How to Check Open Graph Link Previews Before Sharing
Preview your social share card, get correct Open Graph tags and fix broken previews before a campaign goes out.
A product launch, a newsletter or a WhatsApp broadcast can all be undone by one bad link preview: a blank grey box, a stretched logo or last year's headline. Checking the preview takes less than a minute and is one of the easiest wins in marketing.
This guide shows how to use the free SeoSpidie Open Graph preview tool to design the card and get the tags right.
Step 1: Gather what your page uses today
Open the page in your browser, view the source (right-click โ View Page Source) and search for og:. Note the current og:title, og:description and og:image. If you find nothing, the page has no Open Graph tags and every app is guessing โ which explains most ugly previews.
Step 2: Enter the details in the preview tool
Fill in the site name, page URL, title, description and image URL. Use the values you found, or write better ones. The tool instantly shows how the link card will look on Facebook, LinkedIn and X, side by side.
Step 3: Look at the card
Ask:
- Is there an image, and is it the right one?
- Is the image sharp and correctly cropped, or does it show a logo floating in white space?
- Does the title make sense on its own, without the rest of your page?
- Is the description specific, or is it generic site-wide text?
Step 4: Copy the tags into your page
When the card looks right, copy the generated tags โ og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url, og:type and the matching X tags โ and paste them into the page's head, replacing any older versions. In a CMS, enter the same values in its social or SEO settings instead.
Step 5: Fix the common problems
No image or a tiny thumbnail. Use an image of 1200 ร 630 pixels with an absolute URL. Check the URL directly with the image URL checker to make sure it returns an image and is not too heavy.
Wrong title or description. Your CMS or a plugin may output default values. Set page-specific values in its social settings, or generate the tags with the meta tag generator.
Duplicate tags. If the page source shows two og:image or two og:title values, two plugins or a theme and a plugin are both adding tags. Turn one off.
Old content showing. Social apps cache previews. After fixing the tags, use the platform's own sharing debugger where available (Facebook and LinkedIn have one), or add a version parameter to the image URL.
Step 6: Test the live link, then share
After publishing, share a test link in a private chat or a draft post before the real campaign. It is the only way to see each app's final rendering of the live page.
Build it into your publishing checklist
Previews are easy to forget because they do not affect how the page looks on your own site. Add "check the share card" to your publishing routine next to proofreading and checking the search snippet. If the link will be used in a campaign, build tracked links with the UTM builder and test the final tracked URL, since that is what people will actually share. For the background on each tag, see Open Graph tags explained.
Related guides
More free tools: browse all our free utility tools, no sign-up needed.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my preview look different on each app?
Each app has its own layout and cropping rules. A 1200 ร 630 image with key content in the centre works well on most of them.
The tool shows the right image but Facebook does not. Why?
Facebook is showing a cached version. Use its Sharing Debugger to scrape the page again.
Do I need Open Graph tags on every page?
On every page people are likely to share: home, products, articles, tools and landing pages.
Is the Open Graph preview tool free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no usage limit.