What are meta tags used for in a website?

Meta tags play a crucial role in enhancing a website's visibility in search engine results. They are snippets of text that describe a webpage's content and are not visible to users when they visit the site, but they inform search engines about the page's content. This information helps search engines understand what the page is about, which can significantly influence how the page is ranked in search results.

By strategically using relevant keywords in meta tags, website owners can improve their search engine optimization (SEO), leading to better visibility and potentially higher traffic to their site. This is especially important in a competitive online environment where standing out in search results is vital for attracting visitors.

The other options do not accurately capture the primary purpose of meta tags. Legal disclaimers relate to compliance and liability issues, website design aesthetics pertain to visual elements that users can see, and tracking user interactions involves the use of analytics tools rather than meta tags. Thus, the role of meta tags in relation to search engine results is what makes this answer the most accurate in the context of their use on websites.