Gone are the days when social media was just considered a medium to interact with other worldwide users. It has become much more than that. For instance, people use it as an infotainment channel. You will find various posts giving you access to photos and videos that will help you entertain yourself and spend your spare time. Social media also serves as a gateway to valuable online information.
For instance, various brands paste URLs of their particular product and content pages to compel users to click on them and visit those pages. However, is it that simple to lure people to visit a web page? The answer is no! The modern-day audience wants to know if it is worth their time before they click on it. Simply put, they only click on a URL posted on social media if it sounds appealing to them.
The question is, how can brands and digital marketers make the targeted audience believe that visiting a specific web page is beneficial for them? It was impossible several years ago. However, open graph tags changed everything. They allow brands to provide an appealing preview of their content posted on a web page, including the main image. This enables them to compel the audience to click on the given URL.
This article describes open graph tags, their connection with reverse image search, and the resultant impact in detail. Read on to learn more.
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What are Open Graph Tags?
Snippets of HTML code that control how URLs get displayed on social media are termed open graph tags. Their full form is open graph meta tags. They are part of the open graph protocol introduced by Facebook in the late 2010s. These tags make web pages a rich element on social media. You can use them by making them a part of the <head> section of HTML code.
The acronym used to represent open graph tags is “og”. These tags are also denoted in HTML codes using the same acronym. While multiple og tags are available to control the display of title, description, and URL, a specific tag, “og:image”, is used to define the image that appears on social media platforms. Multiple subsets of this og tag are also available to control the appearance of images on social media.
While Facebook originally introduced these tags, other renowned social media platforms also use them to ensure a rich preview of URLs. There are multiple reasons to embed them in a web page’s HTML code. Here, we will list a few standout ones.
- Ensure an appealing preview of the content in the feed seen by users.
- Users easily understand the intent of content with just a glance.
- Brands have the authority to control the appearance of their content on social media.
- Helps brands improve consistency regarding the appearance of their content.
- Enriched previews of content on web pages lead to a higher click-through rate (CTR).
- Significantly higher sharing and resharing chances because of the enriched preview.
The Relationship Between OG Tags and SEO
Before discussing the link between image OG tags and reverse image search, it is essential to understand whether the essential OG tags play a role in the search engine optimization of web pages or not. The answer may vary from person to person. Some people think these tags are closely related to SEO, as search engines now consider social media sharing as a ranking factor, while others disagree with this narrative. It may sound confusing to many people, especially those who are newbies in the field of SEO.
However, some signals indicate that an enriched view of web page content on social media definitely has something to do with augmented exposure of such pages across various channels. These channels include social media platforms and search engines as well. Since search engines can crawl social media, positive signals from this particular part of the web can lead to higher SEO performance for web pages. The enriched preview helps search engines understand the uniqueness and value of content on web pages.
The Link Between Optimized OG Image Tags and Reverse Image Search
Optimized open graph tags controlling the appearance of images on social media can also impact their visibility and exposure. Especially nowadays, when everybody prefers searching for objects, places, and individuals using photos, perfectly optimized open graph image tags can be highly helpful. Suppose the audience you are targeting online by posting particular content tries to find their desired information by performing a search by image. How will they be able to find it?
The answer is quite simple: browsing various visually similar search results displayed by an image finder tool. Tech-savvy users often use advanced online reverse image search services capable of fetching results from various databases in one go. Hence, your web pages will likely receive more visits. You just need to make sure that you input optimized image file names featuring targeted keywords. Additionally, you must opt for the right display options using the “og:image:height” and “og:image:width” tags.
Impact of Optimized Image OG Tags on Social Media
The impact of optimized OG tags on social media is massive. It is a win-win situation for brands and the targeted audience. The targeted audience that accesses social media to consume valuable information can momentarily understand the purpose behind a post featuring the URL due to the enriched preview. Similarly, optimized OG image tags can help them preview the image and understand the topic of the content easily. Brands can also gain a lot from open graph tags.
The images they post on their web pages become more visible through reverse image search, thanks to optimized open graph tags. Facebook and other social media platforms also understand the purpose behind the posted URL because of these tags, which increase the likelihood of the post being discovered through on-platform search. Not only that, but image og tags also enable brands to keep their visual assets secure by controlling the appearance of images in cropped form and preventing downloads from social media.
Putting it Together
Open graph tags are highly valuable protocols introduced by graphs. They can significantly increase the online exposure of content referred to through URLs on social media. The enriched preview leads to various benefits, including a significantly higher CTR. Additionally, these tags play a role in enhancing the SEO performance of content and web pages. Optimized image og tags also increase online exposure of images by enhancing their discovery through reverse image search. Hopefully, reading this content will help you understand the importance and value of optimized open graph tags.
