What are Open Graph tags?

Through our SEO Agency Optimize 360

In today's digital world, it is crucial for your website and your media publications to stand out in terms of visibility on social networks.

One way of achieving this is through the use of Open Graph tags.

Are you wondering what these famous tags are?

In this article, we present the definition and main characteristics of Open Graph tags in 10 key points.

1. Origins of Open Graph tags

The concept of Open Graph tagsor og :tags was introduced by Facebook in 2010. This is metadata added to your site to enable it to be better integrated and displayed when your links are shared on the various social platforms.

2. Purpose of Open Graph tags

The main purpose of Open Graph tags is to help social network robots better understand the content of your web pages. Thanks to these tags, these platforms can display a quality preview (with title, description, image, etc.) when you share a link to your site.

3. Open Graph tag types

There are several types of Open Graph tags, which offer the possibility of customising different aspects of the social preview. Here are some of the main tag types:

og :title to define the title of the page or shared content
og :description for a short, attractive description of the content
og :image to choose the image that will appear when sharing
og :url to specify the URL canonical of the page
og :type categorise your content (article, video, company, etc.)

4. Customising the social preview

Open Graph tags allow you to customise the way your links are displayed on social networks. You can choose which title, description and image will be shown to users who see your link.

Example of an og :title tag :

5. Improve the click-through rate

Using Open Graph tags can help to increase the click-through rate to your site. By offering a neat and attractive preview of your page, you encourage more users to click on your link and discover your content.

6. Make it easy to spread your content

By optimising the display of your links on social networks, you make it easier for users to share and spread them. A quality preview will encourage users to share your page with their contacts, boosting the visibility of your content and possibly traffic to your site.

7. Improving referencing

Although Open Graph tags do not have a direct impact on your site's natural ranking in search engines such as Google, they do help to improve your overall online presence. A better click-through rate and better distribution of your content can indirectly contribute to a better good positioning in search results.

8. Take into account the compatibility of social platforms

Even though Facebook is the originator of Open Graph tags, this protocol is now widely supported by other social networks such as Twitter or LinkedIn. You can therefore use these tags to optimise the preview of your links on several platforms at once.

9. Using Open Graph tags for specific content

Although Open Graph tags are generally expressed at the level of each page of your site, you should be aware that it is possible to customise the display according to certain specific elements. For example, if your company has several product categories or different types of content (articles, videos, etc.), it may be worthwhile to create specially adapted tags for each type of contentto optimise social previews and click-through rates.

10. How do I add Open Graph tags to my site?

To set up Open Graph tags, simply insert them in the "head" section of the code HTML for your pages. There are also extensions or plugins for the main content management systems (such as WordPress), which can facilitate this operation without the need to master coding.

It is therefore essential to integrate Open Graph tags into your site to benefit from greater visibility on social networks and potentially improve your online ranking. Take the time to study these elements carefully to design attractive and relevant previews that will encourage web users to click and share your content with their contacts.