What are Open Graph tags and why do they matter?

Open Graph (OG) tags are HTML meta tags that control how your page appears when shared on social media. They define the title, description, and image shown in link previews on X, LinkedIn, Slack, Facebook, and other platforms. Without them, platforms may display incorrect or missing information.

Why does my link preview look different on X (Twitter) vs LinkedIn?

Each platform has its own preview card format and image aspect ratio requirements. X uses Twitter Card meta tags (with fallback to OG tags), while LinkedIn uses Open Graph tags directly. Image dimensions, title length limits, and description truncation all vary by platform.

What image size should I use for social sharing?

For maximum compatibility across platforms, use 1200×630 pixels (1.91:1 ratio) for your OG image. X's summary_large_image card works best with this size. LinkedIn and Facebook also display this ratio well. Always include og:image:width and og:image:height meta tags.

How can I debug why my link preview isn't updating?

Social platforms cache link previews aggressively. Use each platform's debug tool to force a re-scrape: Twitter Card Validator, LinkedIn Post Inspector, or Facebook Sharing Debugger. This tool shows you what the current meta tags produce so you can verify before requesting a cache refresh.

Free Meta Tag & OG Preview Checker — open graph preview checker

How Open Graph Tags Shape Your Social Media Presence

When someone shares a link to your startup on X, LinkedIn, Slack, or any social platform, the preview card that appears is controlled entirely by Open Graph and Twitter Card meta tags in your HTML. These small pieces of metadata determine the title, description, and image that represent your brand across the social web. A missing or poorly configured OG image can mean the difference between a share that drives hundreds of clicks and one that gets completely ignored.

For startup founders, social sharing is a primary distribution channel. Your launch announcements, blog posts, product updates, and landing pages will be shared across dozens of platforms. Each platform renders link previews differently — X uses a compact card format, LinkedIn displays a larger image with more text, Slack shows an inline preview with a colored sidebar, and Google Search uses its own snippet format. Optimizing for all four requires understanding each platform's unique requirements.

Platform-Specific Preview Differences

X (Twitter) supports two card types: summary (small square image) and summary_large_image (wide banner). It reads Twitter-specific meta tags first (twitter:card, twitter:title, twitter:description, twitter:image) and falls back to Open Graph tags. Images should be at least 800×418 pixels for large cards.

LinkedIn exclusively uses Open Graph tags (og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url). It displays a 1.91:1 aspect ratio image prominently above the title and description. LinkedIn is particularly strict about image caching — once it scrapes your page, the preview is cached for up to 7 days.

Slack renders inline previews using Open Graph tags with a colored left border. It shows the site name, title, description, and image in a compact format. Slack also extracts and displays the favicon for brand identification.

Google Search uses a combination of title tags, meta descriptions, and structured data. While not technically "social sharing," your Google search listing is the most viewed preview of your content and follows similar optimization principles.

Common OG Tag Mistakes

The most frequent issues we see from startup founders: using a relative image URL instead of absolute (most platforms require https://), missing the og:image:width and og:image:height tags (causes slow rendering on some platforms), using an image that's too small (below 200×200 pixels gets rejected by most platforms), and forgetting to set og:type (defaults to "website" but "article" is better for blog posts).

Using This Tool

Enter your page's meta information or paste a URL to preview exactly how your link will appear across all four major platforms. Compare the previews side-by-side to identify issues before you share. During your Pro Launch project submission, this preview shows you exactly how your listing will look when shared — ensuring maximum impact from day one.