Have you noticed that some links shared on Facebook end up displaying a pretty and informative preview and other generate a confusing mess of unrelated title, description, and image?
Facebook invented and supports OpenGraph meta tags which you can put on your site pages to better identify the information you think should be shared when someone Likes the page (see Social Plugins) or just shares the link by typing your URL into their Status box on Facebook.
They’re really pretty easy.
I only used one tag on my own website. I wanted a picture of my choosing to appear on Facebook:
<meta property=”og:image” content=”http://www.winett.com/assets/joe-winett-og-image.jpg” />
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| https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/ |
Facebook has an object debug tool at this site (if you click it you’ll see what’s right and wrong about my own site.
Here is a handy article that lays it all out.
http://www.customfitonline.com/news/2013/2/27/how-to-use-facebooks-open-graph-tags/
Interestingly, he doesn’t use the tags on his own site.
This Gizmodo posting has everything done completely perfectly:
http://gizmodo.com/the-bed-in-this-awesome-apartment-hangs-from-a-giant-sk-1370885942/@lilyhnewman
Here is the Facebook Object debugging rundown of how correct they are:
Check this out… They even managed to put a “Like Page” button on it.
So, if you have a website and you want to engage effectively with Facebook users — and who doesn’t, these days — then be sure to fix those OpenGraph meta tags and think about using Social Widgets.
Social Widgets are a way to provide Like/Recommend buttons and integrate your site with your page on Facebook or just provide a way to spread the word easier by appearing in the Like manifest of your visitors who use it.
Here is a list of the Facebook Social Plugins available:
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/
Peace.
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