A social meta tag is a worthwhile addition to your website, helping to improve the look of your social media profiles and encourage those all-important clicks through to your site. Read on to discover what a social meta tag is, and why it is so helpful.
What is a social meta tag?
Social meta tags, often referred to as Open Graphs or Twitter Cards, refer to a small snippet of code that is embedded onto the back end of a website that allows specific text or imagery to be pulled through when the link to the page is shared. These tags can be set up to pull through the page’s imagery, and the title of the page automatically, or they can be set up so that the owner of the website can decide manually which image and text they would like to install.
These tags are mostly used to create appealing and attractive social media feeds, enabling links that are shared to look good in addition to being more functional. They are automatically applied in most social media post composers and are supported by most third-party scheduling software like Hootsuite.
How can I install a social meta tag?
Installing a social meta tag to the HTML code of your site will depend entirely on the type of website you have. If your website has been developed by a development company, such as Verto, adding social meta tags will be something your developer can easily do for you, providing the ability to customise the information you pull through.
If you have used a website builder, such as WordPress, Wix, Shopify, or any others on the market, then there will likely be an additional plug in you can purchase that will allow you to add these in. Most website builders such as these do in fact come with social meta tags included within the code of the site, whereby the information is pulled automatically from the information on the site.
Why are they beneficial to have installed?
Social meta tags are a really useful addition to your social media for a number of reasons. They ensure that any links you share are attractive to your followers, reflecting the content of the page and representing your brand. They help to add a professional look to your social media feed, and through the use of eye-catching imagery, posts are more engaging to followers.
Social meta tags also make links shared on social media more functional. Most social media users will post a link with an image, which whilst more eye-catching than the automatic grey box that usually appears, means that followers need to find the specific link in the text, which could be hidden by the read more cut off. With social meta tags however, the entire image and text below is clickable, meaning heading to your site is much easier and user-friendly for your followers, encouraging more clicks through to the site from an attractive and visible meta tag.
Social meta tags are a great way to increase engagement on social media platforms, as well as increasing clicks through to your website. Quick to install, and even quicker to use, a social meta tag is a must-have addition to your website. Get in touch with us today on 01536 411153 to discuss implementing social meta tags to your website, or to discuss any service we offer.
