Open Graph Meta Tags: 9-Steps to Deploy OG Tags & Influence on Search Results

open graph meta tags

Content analysts publish content only when it has the right portions of on-page optimization and social media SEO factors incorporated.

‘Content is king,’ but what is it without readers, followers, and consumers?

SEO analysts encourage utilizing the open graph meta tags to reach a wider audience and share your blog posts for your followers to consume.

Activate the outreach potential of your web pages using open graph protocol (OGP) or meta tags. Lean on reliable and expert agencies like Authority Magnet. We use industry-specific SEO knowledge and years of off-page optimization lessons to prepare your webpage content, URLs, and images with the correct key phrases and characters.

What Are Open Graph Meta Tags?

What Are Open Graph Meta Tags?

When you share a website blog post on Facebook, the post will appear with a display image, a short meta description, and a meta title. This frontend display card is called Open Graph Meta Tags.

In other words, OGP tags are HTML snippets that help you decide how to display your content on social media platforms. Therefore, when a potential audience posts your blog on LinkedIn or Twitter, they can change the final appearance using open graph meta tags.

In 2010, Facebook first introduced open graph tags.

Why?

That’s because Facebook wanted to promote the integration between their host domain and third-party websites. These meta tags, therefore, make the posts rich snippets.

According to Neil Patel, “…it helps optimize Facebook posts by providing more control over how information travels from a third-party website to Facebook when a page is shared (or liked, etc.).”

Other social media platforms, like Twitter and LinkedIn, are taking advantage of open graph tags.

Note: Twitter has individual meta tags for Twitter cards; however, if the Twitter robots fail to find the tweet, it uses the open graph meta tags.

Every social media platform supports varied open graph tag structures, and some of them are:

  • Facebook: Articles, Photos, Video, Audio
  • Google+: Articles, Blogs, Books, Events, Local Businesses, Organizations, Persons, Products, and Reviews
  • Twitter Cards: Summaries, Images, Galleries, Apps, Video, Audio, and Products.
  • Pinterest Rich Pins: Products, Recipes, Movies, and Articles

Bonus Read: SEO Title Tags: Their Importance & How to Rank Higher on SERPs With Optimised Versions?

How Do Open Graph Meta Tags Influence Search Results?

How Do Open Graph Meta Tags Influence Search Results

Studies have shown that almost 59% of the world’s population uses social media and spends approximately two hours scrolling the platform daily. With these figures in mind, marketers and webpreneurs consider open graph tags a crucial part of marketing strategies.

So, when a user posts a link to your web page on their social media account, the OGP tags ensure that correct information is transmitted from one platform to the other. Besides stimulating quality engagement among your potential audience base, the social media meta tags allow visitors to learn about your products and services.

Furthermore, social media platforms are known for their ability to drive most web traffic. No wonder today’s content marketers prioritize harnessing the full potential of social meta tags.

Setting up OGP tags for all your web pages can be time-consuming. But having these tags on the website can enhance your content distribution strategy.

Here are a few points on how OGP tags influence or benefit search results:

1. Increases Click Through Rate (CTR)

Increases Click Through Rate (CTR)

Every day, social media users consume varied content across formats that suit their search queries and online navigational habits. Take advantage of these habits and create content links that grab people’s attention.

With social media meta tags, get eye-catching links on relevant topics that make people stop scrolling and click. These social media meta tags further help you get positive ROI (or Return On Investment) for your information campaigns.

2. Improves SEO Performance

Several SEO experts have recommended that social media shares and likes can eventually popularize your brand content. These metrics further indicate that people trust your brand and thus reinforce your brand reputation in their community by sharing content links.

In brief, it improves your SEO performance. Consequently, your page gains the chance to rank higher on search engines.

Note: Social media insights help algorithms understand the context of your page, whether the audience appreciates it, and eventually determine suitable rankings on SERPs.

Moreover, OGP tags allow your links to acquire more social media real estate and increase your chances of getting your audience to engage. Such reasons contribute to a rise in brand awareness metrics.

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3. Gains More Backlinks

Gains More Backlinks

Although social media linking functionality is not ideal for building a link profile, OGP tags can broaden your chances of earning backlinks.

How?

The open graph protocol tags increase the visibility of your links, given your audiences or followers share or retweet your posts on their social media feeds.

Simultaneously, OGP tags allow content writers, marketers, journalists, and freelancers from the same industry to discover your links.

If the link matches their search interest, the content writer may include it in the text. That’s how you earn backlinks on social media platforms.

Note: Backlinks are one of the primary search engine ranking factors, and the more you earn them, the better chances you have of occupying the first few positions on SERPs.

If you’ve difficulty setting up the right strategy to gain backlinks, speak to SEO experts at Authority Magnet today.

4. Enhances Shares And Re-Shares

A well-designed link containing an eye-grabbing headline compels a social media user to share or re-share within their social media communities. Remember, the optimized snippets beneath the link reinforce brand credibility in your audience.

On the contrary, a post link without the OGP tags can signify the search engines as broken, or low quality or label them as belonging to spammy sites. Therefore, a content link with a proper image, title, and meta description attracts consistent viewership from your audience.

5. Controls How Your Content Link Appears

Controls How Your Content Link Appears

Many content writers alter the structure of the social meta tags for individual platforms. Although most article links have the same format, you can use open graph protocol tags to customize them for different languages.

Ascertain how your links will appear on messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Slack. Some SEO experts often suggest focusing on the image quality of your content.

Bonus Read: Rich Snippets: What Are They And How To Get Them?

9 Steps To Use The Open Graph Protocol Tags

9 Steps To Use The Open Graph Protocol Tags

Here are 9 steps using which you can set up or embed social media meta tags at specific places and for particular purposes:

1. OG: Title

Such an open graph meta tag is responsible for determining the title of your content. The title should be within 60 to 90 characters but not over 100. If the character count exceeds the limit, the server will automatically shorten it to 90 characters.

It’s one of the crucial social media meta tags that help social media crawlers to understand your link context.

According to Facebook, “Without these Open Graph tags, the Facebook Crawler uses internal heuristics to make a best guess about the title, description, and preview image for your content. Designate this info explicitly with Open Graph tags to ensure the highest quality posts on Facebook.”

Here’s an example of the og: title code format:

<meta property=”og: title”content=”The Content Title”/>

2. OG: URL

Web admins often have multiple URLs for the same content. They can designate one for social media use. This particular OGP tag will help you identify the canonical tag for your post.

Note: The URL doesn’t appear on the Facebook newsfeed, but the domain is visible.

The code format for og:url is:

<meta property=”og: url”content=”www.yoursite.com”/

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3. OG: Type

Og: type

To make search engine bots understand the type of your content, you need og: type open graph tag. You can insert this meta tag for several contents variations, like:

  • For Web-based content: Tag articles, blogs, interviews, and websites
  • For entertainment-based content: Tag books, movies, and other visual assets
  • For content focusing on people: Add tags for actors, athletes, politicians, and artists.

Note: If you don’t specify an OGP tag, it will automatically accept ‘website’ by default.

Furthermore, open graph protocol tags can keep records of your audience’s interests. For instance, if an audience likes a book promotion or shows interest in a music concert, the server will automatically record that in their ‘Interest’ section on Facebook.

Here’s the code format:

<meta property=”og: type”content=”music concert”/

4. OG: Description

It’s very similar to the meta description tag in HTML. Unlike the usual meta description, this social media meta tag doesn’t affect your SEO.

However, you must still describe the content link. That’s because it can trigger your post’s click-through rate.

Determine how your blog post link will appear on the social media feed using this OGP tag. Curate an engaging link description that doesn’t surpass a character limit of 200.

The og: description code format is:

<meta property=”og:description”content=”link description”/

Bonus Read: Google Knowledge Graph: 5 Steps to Own One (With Tips)

5. OG: Video

Insert captivating and relevant video links on your follower’s social media feeds using this OGP tag.

Marketers can use this meta tag to display a film trailer or promote a brand launch.

6. OG: Image

og image

Visual assets like images add value to your content and attract users’ attention. A well-optimized graphic stimulates visitors to engage and share the link within their groups. As a result, images and infographics reach a broader audience base and spread the brand message.

Many content writers choose specific images of 5MB and over 12K pixel resolution to create eye-catching content on platforms like Facebook.

If you pick an image below 400 pixels, it may look like a thumbnail.

Not only will this make your content stand out, but it also will encourage potential audiences to convert into customers.

Some essential facts to consider are:

  • Remember to change the images of all your web pages manually if your website is static or you don’t use WordPress or similar content management systems (CMS).
  • If you work on a CMS like Wix or WordPress, the designated plugins automatically assign images for each content.
  • Ensure you insert the right images for og: image; else, Facebook will choose an ad or irrelevant banner images by default.

The source code of the open graph meta tags includes the links where you’ve kept the images.

Therefore, the source code finally looks like this:

<meta property=”og:image”content=”www.yoursite.com/image name.jpg”/

7. OG: Audio

Attach the URL to an audio file using the og: audio tag.

It’s an accessory meta tag that gives your audiences access to an exclusive interview or a music track.

Bonus Read: Removing URL From Google Search: 7 Ways That Work

8. OG: Site_name

Imagine cracking a long waited deal with an eminent client.

Share the news with your followers and display the name of your entire website using this social media meta tag.

9. OG: Locale

og locale

Such an OGP tag enables you to activate the location and language choices. It’s ideal for e-commerce site owners with a bigger audience reach from various parts of the world.

SEO experts find this social media meta tag essential because it allows global users to explore your websites without hassle.

If you don’t mention the OPG tags, the server will be set to the United States and English, respectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

Some of the popular questions that content marketers and web admins often ask about social media meta tags are:

What are Open Graph meta tags?

Open Graph meta tags are a set of HTML code snippets that webpreneurs use in their content settings to make it more shareable within the social media community. The OGP tags allow web admins to control their post’s appearance on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

What is an example of an Open Graph?

Facebook is a social graph where you can integrate your web pages using meta tags.

What are some of the OG plugins for Twitter cards?

Some of the essential OG plugins for Twitter cards are:
• Magento
• Zen Cart
• Drupal
• Joomla

How do you check OGP tags?

Multiple free tools are available on the internet, using which you can check OGP tags. Social media platforms like Facebook offer free validators to identify bugs in your OGP tags.

How do you find Open Graph tags?

Find the open graph meta tags in the web page’s head section.

Does LinkedIn use Open Graph?

Yes, LinkedIn uses Open Graph. However, every website owner must consider the image specifications typical for this platform.

Bonus Read: What Are Sitelinks And How To Get Them (With Benefits)

Verdict

OGP tags are increasingly gaining attention from SEO experts and marketing analysts worldwide. They have acknowledged the benefits of using Open Graph protocol tags to promote products, spread brand awareness, and boost client interactions.

Well-optimized content with similar quality images and visual assets doesn’t only improve your SEO scores. They perform well on social media platforms, appear before the right group of consumers, and entice them to click the link.

However, individual initiatives have their limitations. Therefore, seek professional help to maintain consistency with qualities.

Contact Authority Magnet‘s team of expert content analysts and SEO gurus. Leveraging social media meta tags and soaring higher on the SERPs is now achievable.

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