The HTTP-EQUIV attribute can be used in the place of the name attribute. The major difference between the two is that unlike the name attribute, HTTP servers can read http-equiv. As a result there are more commands associated with the http-equiv attribute then with the name attribute.

One command that can be used is the page expires command. This will let your server know when to grab a newer version of your page.

<META http-equiv = "expires"
            content="Sat, 1 Jan 2000 1:00:00 GMT">

Another way to use the http-equiv tag is as a "re-direct". If you have moved your site from location to another, this is very helpful. Using the <META> tag, you will tell the browser to refresh in however many seconds you want them to wait. When it refreshes it will send them to a new page.

<META http-equiv = "refresh"
            content="10;
            URL=http://www.tucows.com">

While both Netscape and Internet Explorer both support this feature, there are some browsers that do not. Keeping that in mind, you should always have a link to your new page on your jump page just in case.

You can also use this feature to refresh your page after a certain amount of time. Just leave off the URL.

<META http-equiv = "refresh"
            content="15">

Now your page will refresh every 15 seconds.

The <META> tag can do a lot of simple tasks for you. It can also help a lot with search engines submission. It has the potential to be one of the more powerful tags as more and more search engines and browsers support its capabilities.

Head on to:
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Labeling Your Pages
Part 3: Keywords and Descriptions
Part 4: The 'HTTP-EQUIV' attribute
HTML Command Reference