og:type" content="website">`
`og:url`	Canonical page URL	`<meta property="og:url" content="https://my-site.com/html">`
`og:image`	Preview image	`<meta property="og:image" content="https://my-site.com/img/html.jpg">`

Twitter Cards (Twitter previews)

Table : Twitter Cards (Twitter previews)
Tag	Description	Example
`twitter:card`	Card type (`summary`, `summary_large_image`)	`<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">`
`twitter:title`	Title for the Twitter preview	`<meta name="twitter:title" content="HTML in 5 minutes">`
`twitter:description`	Description	`<meta name="twitter:description" content="A simple and quick course.">`
`twitter:image`	Image for Twitter	`<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://my-site.com/cover.jpg">`
`twitter:site`	Twitter account name	`<meta name="twitter:site" content="@batsave">`

Other useful meta tags

Table : Other useful meta tags
Tag	Description	Example
`theme-color`	Accent color (on mobile, browsers)	`<meta name="theme-color" content="#6B2DD7">`
`copyright`	Legal information	`<meta name="copyright" content="© 2025 Baptiste Save">`
`application-name`	Application name (PWA)	`<meta name="application-name" content="Trakrr">`
`apple-mobile-web-app-capable`	Enables full-screen mode on iOS	`<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">`
`apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style`	iOS status bar style	`<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black-translucent">`

Bonus: Recommended SEO meta tags

<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<meta
  name="description"
  content="A simple and complete HTML guide for beginners."
/>
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow" />
<meta name="author" content="Baptiste Save" />