Open Graph Meta Tags Best Practices: The 2026 Checklist

The definitive best practices for og:title, og:image, og:description, og:url, og:type, and Twitter card tags — with exact character limits, image specs, and platform gotchas.

The core four OG tags (required)

Every page that could be shared on social media should have these four OG tags at minimum:

<meta property="og:title"       content="Your Page Title" />
<meta property="og:description" content="A concise summary of this page — 1–2 sentences." />
<meta property="og:image"       content="https://yoursite.com/images/og-card.png" />
<meta property="og:url"         content="https://yoursite.com/your-page" />

All four are read by Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Slack, Discord, iMessage, Telegram, WhatsApp, and most other platforms.

og:image best practices

Size: 1200×630px is the universal standard. It works well on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Slack, and Discord. Never go below 200×200px or platforms will ignore it.

Format: PNG or JPEG. Avoid WebP (not supported by Facebook or Slack) and SVG (not supported by most platforms). Animated GIFs are ignored by Twitter/LinkedIn.

File size: Keep under 5MB (Twitter hard limit). Aim for under 500KB for fast loading.

URL: Must be an absolute HTTPS URL. Relative paths and HTTP URLs are ignored by all major platforms.

Text on the image: Keep text in the center 70% of the image — platforms may crop edges on mobile.

<!-- ✅ Correct -->
<meta property="og:image"        content="https://yoursite.com/og/my-page.png" />
<meta property="og:image:width"  content="1200" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630" />
<meta property="og:image:alt"    content="Description of the image for screen readers" />

<!-- ❌ Wrong — relative URL -->
<meta property="og:image" content="/images/og.png" />

<!-- ❌ Wrong — HTTP (not HTTPS) -->
<meta property="og:image" content="http://yoursite.com/og.png" />

og:title best practices

Length: 60–90 characters. Twitter truncates at ~70 chars on mobile; LinkedIn at ~100 chars. Facebook shows up to 130 chars.

Content: Make it specific and compelling. Don't just repeat the page's <title> tag if it includes boilerplate like "My Site | Page Name" — remove the brand suffix for social sharing.

<!-- ✅ Good: concise, specific, no site name suffix -->
<meta property="og:title" content="How to Fix OG Image Not Updating on Twitter" />

<!-- ❌ Avoid: truncated on mobile, wastes chars on brand -->
<meta property="og:title" content="How to Fix OG Image Not Updating on Twitter | My Company Name" />

og:description best practices

Length: 150–200 characters. Twitter shows ~200 chars; LinkedIn ~120 chars; Facebook ~250 chars. Write for the shortest (LinkedIn).

Content: Expand on the title. Answer "why should I click this?" Be specific — vague descriptions reduce click-through rates.

<!-- ✅ Specific, benefit-clear -->
<meta property="og:description"
  content="Fixed your OG image but Twitter still shows the old one? Here are 5 reasons why — and how to force a cache refresh on every platform." />

<!-- ❌ Vague, no value signal -->
<meta property="og:description"
  content="Learn about fixing OG images in our helpful guide." />

og:type best practices

Use the most specific type that matches your content:

<!-- Homepage, landing pages -->
<meta property="og:type" content="website" />

<!-- Blog posts, news articles, documentation -->
<meta property="og:type" content="article" />

<!-- Product pages -->
<meta property="og:type" content="product" />

<!-- User profiles -->
<meta property="og:type" content="profile" />

For og:type="article", also add article-specific properties:

<meta property="article:published_time" content="2026-03-24T00:00:00Z" />
<meta property="article:author"         content="https://yoursite.com/about" />
<meta property="article:section"        content="Engineering" />

Twitter card tags (always include)

Twitter prioritizes its own twitter:* tags over OG tags. Always include both:

<meta name="twitter:card"        content="summary_large_image" />
<meta name="twitter:title"       content="Your Page Title" />
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Your description here." />
<meta name="twitter:image"       content="https://yoursite.com/og/my-page.png" />
<meta name="twitter:image:alt"   content="Alt text for the image" />

<!-- Optional: Twitter handle -->
<meta name="twitter:site"    content="@YourSiteHandle" />
<meta name="twitter:creator" content="@AuthorHandle" />

The complete OG tag boilerplate (copy-paste)

<!-- Core OG -->
<meta property="og:title"        content="Your Page Title" />
<meta property="og:description"  content="Your 150-char description." />
<meta property="og:image"        content="https://yoursite.com/og/page.png" />
<meta property="og:image:width"  content="1200" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630" />
<meta property="og:image:alt"    content="Alt text for the image" />
<meta property="og:url"          content="https://yoursite.com/page" />
<meta property="og:type"         content="article" />
<meta property="og:site_name"    content="Your Site Name" />
<meta property="og:locale"       content="en_US" />

<!-- Twitter / X -->
<meta name="twitter:card"        content="summary_large_image" />
<meta name="twitter:title"       content="Your Page Title" />
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Your 150-char description." />
<meta name="twitter:image"       content="https://yoursite.com/og/page.png" />
<meta name="twitter:image:alt"   content="Alt text for the image" />
<meta name="twitter:site"        content="@YourHandle" />

<!-- Canonical -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://yoursite.com/page" />

The OG best-practices checklist

  • ✅ og:title is 60–90 chars, no brand suffix
  • ✅ og:description is 150–200 chars, specific
  • ✅ og:image is 1200×630px, PNG/JPEG, absolute HTTPS URL
  • ✅ og:image is under 5MB, publicly accessible
  • ✅ og:url matches the canonical URL
  • ✅ og:type matches the content type
  • ✅ Twitter card tags present (summary_large_image)
  • ✅ Tags are in server-rendered HTML (not JS-injected)
  • ✅ One unique OG set per page (no duplicate tags)

Validate your OG tags

Paste any URL into OGFixer to instantly see how your link previews look on Twitter, LinkedIn, Slack, and Discord — and catch violations of these best practices before sharing.