Open Graph Meta Tag Site Preview
See how your webpage appears when shared across the web by using our free Unfurl Metadata API.
- Slack
What are Meta Tags?
Meta tags are integral to webpages, providing brief content summaries. When sharing a link, the meta tag data offers a preview of the content. Meta tags are crucial for search engines and technical services to understand and index your site, playing a significant role in search engine optimization.
Though vital, meta data isn't visible during casual browsing due to its design for machine consumption. To bridge this gap, our preview tool enables you to visualize how your webpage will appear when shared or linked on Slack, LinkedIn, Google, and other social media sites.
Why are they important?
For SEO, meta tags carry significant weight. Search engines use them to understand the content and relevance of your site, which influences how your page ranks in search results. Well-optimized meta tags can attract more relevant traffic, as they help search engines deliver your page to users who are truly interested in your content. This optimization of meta tags is, therefore, a fundamental aspect of effective SEO strategy.
What tags should be included?
Meta HTML tags are typically placed within the <head> element of an HTML document. This section is not visible to users but the above tool can be helpful in understanding how your web site looks to across the web.
-
The
<title>tag -
The
<meta name="description">tag -
The
<meta name="author">tag
<html>
<head>
<title>A short page title</title>
<meta name="author" content="Site or author name" />
<meta name="description" content="A short description of your page and its contents" />
</head>
</html>Open Graph meta tags are highly valuable for enhancing the appearance and effectiveness of shared content on social media platforms. By optimizing Open Graph tags, you can ensure that your content presents attractively with a clear title, description, and preview image, thus increasing the likelihood of engagement.
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The
<meta property="og:title" />tag -
The
<meta property="og:description" />tag -
The
<meta property="og:type" />tag. For a list of possible values, refer to list of types. -
The
<meta property="og:image" />tag which ideally reference an image that's at least 1200 pixels in width for optimal display on high resolution devices.
<html>
<head>
<meta property="og:title" content="A short page title" />
<meta property="og:description" content="A short description of your page and its contents" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/rock2.jpg" />
</head>
</html> When using Open Graph tags, og:title, og:type, og:image, and og:url are required when utilizing Open Graph metadata.
The Canonical URL meta tag is an essential tool for preventing duplicate content issues on websites. By using the 'rel=canonical' tag, you can specify to search engines which version of a webpage is the 'original' or 'preferred' one. This is particularly useful when similar or identical content appears across multiple URLs. By designating a canonical URL, you ensure that search engines understand which version to index and rank, thereby preventing any dilution of SEO value due to duplicate content.
<html>
<head>
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/preferred-url-here/" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/preferred-url-here" />
</head>
</html> The og:url meta tag is used to specify the canonical URL for the page, ensuring consistency across different access points.
In conclusion, meta tags play a crucial role in enhancing a website's visibility, user engagement, and search engine optimization. Proper use and optimization of these tags can significantly improve your site's performance, making it more discoverable and user-friendly. They are pivotal tools in the digital world, facilitating better indexing, improved SEO, and effective content sharing.