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The Open Graph Protocol:

Kevin Durant
Improving Social Media Sharing for
Apr 30, 2023 4 min
Websites

The Open Graph Protocol (OGP) is a set of meta tags that allows website owners to
define how their webpages should be displayed when shared on social media
platforms. It was first introduced by Facebook in 2010 and has since been adopted by
other platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. In this blog post, we will
explore what the Open Graph Protocol is, how it works, and provide some examples
of its implementation.

What is the Open Graph Protocol?

The Open Graph Protocol is a set of meta tags that are added to the HTML code of a
webpage to define the content of that page. These meta tags provide information
about the title, description, image, and other relevant data that should be displayed
when the page is shared on social media platforms. By using these meta tags, website
owners can ensure that their pages are displayed in the most accurate and attractive
way possible when they are shared on social media platforms.

The Open Graph Protocol is based on the same principles as metadata, which is used
to provide additional information about a webpage to search engines. However,
unlike metadata, which is primarily used for search engine optimization, the Open
Graph Protocol is specifically designed for social media sharing.

How does the Open Graph Protocol work?

The Open Graph Protocol works by adding meta tags to the HTML code of a
webpage. These meta tags provide information about the content of the page,
including the title, description, image, and other relevant data. When a user shares
the page on a social media platform, the platform reads these meta tags to
determine how to display the content.

The most important meta tags used in the Open Graph Protocol include:

1. og:title: This tag defines the title of the page as it should be displayed on social
media platforms.

2. og:description: This tag defines the description of the page as it should be

displayed on social media platforms.

3. og:image: This tag defines the image of the page as it should be displayed on
social media platforms.

4. og:url: This tag defines the URL of the page.

5. og:type: This tag defines the type of content of the page, such as article, website,
or product.

6. og:site_name: This tag defines the name of the website.

These meta tags can be added to the HTML code of a webpage either manually or
automatically. For example, if you use a content management system (CMS) like
WordPress, you can use a plugin to automatically add the Open Graph Protocol
meta tags to your pages.

Open Graph Protocol implementation

Let's take a look at some examples of how the Open Graph Protocol can be used in
practice.

Blog post
Suppose you have a blog post titled "10 Tips for Improving Your Writing Skills." To
ensure that the post is displayed correctly when it is shared on social media
platforms, you could add the following Open Graph Protocol meta tags to the HTML
code of the page:

<meta property="og:title" content="Your Writing Skills">

<meta property="og:description" content="Check out these 10 t
<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.example.com/im
<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.example.com/blog
improving-your-writing-skills">
<meta property="og:type" content="article">
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Blog">

Product page
Suppose you have an e-commerce website that sells shoes. You want to ensure that
when customers share a product page for a specific shoe on social media, the page
is displayed correctly with the shoe's image, name, and description. You can use the
following Open Graph Protocol meta tags:

<meta property="og:title" content="Nike Air Max 90">

<meta property="og:description" content="Shop the Nike Air Ma
classic shoe that never goes out of style. Available in multi
sizes.">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.example.com/im
max-90.jpg">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.example.com/prod
max-90">
<meta property="og:type" content="product">
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Shoes">

With these meta tags in place, the product page for the Nike Air Max 90 would be
displayed correctly when shared on social media platforms.

Website homepage
Suppose you have a website that provides information on healthy eating. You want to
ensure that when someone shares your website on social media, the homepage is
displayed correctly with the website's logo, name, and description. You can use the
following Open Graph Protocol meta tags:

<meta property="og:title" content="Healthy Eating Tips">

<meta property="og:description" content="Find out the latest
tricks for healthy eating on our website.">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.example.com/im
logo.jpg">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://www.example.com">
<meta property="og:type" content="website">
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Health">

With these meta tags in place, the homepage of the website would be displayed
correctly when shared on social media platforms.

Benefits of using the Open Graph Protocol

Using the Open Graph Protocol provides several benefits for website owners. These
benefits include:

1. Improved social media sharing: By using the Open Graph Protocol, website
owners can ensure that their pages are displayed correctly when shared on social
media platforms. This can help improve the visibility of their content and
increase traffic to their website.

2. Enhanced user experience: When a page is displayed correctly on social media

platforms, users are more likely to click through to the website. This can help
improve the user experience and increase engagement with the website.

3. Increased brand recognition: By displaying the website's logo and name on social
media platforms, website owners can increase brand recognition and awareness.

4. Improved SEO: While the Open Graph Protocol is designed for social media
sharing, it can also have a positive impact on SEO. By providing more accurate
and detailed information about a webpage, search engines can better understand
the content of the page and display it in search results more effectively.

Conclusion
The Open Graph Protocol is a set of meta tags that website owners can use to define
how their webpages should be displayed when shared on social media platforms. By
using these meta tags, website owners can ensure that their pages are displayed in
the most accurate and attractive way possible when they are shared on social media
platforms. The Open Graph Protocol is easy to implement and provides several
benefits for website owners, including improved social media sharing, enhanced user
experience, increased brand recognition, and improved SEO.

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