Open Graph definition

Open Graph(OG) is a protocol that allows web pages to represent like elements in a social graph. It launched in 2010 by Facebook but is now in the hands of the Open Web Foundation.

The purpose was to offer easier integration between Facebook and other websites by displaying rich graphic objects with the same features as Facebook objects.

For this, the information sent through the OG meta tags in the code part of the website.

What is the use of Open Graph according to an SEO agency?

Website traffic today is largely due to social actions. Therefore, you need to master this tag, as it can make a difference in your click-through rate.

SEO and social media

  • Why use OG and Twitter Cards OnCrawl track your OG and Twitter cards to increase the visibility of your pages on social networks.

How does it work?

The classic example is that you share a link on Facebook, and the thumbnail is missing, or the wrong image appears.

That is quite annoying, right? OG is here to offer better user experience and optimize your shares.

Does Open Graph have an impact on your SEO?

Officially, It doesn’t have a direct impact on your SEO on the page and only seems to be here to optimize your social links.

  • Facebook has taken such an important place over the years that search engines can no longer ignore Open Graph data in its algorithm.
  • It would be difficult to describe exactly that impact, but it certainly exists.
  • However, Google is sure to parse the OG tags and may favor pages on Google+.
  • Even if a webmaster should focus on the description and the title tag first.
  • They should also be very interested in embedding OG on their pages, especially if they share a lot on social media.

How is an Open Graph inserted?

To place an Open Graph, you just have to:

  1. add “http://ogp.me/ns#” in the HTML tag
  2. add in the tag the meta tags with the property and the content attribute
  3. specifies the 4 tags: og: title, og: type, og: URL, og: image
  4. There are also other tags if your page has rich objects like videos.
  5. The main CMS support this option and offer plugins to create Open Graph like WordPress SEO by Yoast.

Also Read: What are Site Link Extensions? – Definition, Configuration, and More