The Complete Guide to Open Graph Tags [2026]
The complete guide to Open Graph tags in 2026 covers every og: property, its correct syntax, platform-specific requirements, and optimisation tactics. Open Graph is the metadata protocol that controls how your web pages look when shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Slack, WhatsApp, and dozens of other platforms. WikiPlus OG Preview tool at wikiplus.co lets you test the result of your implementation in real time.
The Required Open Graph Tags and Their Syntax
The Open Graph Protocol specifies four required tags. og:title sets the headline displayed in the card. og:type sets the content type — use website for general pages and article for blog posts. og:image sets the thumbnail image and must be an absolute HTTPS URL. og:url sets the canonical URL of the page. These four tags are the minimum for any OG implementation. Missing any one of them causes unpredictable rendering across platforms. While technically optional, og:description is effectively required for professional implementations as its absence leaves card text dependent on platform-selected page text, which is rarely ideal.
Recommended Optional Open Graph Tags
Beyond the required four, these optional tags significantly improve preview quality. og:description provides the card body text. og:site_name adds your brand or website name in platform caption areas. og:image:width and og:image:height specify image dimensions in pixels, allowing platforms to size the image container before the image loads. og:locale sets the content language and region. og:image:alt adds alt text for the OG image for accessibility. For article content, the article: namespace tags provide rich context: article:published_time in ISO 8601 format, article:author linking to the author profile URL, article:section for content category, and article:tag for relevant keywords.
Platform-Specific OG Requirements Reference
Facebook: og:image minimum 1200x630, maximum 8 MB, title truncated after 88 characters, description shown up to 300 characters, cache TTL up to 30 days. LinkedIn: og:image minimum 1200x628, title truncated after 70 characters, description truncated after 120 characters, cache TTL 7 days. X/Twitter: requires twitter:card with no og: fallback for card type, twitter:image minimum 1200x628, title and description truncated after 70 characters. Slack: reads og: tags for URL unfurls, shows og:image as thumbnail, og:title as bold link, og:description in full. WhatsApp: reads og:title and og:image, crops image to square, cache TTL several weeks with no official clearing tool.
Dynamic OG Tags and Automation at Scale
For sites with hundreds of pages, manually writing OG tags for each page is impractical. Use your CMS or framework template system to automatically populate og:title from the page title, og:description from the page summary field, og:image from a designated social image field or dynamically generated image API, and og:url from the canonical URL. For e-commerce, populate og:title from product name, og:description from product description truncated to 160 characters, and og:image from a product-specific social image. Test a sample of dynamically generated pages using WikiPlus OG Preview to confirm the template produces correct, well-formed tags. Automated testing with Playwright or Cypress can assert that specific OG tags contain expected content on every page deploy.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the difference between og:title and the HTML title tag?
- The HTML title tag sets the browser tab label and Google search result link text — it is optimised for search. The og:title tag sets the headline shown in social media preview cards — it is optimised for social sharing. They can contain the same text but often should differ: SEO titles include keywords and brand names; OG titles prioritise engagement and readability in a feed context. If og:title is absent, most platforms fall back to reading the HTML title tag.
- How many og:image tags can I have?
- You can include multiple og:image tags to provide image options at different sizes. Platforms will select the most appropriate one based on their card format requirements. The recommended approach is to include one image at 1200x630 for wide card format and optionally a second at 400x400 for square format for WhatsApp. The first og:image tag is treated as the primary choice by most platforms.
- Do og: tags need to be updated for every page change?
- Update your OG tags whenever you change the page title, primary image, description, or URL. For blog posts, update article:published_time when revising content and consider updating og:title if you revise the post title. For product pages, update og:image when you update product imagery. After updating, remember to clear the platform caches using the platform debug tools to ensure the new tags are scraped and displayed.