Meta Tags: Meta tags are tags incorporated within the HTML code of a website that contain information about the website itself. The text the constitutes meta tags is included between the head tags of a page's HTML coding, and it isn't actually displayed on the web page itself. Meta tags, such as title tags, content meta tags and description meta tags, are used by search engines to help determine their page rankings and search results.
The 'meta' in meta tags is short for metadata -- because meta tags contain data that describes the data on your website. While meta tags aren't a one-stop solution to bringing a website to the top of the search engine rankings, they help search engines understand and categorize your website better.
To create meta tags that will accurately portray your website to a search engine, you can usually use any of the several meta tag generators available online. As a general rule, it's recommended that meta tag descriptions don't exceed 155 characters.
There are a few common mistakes you should avoid making when creating your meta tags. Obviously, not including any meta tags at all on your website is one -- as are overloading your meta tags with keywords and, conversely, integrating no keywords into the meta tags.
When used correctly, meta tags can be surprisingly helpful at raising your website's search engine rankings.