Tutorial: Learn how to test open graph tags now! 🤔
In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at several options for testing Open Graph Meta Tags (OGP tags).
I have another article available regarding how to test Open Graph tags locally — this article covers some ideas around how you can test OGP meta tags during development.
These Open Graph validation tools are free to use and available online and include the Facebook Sharing Debugger, the LinkedIn Post Inspector, and the Twitter Card Validator; the OpenGraph.xyz website aggregates these three tests and adds additional testing for Discord and can be helpful when checking social media meta tags on your website.
Open Graph Testing TOC
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Open Graph Testing Tool Options
The following list contains several OpenGraph validator tools that are useful when developing webpages that implement Open Graph tags.
OpenGraph Testing with the Facebook Sharing Debugger
Since Open Graph meta tags were developed by Facebook, this is arguably the best place to start your Open Graph testing using the Facebook Sharing Debugger (FSD).
The first step when testing with the FSD is to add the target page URL in the text field indicated by the red arrow below.
Below we can see the result of testing the Open Graf tags using the Facebook For Developers Sharing Debugger.
We can opt to ignore any warnings that have been identified however we need to fix any errors that were uncovered.
OpenGraph Testing with the LinkedIn Post Inspector
LinkedIn provides its own tool for testing OGP tags called the LinkedIn Post Inspector (LPI).
If you’re posting content on LinkedIn and would like to see how the social media platform unfurls a link that’s been enhanced by OGP tags, check this OGP testing tool out.
Below I’ve included the landing page for the LinkedIn Open Graph test tool website.
The image below demonstrates the results of the LPI test.
The publish date at the bottom in red appears to not be found after the OG validation has been completed — we should endeavor to fix this and any other errors that have been identified.
Open Graph Testing with the Twitter Card Validator and Twitter Tweet Composer
The Twitter Card Validator is another debugger that is available for testing purposes however if you want to see the preview image you’ll need to use the Twitter Tweet Composer for this step.
In fact, one could start with the Tweet Composer first if they want and then use the Twitter Card Debugger if there’s an issue unfurling the URL.
The Twitter Card Validator will check for both Twitter Card metadata and if these tags do not exist, it will test for the presence of OGP tags and validate using those.
Below we can see the Twitter Card Validator including a URL to the article that addresses how to fix the og:image Open Graph meta tags are missing critical error.
The Twitter Tweet Composer is a feature on Twitter that allows users to create and post tweets.
The Twitter Tweet Composer has a simple interface where you can type your message, add images, videos, GIFs, polls, or location tags, and then share it with your followers.
I’ve included on the right side of this page a copy of the Tweet preview from the Twitter Tweet Composer.
This page contains both Twitter Cards as well as Open Graph Protocol Tags (OGP tags).
This is important because Twitter will use the Twitter Cards first and, if they’re not present, it will look for the OGP tags and use those if they’re present on the page.
In the next example, we’ll cover a website that allows the content engineer to run several of these tests at once.
Open Graph validation with opengraph.xyz
The OpenGraph.xyz website aggregates Facebook Sharing Debugger, LinkedIn Post Inspector, Twitter Card Validator, and Discord testing such that they can be conveniently executed in parallel from a single place.
Testing Open Graph tags locally
This section of this article has been moved to the tutorial which focuses specifically on testing Open Graph tags locally.
Tutorial Conclusion
Many applications and websites support Open Graph meta tags and this list of validators and debuggers may be updated periodically if I find other tools that should be listed here.
This instructional is a content experiment based on keyword research using SEMrush.
