What are viewport tags? The viewport Meta tag is a piece of HTML code which specify that the browser how to display the web page on the device. Therefore, it is placed directly in the <head> section of the HTML document. Speaking of viewport tags, they usually have two main properties which includes width, and initial scale. Through this following article, we will be explaining the viewport tags and their importance in search engine optimization services.
Understanding the Basic Properties of the ViewPort Meta Tags
The viewport tag is used to control the layout of the mobile browsers. Here are some of the basic properties of the Viewport tag;-
- Width: The width of the viewport can be set to a specific number of pixels or to a value-device width which means that the screen width in device-independent pixels.
- Initial Scale: It sets the initial zoom level when the page is first loaded by the browser itself. For instance, a value of one indicates no zoom.
- Minimum Scale: It determines the minimum zoom level to which a user can simply zoom in.
- User-Scalable: It specifies whether the user can zoom in or out. It can be simply set to default yes or no. Therefore, it is recommended not to disable the user scaling for accessibility reasons.
- Height: Similar to the width property, it determines the height of the viewport. Therefore, it is less commonly used than the width property.
What is Viewport Tag and How to Use it to Enhance Your Website?
Viewport tags are a small piece of code that have the ability to control the width and length of the website. It is the main part for making the website design responsive. It ensures that your content should be easily visible on every device. Now, the question is how to use viewport meta tagsand why they are used.
The viewport tag is basically used to accept and specify the visible area of the website for browsers on smartphones and to adjust the site to different devices. You must add an appropriately modified tag to the Head section of the page code in order to activate it.
For instance, Compared to a desktop screen, a tablet’s viewport is by default smaller. Generally speaking, a smartphone viewport is smaller than both.
A user can also adjust the viewport when they resize a desktop browser window. The display might change or remain unchanged. This is also one of the importance of viewport tags.
How Do Viewport Tags Work? Are They Useful?
The content will fit the user device with the help of viewport tags. This makes your website more responsive.
If you don’t use these tags, then displayed content will not be readable and will not look good. In such a case, the user will definitely zoom in on the picture or text to see the clarity of the text.
If you use them in HTML, then the content will fit into your size of mobile device. There is no need for adjustment. That’s another importance of viewport tags.
By adding viewport tags in HTML, you make your website more responsive, which is easy for mobile users.
Points to Remember About Viewport Tags
- When a page is responsive, it automatically adjusts with a mobile device . Your entire website is accessible to users. This makes the website more capable of adapting to different devices and gives a good experience to users. With the help of the meta viewport tag in the HTML header, you can adjust the viewport width and scaling. It means that your website displays beautifully on a variety of screens and devices. This is the benefit of including viewport in HTML and CSS.
- Only mobile browsers should be able to access a mobile page. The content of these pages is separate from that of your primary website. Typically, it has a distinct “mdot” subdomain (m.[yourwebsite].com”). The user can not access the whole website.
Why Viewport Tags Are Important for Websites?
If your website is accessible on all devices correctly, then it means your website gives a good message to the search engine that your website is user-friendly with all kinds of mobile devices.
Here we give some reasons about the importance of viewport tags.
- No Responsive Design
If your website is not implementing the viewport tags correctly, it might look extremely small on mobile devices.
This can lower SEO rankings on mobile searches and negatively impact mobile usability.
<meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1″>
If you use the correct value in HTML, then your website becomes more responsive.
- No Zooming
If you set the “user-scalable” property to “no,” the user will not be able to zoom in to the content.
- Not Correct Scaling
Inaccurate values for the initial scale, maximum-scale, or minimum-scale properties may be the cause of the website’s unpredictable zooming in and out on various devices.
You need to use a mobile-friendly scale. The initial scale is 1 if you want to use maximum or minimum value, but you need to ensure that the user gets a good experience.
- Issue of Shrinking to Fit
Content that exceeds the viewport width may cause problems on certain older mobile browsers. Content may be resized by the browser by default, resulting in small fonts and clickable elements.
- Default value of viewport
Sometimes what pixel value is fixed with the viewport width, which is the default value, will create some issues with different devices with different size widths.
Benefits of Including Viewport in HTML and CSS for Websites
Although the viewport meta tag plays a part in making a website mobile-friendly, it doesn’t have any direct effect on search engine optimization services in terms of search rankings.
Below we have mentioned benefits users will get by using viewport tags:
- Mobile Friendly
Mobile optimization is given priority first by Google and other search engines. One of the most important elements in making a website mobile-friendly is the viewport meta tag. Without it, users may not get the best experience from mobile devices’ improper content display. So the benefits of including viewport in HTML and CSS will give mobile search results, a responsive website, and an increase in rank.
- Better user experience
Search engines bring user experience into ranking, particularly with mobile users.
Not using viewport meta tag, a website that is difficult to navigate on a mobile device may have higher bounce rates, which can negatively impact its SEO ranking.
- Page Speed
Although the viewport tag by itself has no effect on page speed, optimizing for speed is frequently part of the larger idea of mobile optimization. Your website is more likely to be speed optimized if it is mobile device optimized (using the tag and other strategies). Search engines may favor websites that load faster.
- Core Web is Important
The importance of viewport tags is that a collection of metrics called Core Web Vitals was released by Google to assess a website’s overall user experience.
Even though Core Web Vitals does not directly measure the meta tag, make sure your website is mobile-friendly by using the viewport tag and improve the SEO ranking.
How to Use Viewport Meta Tag in HTML?
Nowadays, one famous CMS application is used for managing the viewport meta tags; there is no need for any coding that automatically sets for your website.
But here you can edit your website by yourself. This is the benefit of including viewport in HTML and CSS.
It is simple, like other HTML code. Here are some examples to understand properly.
<meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1″>
This is HTML code where you can set the width and scale for making the website responsive.
- Width
In this, by setting up the tag, you can specify a number, like width=400, in pixels. This is how it would appear:
<meta name=”viewport” content=”initial-scale=1, width=400″>
Another way is to write device-width, which will utilize the whole width of the device. This is how that appears:
<meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1″>
It is easier with device width and makes adjustments for different screen sizes to guarantee the optimal user experience. This is another reason why you should learn what is viewport tag.
- Scale
When a page loads, the initial scale determines the zoom level. It can be adjusted between 0.1 and 10. But the default value is 1.
If we put 5, then zoom level is 5. It will look like this in HTML code.
The content of <meta name=”viewport” width=”device-width, initial-scale=5″>
Here are some other ways to set the viewport.
- Height
Similar to width, this operates. It is recommended that you use device-height instead of setting it to a fixed number of pixels. This is another way to use it without fixing the pixel numbers. So, you need to learn =“what is viewport tag” and how to use it in different ways.
- Low Scale
This manages the maximum zoom that the page permits. Users are prevented from enlarging their zoom. It needs to be less than or on par with the maximum scale. 0.1 is the default value.
- High Scale
By preventing users from zooming in too far, this also regulates the zoom level. It needs to exceed or match the minimum scale. The maximum default value is 10. Anything less than 3 will break the accessibility guidelines.
- Scalable User-Friendly
This determines whether the user can zoom in or out. Values of 0 or no, or 1 or yes, are accepted. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are violated when users are unable to zoom in. The user experience is also poor. Thus, it is a must to know how to use viewport meta tag correctly with the exact number.
- Interactive Financial Plan
This describes how viewports on a page are affected by interactive widgets, such as virtual keyboards. Viewports are divided into two categories:
Layout (which includes all of the page’s elements, visible or not) and visual (which includes whatever portion of the page users are currently viewing on their screen).
- Value
Resize visual: Resize only the visual viewport; the layout structure will be the same.
Resizes-content:Adjust the layout and visual viewports.
Overlays-content: No need to change the viewports
How to Check Viewport Size of Your Website?
For checking the viewport size, we need to check browser window objects such as ‘innerwidth’ and ‘innerheight’ properties. JavaScript enables you to use these properties on your webpage.
{window.innerWidth;console.log}
{window.innerHeight;`console.log
This will result in the current width and height of the viewport being output. Additionally, you can use CSS media queries in your stylesheets to target different viewport sizes.
For example:
(min-width: 900px) }@media {{^styles for viewport width >= 900px */
Keep in mind that when a user switches devices or resizes the browser window, the viewport size may alter.
Read More: What are keywords Tags?
Conclusion
All the information about “what is viewport tag” is here with all the necessary points. We have also covered up the importance of these tags for getting the website on rank. Moreover, the benefits of including these tags in HTML and CSS are also mentioned. If you are a beginner in html coding, then you must know how to use viewport meta tags. It is also an important factor to know how to check the size of these tags to make your website responsive.
Most Asked Questions
Ques 1. What is the viewport tag?
Ans. The viewport tag controls how a webpage is displayed on different devices, especially mobile screens.
Ques 2. Why is the viewport tag important?
Ans. It ensures that web pages are responsive and adapt to various screen sizes, improving user experience.
Ques 3. How do you use the viewport tag?
Ans. The tag is added in the HTML <head> section, like this: <meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0″>.
Ques 4. Does the viewport tag affect SEO?
Ans. Yes, a proper viewport tag improves mobile usability, which can positively impact search engine rankings.
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