What is Open Graph used for and how should it be configured?
Social media plays a huge role in doing business and attracting customers. They are an ideal place to introduce your products and services. In a crowd of information, it’s important to stand out and grab users’ attention. This is where Open Graph comes in – a protocol that allows you to customize the appearance of links and content previews on social media.
Why is Open Graph important?
Open Graph is a key element in the effective use of social media. Here are some reasons why you should pay attention to this protocol:
Increased visibility
With Open Graph, we can generate attractive content previews that stand out among the numerous posts and links. The right images, titles and descriptions can grab users’ attention, encouraging them to click through and read the content.
Improved sharing
Open Graph gives us the ability to customize the appearance of our content before sharing it. We can control how our content will look on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. This gives us more control over the first impression users get when they see our links.
Tracking effectiveness
Open Graph allows us to monitor the number of shares, interactions and other performance indicators. This allows us to collect data on our social media activities and adjust our strategy based on the information collected. Analyzing the results allows us to better understand the preferences of our target audience and make more accurate marketing decisions.
How to implement Open Graph properly?
To effectively exploit the potential of Open Graph, there are a few tips to follow: Setting metadata: The first step is to establish basic elements such as title, description and image. This information will be used by social media to generate content previews. It is important to keep this metadata consistent with the content, attractive and short. Adapt to the requirements of social media platforms: Each social media platform has its own specific requirements for image sizes and additional metadata. Be sure to read the guidelines of each platform and adjust our content to be optimal on each platform. Attention to detail and tailoring to the specifics of each platform translate into better results. Testing and optimization: It is important to regularly test how our content looks on different social media platforms. There are tools that allow us to see a preview of our links and check if they look in line with our expectations. If we notice any shortcomings, it’s worth making adjustments. In addition, monitoring the effectiveness of our efforts is key. Data analysis will allow us to adjust our strategy and achieve better results.
The most important Open Graph tags
The basic Open Graph tags that can be used to customize the appearance of links and content previews on social media platforms are:
<meta property=”og:title” content=”Content title”>: Specifies the content title to be displayed in the preview on social media platforms.
<meta property=”og:description” content=”Content description”>: Used to define the content description that will appear in the preview. It should be attractive and short.
<meta property=”og:image” content=”URL_image”>: Specifies the URL of the image to be displayed in the content preview. The image should be appropriately sized and attractive.
<meta property=”og:url” content=”URL_page”>: Stores the URL of the page where the content is located. Enables better performance tracking and correct display of previews on different platforms.
<meta property=”og:type” content=”type_content”>: Defines the content type, e.g. “article” for articles, “video” for videos, etc. Helps social media platforms to better understand and interpret the content.
<meta property=”og:site_name” content=”Site_name”>: Stores the name of the site or brand from which the content originated. Can be used in content previews on social media platforms.
<meta property=”og:locale” content=”localization code”>: Specifies the localization code, e.g. “pl_EN” for the Polish language version. Helps social media platforms to correctly display content in the correct language.
<meta property=”og:article:published_time” content=”date_published”>: Stores the publication date of the content in YYYY-MM-DD format. Makes it easier for social media platforms to understand and display the news.
<meta property=”og:article:author” content=”author”>: Identifies the author of the content. Can be used to display author information on social media platforms. These Open Graph tags are the basic elements to consider when implementing Open Graph on a website. Remember that setting them up properly and matching them to your content is key to generating compelling previews and increasing your social media effectiveness.
Open Graph implementation on individual CMS
There are many solutions for implementing Open Graph on various content management systems (CMS). Here are some popular CMSs and how to implement Open Graph on them:
WordPress
There are many WordPress plugins, such as Yoast SEO or All in One SEO Pack, that allow you to easily implement Open Graph. All you need to do is install and configure the appropriate plugin, which automatically adds the appropriate Open Graph tags to each page.
Drupal
In Drupal, you can use the “Metatag” module to manage metadata, including Open Graph tags. After installing the module, you can configure Open Graph tags for specific types of content and pages.
Joomla
It is also possible to implement Open Graph in Joomla using extensions. For example, the “Joomla Social Meta Tags” extension allows you to easily add Open Graph tags to Joomla pages.
Magento
For Magento, you can use modules or extensions that add Open Graph support. Popular modules such as “Fooman Open Graph” or “Magento Open Graph” make it easy to implement Open Graph in a Magento-based online store. It is worth remembering that different CMS versions may have different solutions and tools for implementing Open Graph. It is always a good idea to consult the documentation of the CMS in question, or use the appropriate extensions, modules or applications that will make it easier to implement Open Graph on the chosen platform.
Summary
Open Graph is an indispensable tool for anyone who wants to effectively leverage the potential of social media. With this protocol, we can increase the visibility of our content, improve sharing and track the effectiveness of our efforts. Proper implementation of metadata, adaptation of content to different platforms and analysis of results are key elements of success. Remember that in a crowd of information you need to stand out, and Open Graph gives us the tools to achieve this goal.
