Google: We Recommend You Not Use Meta-Refresh

Jul 21, 2011 - 8:35 am 3 by

meta refreshGoogler, JohnMu said in a Google Webmaster Help thread that you are better off not using the meta refresh HTML tag.

In response to why one webmaster was seeing unusual error reports in Google Webmaster Tools, John noticed the site was using the meta refresh tag. In response, he said:

In general, we recommend not using meta-refresh type redirects, as this can cause confusion with users (and search engine crawlers, who might mistake that for an attempted redirect). This is likely where the warning you saw came from. This is currently not causing any problems with regards to crawling, indexing, or ranking, but it would still be a good idea to remove that.

John made a point to say that this is not impacting his rankings or crawling but he did recommend the site remove the meta tag.

There are many sites out there that use it, for no real good reason, so if you do, maybe drop it.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: September 11, 2025

Sep 11, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Ads

Google Ads AI‬‭ Max‬‭ For‬‭ Search‬‭ Campaigns‬‭ Globally Available & More

Sep 11, 2025 - 7:51 am
Bing Ads

Bing Testing Link Icons In Sitelinks For Microsoft Ads

Sep 11, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google Tests Sponsored Ads With Search Refinement Options

Sep 11, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Tests Replacing Hotel Review Stars For Website & Phone Number

Sep 11, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google Ads

Google Search Testing New Local Ad Cards Format

Sep 11, 2025 - 7:11 am
 
Previous Story: A Fresh Noogler Zurich
Next Story: Goodbye Google Labs