{"id":17390,"date":"2021-11-10T21:27:06","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T03:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/?page_id=17390"},"modified":"2021-11-10T21:27:06","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T03:27:06","slug":"avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/","title":{"rendered":"PageSpeed Optimizations &#8211; Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; gap=&#8221;25&#8243; equal_height=&#8221;yes&#8221; content_placement=&#8221;middle&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636408663624{padding-top: 100px !important;padding-bottom: 100px !important;background-image: url(https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/hero-section-with-description-3320.jpg?id=15799) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636409653940{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;background-color: #e6eaef !important;}&#8221;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;<b>Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag<\/b>&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h1|font_size:40|text_align:center|color:%232b2b2b|line_height:1.5&#8243; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636601086147{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row margin_top=&#8221;40&#8243; margin_bottom=&#8221;30px&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636409410012{margin-bottom: 30px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;What is a Meta Tag?&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h2|font_size:35|text_align:center|color:%232b2b2b|line_height:1.5&#8243; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A meta tag, also commonly referred to as a meta element, is a tag used in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) or XHTML (Extensible HyperText Markup Language) that provides information (metadata) to search engines about a web page. Basic elements of a meta tag most commonly include a title and description. These meta tag elements are primarily used for SEO purposes and helping users to quickly read and scan through SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), but they are used in emails and social media.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;What is a Character Set?&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h2|font_size:30|text_align:center|color:%232b2b2b|line_height:1.5&#8243; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A character set, sometimes referred to as charset, is a system that tells a browser how to display characters on a page correctly. These characters sets are defined in numbers, not letters, as computers are better at understanding numbers, and interpret specific sets of numbers into letters and symbols, or characters for different languages. Without these, browsers would end up displaying a bunch of gibberish on the page. Examples of common characters sets include ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange), ANSI (American National Standards Institute), and UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format \u2013 8-bit)<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Why Developers Should Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h3|font_size:30|text_align:center|color:%232b2b2b|line_height:1.5&#8243; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Now that we have discussed meta tags and character sets, let us touch on why it is important to avoid them in the meta tag. It comes down to reducing page load time. If the character set is included in the meta, there is a risk of information duplication, causing longer than normal load times. In fact, in Internet Explorer 8, if the character set is included in the meta tag, it causes a known issue by completely disabling the lookahead function, which is used to make sure downloading elements goes smoothly and to keep resources in the download queue, helping to avoid network idle time. So, to avoid this altogether, the character set should be moved to the header or configuration file, depending on the web server and server language you are utilizing.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row margin_top=&#8221;60&#8243; margin_bottom=&#8221;0&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636595147911{margin-bottom: 15px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636595227743{padding-top: 60px !important;padding-bottom: 60px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;background-color: #f6f6f6 !important;}&#8221;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;17233&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; style=&#8221;vc_box_rounded&#8221;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;<b>Lighthouse<\/b>&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:p|font_size:20|text_align:center|color:%232b2b2b|line_height:1&#8243; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Lighthouse is an open-source tool that is used to run an audit against your web pages and provides scores and suggestions for improving page performance, accessibility, SEO, and more.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=&#8221;Learn More&#8221; style=&#8221;flat&#8221; color=&#8221;primary&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fas fa-location-arrow&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221; link=&#8221;url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dotcom-tools.com%2Fweb-performance%2Flighthouse%2F&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636595173585{padding-top: 60px !important;padding-bottom: 60px !important;background-color: #f6f6f6 !important;}&#8221;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;17284&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; style=&#8221;vc_box_rounded&#8221;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;<b>PageSpeed Terms<\/b>&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:p|font_size:20|text_align:center|color:%232b2b2b|line_height:1&#8243; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">PageSpeed Insights is a tool created by Google that reports on the performance of a page on both mobile and desktop devices, and provides suggestions on how that page may be improved.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=&#8221;Learn More&#8221; style=&#8221;flat&#8221; color=&#8221;primary&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fas fa-location-arrow&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221; link=&#8221;url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dotcom-tools.com%2Fweb-performance%2Fpagespeed%2F&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636595196399{padding-top: 60px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 60px !important;background-color: #f6f6f6 !important;}&#8221;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;17281&#8243; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; style=&#8221;vc_box_rounded&#8221;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;<b>YSlow<\/b>&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:p|font_size:20|text_align:center|color:%232b2b2b|line_height:1&#8243; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">YSlow is an open-source website analysis tool that can be used to identify web page performance issues. Learn more about the YSlow to enhance your web pages and the user experience.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=&#8221;Learn More&#8221; style=&#8221;flat&#8221; color=&#8221;primary&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fas fa-location-arrow&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221; link=&#8221;url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dotcom-tools.com%2Fweb-performance%2Fyslow%2F&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; gap=&#8221;25&#8243; equal_height=&#8221;yes&#8221; content_placement=&#8221;middle&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636408663624{padding-top: 100px !important;padding-bottom: 100px !important;background-image: url(https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/hero-section-with-description-3320.jpg?id=15799) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636409653940{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;background-color: #e6eaef !important;}&#8221;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h1|font_size:40|text_align:center|color:%232b2b2b|line_height:1.5&#8243; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636601086147{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row margin_top=&#8221;40&#8243; margin_bottom=&#8221;30px&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1636409410012{margin-bottom: 30px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;What is a Meta Tag?&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h2|font_size:35|text_align:center|color:%232b2b2b|line_height:1.5&#8243; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text] A meta tag,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":17235,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.6 (Yoast SEO v19.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>PageSpeed Optimizations - Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag | Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Want to learn more about avoiding a character set in the meta tag? What does this PageSpeed optimization mean? Learn more about how Dotcom-Tools can help!\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PageSpeed Optimizations - Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Want to learn more about avoiding a character set in the meta tag? What does this PageSpeed optimization mean? Learn more about how Dotcom-Tools can help!\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotcommonitor\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@dotcom_monitor\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/\",\"name\":\"Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog\",\"description\":\"Let&#039;s Make the Web a Faster Place.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/\",\"name\":\"PageSpeed Optimizations - Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag | Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-11T03:27:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-11T03:27:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"Want to learn more about avoiding a character set in the meta tag? What does this PageSpeed optimization mean? Learn more about how Dotcom-Tools can help!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PageSpeed Optimizations\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"PageSpeed Optimizations &#8211; Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag\"}]}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PageSpeed Optimizations - Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag | Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog","description":"Want to learn more about avoiding a character set in the meta tag? What does this PageSpeed optimization mean? Learn more about how Dotcom-Tools can help!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PageSpeed Optimizations - Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag","og_description":"Want to learn more about avoiding a character set in the meta tag? What does this PageSpeed optimization mean? Learn more about how Dotcom-Tools can help!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/","og_site_name":"Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dotcommonitor","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_site":"@dotcom_monitor","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/","name":"Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog","description":"Let&#039;s Make the Web a Faster Place.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/","name":"PageSpeed Optimizations - Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag | Dotcom-Monitor Tools Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-11-11T03:27:06+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-11T03:27:06+00:00","description":"Want to learn more about avoiding a character set in the meta tag? What does this PageSpeed optimization mean? Learn more about how Dotcom-Tools can help!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/avoid-a-character-set-in-the-meta-tag\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PageSpeed Optimizations","item":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/pagespeed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"PageSpeed Optimizations &#8211; Avoid a Character Set in the Meta Tag"}]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17390"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17392,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17390\/revisions\/17392"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dotcom-tools.com\/web-performance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}