What is Open Graph
Also known as: OG tags, og:image, Open Graph protocol, social meta tags
Open Graph is a meta tag protocol that defines how a page appears when its link is shared on social networks and messaging apps: title, description, image and URL. It was created at Facebook and is now read by platforms such as LinkedIn and WhatsApp. Without it, each platform guesses what to show, and the preview often comes out with no image or the wrong text.
A company sends a client the link to a sales proposal over WhatsApp. The page has no Open Graph: the preview shows the domain name, no image and the first sentence the app found, which was the cookie notice.
With four tags in the head, the same message now shows the proposal's cover, the title Proposal for your company and a line of description. Same link; a different first impression.
The essential tags
| What it sets | Status | |
|---|---|---|
| og:title | The preview title | Required |
| og:type | The content type, such as website or article | Required |
| og:image | The preview image | Required |
| og:url | The page's canonical URL | Required |
| og:description | One or two sentences of description | Recommended |
| og:site_name | The site's name | Recommended |
The image matters most
- Use an absolute https URL and an image that opens without a login.
- The most common size is 1200 by 630 pixels, which is what ROO3 pages use.
- Keep text in the image away from the edges: some preview formats crop the image to a square.
- Keep the file light; a heavy image may simply not load in the preview.
- One image per page, matching its content, beats the same generic image everywhere.
Open Graph even on pages that are not meant for Google
A rule we adopted after getting it wrong: every page gets Open Graph, including noindex pages, internal pages and proposal pages. Noindex keeps a page out of search, but it does not stop anyone from pasting the link into a chat, and those pages, sent to a specific client, are exactly where the preview matters most.
Why the preview does not change
Platforms cache previews. After changing the image or title, the old version may keep showing for a while.
LinkedIn has Post Inspector, which reads the page again and shows what it sees; Meta has an equivalent tool for Facebook. On WhatsApp, a link that was already sent usually keeps its old preview. A new parameter at the end of the URL, such as ?v=2, makes the platform treat the link as new.
Open Graph and Google
Open Graph was not built for search, but Google reads it. The og:title content is one of the sources Google considers when generating a result's title link, and og:site_name is one of the sources for the site name shown above it. It is not an announced ranking factor, but it is one more place where title and name need to be consistent.
Frequently asked questions
What is Open Graph?
A meta tag protocol that defines the title, description, image and URL of a page's preview when its link is shared.
Which Open Graph tags are required?
The protocol defines four: og:title, og:type, og:image and og:url. og:description is recommended.
What is the ideal og:image size?
The most common size is 1200 by 630 pixels. What matters is keeping text away from the edges, because some preview formats crop the image.
Why does WhatsApp show the old preview?
Because platforms cache previews. A new parameter in the URL, such as ?v=2, makes the link get read again.
Does Open Graph help SEO?
Indirectly. Google considers og:title as one of the sources for title links and og:site_name for the site name, but the main purpose is the preview on social networks and messaging apps.
Related terms
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- Canonical tagA canonical URL is the version Google picks as the main one when the same content exists at several...
- Structured dataStructured data is a block of code, invisible to visitors, that describes a page's content in a standard...
- SERPSERP stands for search engine results page, the page a search engine shows after a query. On Google, it...
- Landing pageA landing page is the page a person reaches after clicking an ad, email or link, built to lead to a single...
- CTAA CTA (call to action) is the element that invites a person to take the next step: a button such as "Get...
Rodrigo Fávaro
Founder of ROO3, a marketing and technology agency in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. Builds AI products running in production (Tobia, gerar.app, Pense Mercado) and maintains the AI Benchmark, a public ranking of AI models.
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