What is Open Graph? Complete Guide with Examples
The Open Graph protocol is a set of meta tags originally created by Facebook that controls how web pages are represented when shared on social media platforms. Open Graph tags define the title, description, image, and type that appear in social media link previews. Without OG tags, platforms attempt to scrape this information from page content, often with poor results.
Use our free Open Graph Preview to experiment with open graph protocol.
How Does Open Graph Protocol Work?
When a URL is shared on a social platform, the platform's crawler fetches the page and reads Open Graph meta tags in the <head> section. Tags like og:title, og:description, og:image, and og:url define the link preview. The platform caches this data, so changes to OG tags may not appear immediately for previously shared URLs. Twitter uses its own Twitter Card meta tags (twitter:card, twitter:title) that fall back to OG tags if not present.
Key Features
- og:title, og:description for controlling social share preview text
- og:image with recommended 1200x630px dimensions for optimal display across platforms
- og:type specifying content type (website, article, product, video)
- og:url defining the canonical URL for the shared content
- Twitter Card integration with summary, summary_large_image, and player card types
Common Use Cases
Social Media Marketing
Marketing teams optimize OG tags to ensure blog posts, product pages, and landing pages display compelling previews when shared, increasing click-through rates from social channels.
Content Distribution
Publishers configure article-specific OG tags with author information, publish dates, and section tags to enhance how articles appear on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms.
E-commerce Product Sharing
Product pages use og:type='product' with price and availability OG tags so shared products display rich previews with pricing information on social platforms.