Hey Folks - Let's talk about the lesser known meta tag,
What is a meta tag?
In HTML, a meta tag provides metadata, which is data about the HTML document, that isn't displayed on the page itself. It is used by browsers, search engines, and other web services to understand the page's content and how to handle it.
So as the title asks Are Meta Tags still relevant in 2025?
The answer is "Yes". When it comes to writing clean, accessible, and SEO-friendly HTML, the unsung hero often hiding in the <head> of your webpage is the <meta> tag. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned developer fine-tuning for performance and discoverability — meta tags matter!
But here is a key point to note down and that is not all meta tags are relevant in 2025 and you should include only those meta tags that is most important for your project(s) or application(s). Do not try to overuse meta tags.
Let's see a list of relevant and irrelevant meta tags:
RELEVANT META TAGS (2025)
1. General / SEO
<meta charset="UTF-8">
Specifies the character encoding so your webpage can correctly display all letters, symbols, numbers, and emojis from all languages (like English, Hindi, Chinese, Arabic, emojis, etc.).
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
Tells the browser to fit your website to the screen size of the device (like mobile, tablet, or desktop).
<meta name="description" content="...">
Provides a short summary of the page used by search engines in search results.
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">
Tells all search engines to index the page and follow its links.
<meta name="googlebot" content="noindex">
Specifically Instructs Google crawler not to index this page.
<meta name="google-site-verification" content="...">
Proves site ownership to Google Search Console for verification.
<meta name="google" content="notranslate">
Prevents Google from offering automatic translation for the page.
<meta name="rating" content="adult">
Labels the page as adult content for SafeSearch and filtering systems.
2. Social Media (Open Graph / Twitter Cards)
Meta tags that control how your web page link appears when shared on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others
<meta property="og:title" content="...">
This tag sets the title text that appears when someone shares your webpage on social media.
<meta property="og:description" content="...">
Adds a short summary below the shared title.
<meta property="og:image" content="...">
Displays a preview image or thumbnail with the link.
<meta property="og:url" content="...">
Ensures the shared link points to the correct page.
<meta property="og:type" content="article">
Tells platforms the content type (like article, website, video).
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
Enables a large image preview in Twitter/X posts.
<meta name="twitter:title" content="...">
Specifies the tweet’s title or heading.
<meta name="twitter:description" content="...">
Adds a short description below the title in the tweet card.
<meta name="twitter:image" content="...">
Displays an image in the tweet preview.
<meta name="twitter:creator" content="@yourhandle">
Credits the author’s Twitter handle in the card.
Note: As shown in the social meta tags list above, most platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and others rely on Open Graph (og:) tags to generate link previews — so you don’t need separate tags for each platform. Twitter, however, uses its own twitter: tags, known as Twitter Cards.
3. Mobile & Responsive Design
<meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no">
Prevents mobile browsers (especially iOS) from auto-linking phone numbers.
<meta name="theme-color" content="#0072FF">
Sets the browser’s UI color (like the address bar) to match your site’s branding.
<meta name="color-scheme" content="light dark">
Tells the browser your site supports both light and dark modes.
4. Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">
Enables full-screen app mode when saved to iOS home screen.
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black-translucent">
Customizes the iOS status bar appearance in standalone app mode.
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" content="MyApp">
Sets a custom short name for the web app on iOS home screen.
<meta name="application-name" content="MyApp">
Defines the application name used by some browsers (like Windows or Android).
<meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="icon.png">
Specifies the icon shown when the site is pinned to the Windows Start menu.
<meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#ffffff">
Sets the background color of the Windows Start tile.
5. Security & Privacy
<meta http-equiv="Content-Security-Policy" content="...">
Adds a layer of security by restricting what resources can load (if headers aren't set).
<meta name="referrer" content="no-referrer">
Stops the browser from sharing your page URL when someone clicks a link on your website.
6. Optional Metadata
<meta name="author" content="Your Name">
Defines the name of the page’s author for metadata purposes.
<meta name="publisher" content="Your Company">
Indicates the organization that published the content.
<meta name="generator" content="WordPress 6.0">
Specifies the software or platform used to create the webpage.
IRRELEVANT / OBSOLETE META TAGS (2025)
1. SEO / General
<meta name="keywords" content="...">(ignored by all modern search engines)<meta name="revisit-after" content="7 days"><meta name="distribution" content="global"><meta name="coverage" content="worldwide"><meta name="abstract" content="...">
2. Deprecated or Redundant
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5; url=...">(bad for SEO and accessibility)<meta http-equiv="expires" content="0">(ineffective in modern browsers)<meta http-equiv="pragma" content="no-cache"><meta http-equiv="cache-control" content="no-cache"><meta http-equiv="Set-Cookie" content="...">(does not work anymore)
3. Legacy Browser / Mobile
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">(for IE only, retired)<meta name="HandheldFriendly" content="true">(used by ancient browsers)<meta name="MobileOptimized" content="width">(used in old Windows Phone)<meta name="mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">(replaced by manifest)
4. Accessibility / Language (Use HTML attributes instead)
-
<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en">Instead use:
5. Security Headers That Do Not Work via Meta
<meta http-equiv="X-Content-Type-Options" content="nosniff"><meta http-equiv="Permissions-Policy" content="...">
Meta tags are the quiet conductors of the modern web: they don’t change what users see on-screen, yet they determine how your pages are rendered, discovered, previewed, and secured across browsers, search engines, and social platforms.
Feel Free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
Until then Happy Coding and Stay Tuned!
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