gleamso

Posted on Nov 18

The No-Fluff Guide to OpenGraph Images That Actually Work 🎯

#webdev #tutorial #seo #javascript

Hey there! 👋 Let's dive into the technical stuff. No fluff, just practical knowledge you can use today.

What We'll Cover 🗺️

Core OpenGraph specs that actually matter
Platform-specific requirements
Implementation patterns that work
Testing & validation approaches
Common gotchas and fixes

The Core Specs You Need 📋

Let's start with the essentials. Here's what you actually need (I've tested these across platforms):

<!-- Essential Meta Tags -->
<meta property="og:title" content="Your Title Here">
<meta property="og:description" content="Your Description">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://your-domain.com/og-image.png">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://your-domain.com/page">

Image Specifications That Work Everywhere 🎨

After testing across platforms, here are the optimal specs:

Dimensions: 1200x630px (Ratio 1.91:1)
Format: PNG or JPEG
Max file size: 8MB
Min file size: 10KB

Pro tip: If you're targeting multiple platforms, 1200x630px is your sweet spot. It works well everywhere and doesn't get cropped weirdly.

Platform-Specific Requirements 🎯

Let's break it down by platform (updated for 2024):

Twitter

<!-- Twitter-specific -->
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
<meta name="twitter:site" content="@yourusername">
<meta name="twitter:creator" content="@yourusername">

<!-- These will fallback to og: tags if not specified -->
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Your Title">
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Your Description">
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://your-domain.com/og-image.png">

Key points:

Images are displayed at 800x418px
Keep important content in the center
Text remains readable at smaller sizes

<!-- LinkedIn optimization -->
<meta property="og:type" content="article">
<meta property="og:title" content="Your Professional Title">
<meta property="article:published_time" content="2024-11-19T08:00:00+00:00">

Notes:

Aggressive image caching
May take hours to update
Use LinkedIn's Post Inspector for faster updates

Facebook

<!-- Facebook optimization -->
<meta property="fb:app_id" content="your_app_id">
<meta property="og:type" content="website">
<meta property="og:locale" content="en_US">

Tips:

Use Facebook's Sharing Debugger
Force cache refresh with ?v=[timestamp]
Test mobile rendering specifically

Implementation Patterns 💡

Here are three approaches, from simple to advanced:

1. Static Images

// Next.js example
export const metadata = {
  openGraph: {
    title: 'Your Title',
    description: 'Your Description',
    images: [{
      url: 'https://your-domain.com/og-image.png',
      width: 1200,
      height: 630,
      alt: 'Image description',
    }],
  },
}

2. Dynamic Generation with @vercel/og

// pages/api/og.tsx
import { ImageResponse } from '@vercel/og'

export const config = {
  runtime: 'edge',
}

export default async function handler(request: Request) {
  try {
    const { searchParams } = new URL(request.url)

    // Get dynamic parameters
    const title = searchParams.get('title') ?? 'Default Title'

    return new ImageResponse(
      (
        <div
          style={{
            width: '100%',
            height: '100%',
            display: 'flex',
            alignItems: 'center',
            justifyContent: 'center',
            fontSize: 128,
            background: 'white',
          }}
        >
          {title}
        </div>
      ),
      {
        width: 1200,
        height: 630,
      },
    )
  } catch (e) {
    return new Response('Failed to generate image', { status: 500 })
  }
}

3. Template-based System (What we use at gleam.so)

interface OGTemplate {
  id: string;
  layout: TemplateLayout;
  dimensions: ImageDimensions;
  elements: TemplateElement[];
}

const generateOG = async (template: OGTemplate, data: TemplateData) => {
  // Render template with data
  // Cache result
  // Return optimized image URL
}

Testing & Validation 🧪

Here's a testing checklist I use:

const ogChecklist = {
  basics: [
    'All required meta tags present',
    'Image loads under 3 seconds',
    'Text readable at small sizes',
    'Proper fallbacks set'
  ],
  platforms: [
    'Twitter preview correct',
    'LinkedIn rendering properly',
    'Facebook mobile/desktop check',
    'Discord embed working'
  ],
  technical: [
    'Valid image dimensions',
    'Proper file size',
    'CORS headers set',
    'Cache headers optimized'
  ]
};

Validation Tools

Common Gotchas & Fixes 🔧

Image Not Updating

// Add cache buster
const imageUrl = `${baseUrl}/og.png?v=${Date.now()}`;

CORS Issues

// Next.js API route
export default function handler(req, res) {
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '*')
  // Rest of your code
}

Slow Loading Times

// Implement preloading
<link 
  rel="preload" 
  as="image" 
  href="your-og-image.png"
>

Performance Tips ⚡

Image Optimization

import sharp from 'sharp';

const optimizeOG = async (buffer: Buffer) => {
  return sharp(buffer)
    .resize(1200, 630)
    .jpeg({
      quality: 80,
      progressive: true
    })
    .toBuffer();
};

Caching Strategy

// Example with Redis
const CACHE_TTL = 3600; // 1 hour

async function getOGImage(key: string) {
  const cached = await redis.get(key);
  if (cached) return cached;

  const image = await generateOGImage();
  await redis.set(key, image, 'EX', CACHE_TTL);
  return image;
}

Quick Implementation Checklist ✅

1. Meta Tags
   □ Basic OG tags
   □ Platform-specific tags
   □ Fallback values

2. Images
   □ Correct dimensions
   □ Optimized file size
   □ Proper hosting setup

3. Testing
   □ Cross-platform checks
   □ Mobile rendering
   □ Load time verification

4. Monitoring
   □ Error tracking
   □ Performance metrics
   □ Usage analytics

What's Next? 🚀

In the next part of this series, we'll look at:

Automation techniques
Template systems
A/B testing setups
Performance optimization

Want to implement all this without the technical overhead?

Try gleam.so - it's free to start
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Have questions? Drop them in the comments! I'm here to help and will use your questions to update this guide. 😊

PS: If you're finding this helpful, don't forget to follow the series for more practical OG image tips!

This is Part 2 of the "Making OpenGraph Work" series. Check out Part 1 if you missed it!

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