A meta refresh is an HTML-based redirect mechanism that uses a meta tag in the page's head section to instruct the browser to navigate to a different URL after a specified delay. The syntax is straightforward: a meta tag with http-equiv="refresh" and a content attribute specifying the delay in seconds and the target URL.
Meta refresh redirects operate at the HTML level rather than the HTTP level, which means the browser must first download and begin parsing the HTML document before the redirect is triggered. This makes meta refresh slower than server-side redirects (301, 302) and is generally considered a less desirable approach.
From an SEO perspective, Google Search Central documentation states that Google Search interprets a meta refresh with a zero-second delay as a permanent redirect, and a meta refresh with a delay greater than zero as a temporary redirect (as of August 2026). The same documentation positions meta refresh as an alternative for platforms where server-side redirects cannot be implemented, so server-side redirects remain the first choice for permanent URL changes.
Meta refresh is sometimes used as a fallback when server-side redirects are not available, such as on static hosting platforms that do not support HTTP redirect configuration. In URL shortening, meta refresh may appear in splash pages that display a countdown before redirecting to the destination.