--- title: "Social Sharing Previews: Open Graph Tags Explained | MCC" description: "Control the image, title and text that appear when your page is shared on Facebook, LinkedIn or in messages. Learn the tags and test the result." url: "https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/websites/guides/social-sharing-previews-open-graph-tags-explained" --- Guide · Updated October 12, 2026 # Social Sharing Previews: Open Graph Tags Explained When someone pastes your link into a social post or text message, the app builds a preview card with an image, a headline and a short description. If you do not control those, the app guesses, and the result can be a cropped logo or the wrong text. A few tags fix that. By [Matthew Coleman](/about), MCC Solutions **Quick answer.** When someone pastes your link into a post or text, the app builds a preview card from tags in your page's head. The Open Graph set is used widely: og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url and og:type, and X falls back to Open Graph when its own tags are missing. **Free tools:** [Free website SEO check](/websites/seo-checker) · [Search result preview](/websites/search-result-preview) ## How previews are built Platforms read special tags in the head of your page. The Open Graph set, created for Facebook, is used widely by LinkedIn, messaging apps and many others. X has its own card tags but falls back to Open Graph when its own are missing. The main tags are og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url and og:type. ## Write the title and description The social title can differ from your search title. Make it clear and compelling at around 60 characters. The description should be a sentence or two, up to about 150 characters, that tells a reader why to click. Write for people scanning a feed, not search crawlers. Each page that might be shared should have its own, rather than the same text sitewide. ## Choose the right image A common size is 1200 by 630 pixels, with a ratio near 1.91 to 1. Keep important content in the middle, as platforms crop differently. Avoid tiny text. Use JPEG or PNG under about a megabyte. Include the logo subtly. Provide an absolute address that is publicly reachable, with https. For services pages, a custom card with the service name and your logo beats a random stock photo. ## Set it up on your platform SEO plugins for WordPress include a social tab for each page. Builders offer a social image setting in page options. For hand-coded sites, add meta property tags in the head. Make sure the og:url matches the canonical address. If a page has no image set, define a default one for the whole site so shared links always look intentional. ## Test and refresh Facebook's Sharing Debugger and LinkedIn's Post Inspector show how a link will look and let you refresh the platform's cache. Messaging apps cache previews too, so a change may not appear instantly for links shared earlier. Add a version parameter to the image address if you must force an update. Check the preview whenever you launch a new page or update a major one. A good card costs little and improves clicks from every share. ## Mistakes that ruin previews A relative image address, which many platforms cannot fetch. A tiny logo that gets blown up and looks blurry. The same description copied from the search snippet. An image that is blocked by a password, a security plugin or robots.txt. Text baked into the image that gets cut off on a narrow card. When a preview looks wrong, run the page through the debugger tools first. Their messages usually name the problem, such as a missing image or an unreachable address. Whenever you publish a post or service page you plan to share, paste the link into one of the debugger tools before you post. It takes less than a minute and avoids an embarrassing cropped logo in front of your audience. ## Common questions **Do Open Graph tags affect Google rankings?** Not directly. They control social previews, though better clicks can bring more visitors. **Why does my link show an old image?** The platform cached the earlier version. Use its debugger tool to refresh. **Can I use the same image on every page?** You can as a fallback, but custom images for key pages perform better. This guide is general information. Search engines change how they work and their guidelines; check Google's current documentation for your situation. Nobody can guarantee a ranking. Let us handle it [### Technical SEO & schema markup Technical SEO for small business websites: indexing, sitemaps, redirects, canonical tags and schema markup for local businesses and services. Technical SEO →](/websites/services/technical-seo-and-schema)[### Website design Fast, mobile-first small business websites built by a New Jersey firm, with a fixed written quote. You own the domain, hosting and content. Website design →](/websites/services/website-design) More guides - [Homepage layout: what goes at the top of the page](/websites/guides/homepage-layout-what-goes-above-the-fold) - [How to build a simple website navigation menu](/websites/guides/website-navigation-menu-for-small-business) - [Calls to action that get clicks on a small site](/websites/guides/calls-to-action-that-get-clicks) - [How to design a contact page people actually use](/websites/guides/how-to-design-a-contact-page) Free tools - [Website basics check](/websites/seo-checker) - [Is your website working for you? quiz](/websites/quiz) [All guides](/websites/guides) Reach small business owners working on their website and Google listing who read this guide: [advertise here](/advertise#websites). Do it yourself ### Small Business Website Starter A fast, mobile-friendly one-page site you edit in a text editor and host anywhere, with the sections a local service business needs and a plain setup guide. [See what's inside ($29)](/toolkits/small-business-website-starter) [Free sample](/toolkits/small-business-website-starter#free-starter)14-day full refund ## Rather have us handle it? Ask for a quote. [Get a Quote](/websites/#quote)[Call (908) 444-6373](tel:+19084446373)