OGP Checker — Preview How Your URL Looks on Social Media

The Open Graph Protocol was created by Facebook in 2010 and has since been adopted by virtually every major social platform including LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack, iMessage, and Discord. At minimum, every shareable page should include four tags: og:title (the headline shown in the card), og:description (the supporting text beneath the title), og:image (the preview image), and og:type (usually "website" or "article"). The og:url tag is also strongly recommended — it specifies the canonical URL associated with the content, ensuring that social share counts are consolidated to a single URL even if users share the page from different paths. Each of these tags should be placed in the HTML head section and use absolute URLs rather than relative paths.

The og:image is the most visually impactful element of any social share. Facebook and LinkedIn recommend a minimum size of 1200×630 pixels with a 1.91:1 aspect ratio. Images below 600×315 may be displayed as small thumbnails instead of large cards, dramatically reducing visual appeal. Use JPG or PNG format — PNG is preferred for images with text overlays since it avoids JPEG compression artefacts. Always use an absolute HTTPS URL for the image path. Include an og:image:width and og:image:height tag to help platforms render the card without waiting for the image to load, reducing layout shift. Avoid placing critical text or logos near the edges of the image since some platforms crop it further on mobile displays.

Social platforms cache OGP data aggressively — sometimes for days or even weeks. After updating your og: tags, old previews may continue to appear in shares. To force a cache refresh on Facebook and Instagram, use the Facebook Sharing Debugger (developers.facebook.com/tools/debug) and click "Scrape Again." LinkedIn provides a Post Inspector at linkedin.com/post-inspector. Twitter/X caches card data when a URL is first tweeted; new tweets will pick up updated tags, but existing tweets retain the cached version. This OGP Checker always fetches live data directly from the page, so it accurately reflects the current state of your tags regardless of what cached previews show on social platforms.

While og:title and og:description do not directly affect search rankings, they function as ad copy in social feeds. The og:title should be concise and compelling — ideally under 60 characters so it does not get truncated. It does not need to exactly match your HTML title tag; you can write a more social-friendly version that emphasises benefits over keywords. The og:description gives you roughly 150–200 characters to expand on the headline and persuade users to click. Include a clear value proposition and, where appropriate, an implied call to action. Test different descriptions by sharing your page in a private Facebook post or using a preview tool to see how they look before publishing broadly.

Different platforms handle OGP tags slightly differently. Facebook requires all four core tags and additionally uses og:site_name to display your brand. LinkedIn respects og: tags but has stricter image aspect ratio enforcement. Twitter/X prefers its own twitter:card, twitter:title, and twitter:image tags but falls back to og: equivalents when its native tags are absent. Pinterest uses og:image as the pin source image. Messaging apps like Slack, Discord, and iMessage use og: tags for link unfurling previews in chat. Testing your pages with this OGP Checker before sharing ensures a consistent, professional appearance across all these platforms without having to post test links manually on each service.