Tutorial: Learn how to test Open Graph Tags now! 🤔
In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at several options that cover how to test Open Graph Tags (OGP tags).
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.
Note that this list of validators may expand over time as there are many websites and applications that support OGP tags.
Open Graph Testing TOC
This article was last updated on March 10, 2025 — see the Open Graph Tutorial category for other articles that can help boost your website’s social media presence.
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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 Preview
A review of the Open Graph Preview tool appears below — this is working at the date of this testing (30.Oct.2024).
See also this post on X (Twitter).
Open Graph Link Preview Landing Page
The following landing page is the entry point for the OpenGraph Preview tool.
Add the target URL and smash that “Preview” button and the test will commence.
Open Graph Link Preview: Facebook Preview
The first test result the OpenGraph Preview service will deliver is for Facebook.
Open Graph Link Preview: X / Twitter Preview
The next test result that the Open Graph Preview tool delivers pertains to X (Twitter).
Open Graph Link Preview: Slack Preview
The next test result that the Open Graph Preview tool delivers pertains to Slack.
Open Graph Link Preview: LinkedIn Preview
The next test result that the Open Graph Preview tool delivers pertains to the LinkedIn professional social network.
Open Graph Link Preview: Discord Preview
The next test result that the Open Graph Preview tool delivers pertains to Discord.
Open Graph Link Preview: Show Debug Details
Finally, we can investigate the Open Graph meta tags and Twitter Card data by clicking on the OpenGraph Preview “Show debug details” link.
Open Graph Link Preview: Debug Details One
Below we can see the first debug details result page for the OpenGraph Preview service.
Open Graph Link Preview: Debug Details Two
Finally, we can see the second debug details result page for the OpenGraph Preview service below.
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.
Social Share Preview
The Social Share Preview solution offers aggregated testing options for Facebook, X.com (previously Twitter), LinkedIn, and a simplified rich pin check for Pinterest.
The Social Share Previews website also offers a browser extension for testing in an offline environment, which I cover in a separate article on how to test Open Graph tags on your own machine.
Using the Social Share Previews website is as easy as entering the URL to the webpage you need to test and then checking the results.
The first step, where I’ve added the URL to another article on this website, appears here:
Included below is the expanded results for the Facebook social media platform Social Share Previews test.
This concludes my short review of the Social Media Share Preview web service, the tutorial conclusion follows.
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.
Tutorial References And Other Articles
- What are OGP Tags?
- Learn how to use Open Graph tags on a website here.
- Ideas to test OpenGraph locally are included here.
- What is the Open Graph Title? Find out here!
- Learn about the Open Graph URL here.
- I have an article that covers how to remedy the “some opengraph meta tags are missing” AIOSEO error.
- This article covers steps for what to do when the WhatsApp OG image is not showing up properly.
