Meta tags are bits of HTML code that provide information about a page but are not viewable by the user in a browser. Most search engines examine a page's meta tags, which usually include a page title, description, and keywords, to index the page and help determine its ranking in relevant search results. Although not the only way to elevate your site's search engine rankings, adding meta tags to your pages can help.

Title

Title tags appear at the top of the web browser screen when that page is viewed, and in a visitor's bookmarks menu, if he decides to bookmark your site. More important, search engines use titles to index web sites, and often display them in search engine results.

Description

Your description summarizes your page's content. Some search engines use this description to help categorize your page, and a few even display it in search results!

Keywords

Though the keywords tag isn't as important as it once was, effective keywords can still influence your search engine rankings. Your visitors won't see your keyword meta tags (which will be hidden in your site code), but search engines may use them to help index your site.

Your page's title, description, and keyword tags generally appear at the top of a web page's HTML code (you can find a page's meta tags by selecting Source or Page Source from your browser's View menu). Here's an example: