What is the significance of meta tags in HTML?

Meta tags in HTML serve an essential role by providing metadata about the web page, which is information that is not directly visible to users but is crucial for search engines and browsers. This metadata can significantly improve search engine optimization (SEO) by helping search engines understand the content and relevance of the page. For example, the meta description can summarize page content and influence click-through rates from search results, while meta keywords can indicate key topics associated with the content, although their importance has diminished over time.

Additionally, meta tags can control how a page appears when shared on social media platforms or affect the rendering of the page in browsers. Tags such as viewport settings help control the layout on mobile devices, enhancing user experience. Therefore, their role in both SEO and managing the appearance of a page vitalizes and improves website visibility and user engagement.

The other options do not accurately represent the functions of meta tags. While the structure of the HTML document and security levels are important aspects of web development, they are addressed by different elements and attributes in HTML, not by meta tags. Multimedia elements are typically embedded using specific HTML tags like for images or