What are Open Graph tags and why do they matter?
+Open Graph (OG) tags are meta tags that control how your page appears when shared on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Slack, and WhatsApp. Without OG tags, these platforms auto-generate previews by scraping your page, which often results in incorrect images, truncated titles, or irrelevant descriptions. Proper OG tags ensure every share of your content looks professional and compelling.
Which Open Graph tags are required?
+The four core tags are og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url. Additionally og:type (usually "website" or "article") and og:site_name are strongly recommended. For optimal rendering, set og:image:width and og:image:height. Twitter has its own tags (twitter:card, twitter:title, twitter:description, twitter:image) but falls back to OG tags.
What is the ideal image size for Open Graph?
+Recommended: 1200 x 630 pixels. This works well across all major platforms. Facebook recommends minimum 600 x 315. Twitter summary_large_image is 1200 x 628. LinkedIn is 1200 x 627. A single 1200 x 630 image covers all platforms. Keep file size under 5MB and use JPEG or PNG.
Why does my social preview look different from what I set?
+Social platforms cache OG data aggressively. After updating OG tags, clear the cache on each platform. Facebook Sharing Debugger lets you re-scrape. Twitter Card Validator and LinkedIn Post Inspector do the same. Also ensure og:image is an absolute URL (https://) and publicly accessible.
Do Open Graph tags affect SEO rankings?
+Not a direct Google ranking factor. They impact SEO indirectly through social engagement. Pages with compelling OG tags get more shares, which drives referral traffic and brand searches. Social signals may influence how Google perceives content popularity. Well-optimized social previews increase CTR from social platforms.
How do I implement Open Graph tags on my website?
+OG tags go in the <head> of your HTML as meta tags with property attribute. Example: <meta property="og:title" content="Your Title">. In WordPress, Yoast or Rank Math provide OG fields per page. In Next.js, set them through the metadata export. Always test using each platform's debugger.