Open Graph and Twitter cards in NextJS - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Open Graph and Twitter Cards in Next.js

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple Next.js website for a blog post. You want to make sure that when people share your blog post link on social media like Facebook and Twitter, the preview shows a nice title, description, and image.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to add Open Graph and Twitter card meta tags in a Next.js page to improve social media sharing previews.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Next.js page component with basic HTML structure

Add a configuration variable for the blog post metadata

Use the Head component from Next.js to add Open Graph meta tags

Add Twitter card meta tags inside the Head component

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Adding Open Graph and Twitter card meta tags helps websites show rich previews when their links are shared on social media platforms, improving user engagement and click rates.

💼 Career

Web developers often need to optimize websites for social sharing and SEO by adding proper meta tags. Knowing how to do this in Next.js is a valuable skill for frontend and full-stack roles.

1

Create the Next.js page component

Create a Next.js page component called BlogPost that returns a <main> element with a heading <h1> containing the text My First Blog Post.

NextJS

export default function BlogPost() {
  // Your code here
}

Hint

Use a function named BlogPost that returns JSX with a <main> and <h1> inside.

2

Add blog post metadata configuration

Add a constant object called postMeta with these exact properties and values: title set to 'My First Blog Post', description set to 'This is a blog post about learning Next.js.', and image set to 'https://example.com/blog-image.png'.

NextJS

const postMeta = {
  // Your code here
}

export default function BlogPost() {
  return (
    
      My First Blog Post
    
  )
}

Hint

Create an object named postMeta with the exact keys and values for title, description, and image.

3

Add Open Graph meta tags using Next.js Head

Import the Head component from next/head. Inside the BlogPost component, add a <Head> element before <main>. Inside <Head>, add these meta tags using the postMeta values: <meta property="og:title" content={postMeta.title} />, <meta property="og:description" content={postMeta.description} />, and <meta property="og:image" content={postMeta.image} />.

NextJS

import Head from 'next/head'

const postMeta = {
  title: 'My First Blog Post',
  description: 'This is a blog post about learning Next.js.',
  image: 'https://example.com/blog-image.png'
}

export default function BlogPost() {
  return (
    
      {/* Your code here */}
      
        My First Blog Post
      
    
  )
}

Hint

Use the Head component to add meta tags with property="og:title", og:description, and og:image using postMeta values.

4

Add Twitter card meta tags inside Head

Inside the existing <Head> element, add these Twitter card meta tags using postMeta: <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />, <meta name="twitter:title" content={postMeta.title} />, <meta name="twitter:description" content={postMeta.description} />, and <meta name="twitter:image" content={postMeta.image} />.

NextJS

import Head from 'next/head'

const postMeta = {
  title: 'My First Blog Post',
  description: 'This is a blog post about learning Next.js.',
  image: 'https://example.com/blog-image.png'
}

export default function BlogPost() {
  return (
    
      
        
        
        
        {/* Your code here */}
      
      
        My First Blog Post
      
    
  )
}

Hint

Add Twitter card meta tags inside <Head> using name attributes and postMeta values.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of adding Open Graph and Twitter card meta tags in a Next.js page?

easy

A. To speed up the page loading time

B. To improve how links appear when shared on social media platforms

C. To add custom fonts to the page

D. To enable server-side rendering

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand Open Graph and Twitter cards

   These meta tags control how links look when shared on social media, like showing images and descriptions.

2. Step 2: Identify their purpose in Next.js

   Adding these tags inside the Head component improves link previews, not performance or fonts.

3. Final Answer:

   To improve how links appear when shared on social media platforms -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Open Graph = Better social media previews [OK]

Hint: Open Graph tags control social media link previews [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking they speed up page loading
• Confusing with styling or fonts
• Assuming they enable server-side rendering

2. Which of the following is the correct way to add an Open Graph title tag inside a Next.js page using the Head component?

easy

A. My Page Title

B.

C.

D.

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall Open Graph meta tag syntax

   Open Graph tags use property="og:..." attribute, not name.

2. Step 2: Check Next.js Head usage

   Meta tags go inside Head with correct attributes; property="og:title" is correct for Open Graph title.

3. Final Answer:

   <Head><meta property="og:title" content="My Page Title" /></Head> -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Open Graph uses property="og:title" [OK]

Hint: Use property="og:title" for Open Graph title meta tag [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using name="og:title" instead of property
• Confusing Twitter card tags with Open Graph
• Placing meta tags outside <Head>

3. Given this Next.js component, what will be the rendered meta tag for Twitter card title?

import Head from 'next/head';

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <Head>
      <meta name="twitter:title" content="Welcome to Next.js" />
    </Head>
  );
}

medium

A. <meta name="og:title" content="Welcome to Next.js" />

B. <meta property="twitter:title" content="Welcome to Next.js" />

C. <meta name="twitter:title" content="Welcome to Next.js" />

D. No meta tag will be rendered

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the meta tag syntax in the component

   The component uses name="twitter:title" which is correct for Twitter cards.

2. Step 2: Confirm rendering behavior

   Next.js Head renders meta tags as written, so the tag will appear exactly as coded.

3. Final Answer:

   <meta name="twitter:title" content="Welcome to Next.js" /> -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Twitter card title uses name="twitter:title" [OK]

Hint: Twitter card title uses name="twitter:title" attribute [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using property instead of name for Twitter tags
• Confusing Open Graph and Twitter meta attributes
• Assuming Next.js modifies meta tags automatically

4. You added this code to your Next.js page but the Twitter card image is not showing:

<Head>
  <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
  <meta name="twitter:image" content="/images/card.png" />
</Head>

What is the most likely reason the image does not appear on Twitter?

medium

A. The image URL is relative and should be absolute with full domain

B. The meta tag name should be property instead of name

C. Twitter cards do not support images

D. The content attribute is missing

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the image URL format

   Twitter requires absolute URLs (including https://domain) for images, not relative paths.

2. Step 2: Verify meta tag attributes

   Using name="twitter:image" is correct; Twitter supports images in cards.

3. Final Answer:

   The image URL is relative and should be absolute with full domain -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Twitter image URLs must be absolute [OK]

Hint: Use full URL for Twitter card images, not relative paths [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using relative image URLs
• Changing name to property for Twitter tags
• Thinking Twitter cards don't support images

5. You want to create a Next.js page that sets both Open Graph and Twitter card meta tags for title, description, and image. Which code snippet correctly combines these tags inside the Head component?

hard

A.

B.

C.

D.

Solution

1. Step 1: Verify Open Graph meta tags

   Open Graph tags use property="og:..." with absolute image URL, which is correct in options A, C, D.

2. Step 2: Verify Twitter card meta tags

   Twitter tags use name="twitter:..." and include twitter:card with value summary_large_image for large image preview, correctly done only in A.

3. Step 3: Check image URLs and completeness

   uses absolute URLs for images and includes all required tags for both Open Graph and Twitter cards.

4. Final Answer:

   Option A correctly combines Open Graph and Twitter card meta tags with proper attributes and URLs -> Option A

5. Quick Check:

   Open Graph uses property, Twitter uses name, absolute URLs needed [OK]

Hint: Use property for Open Graph, name for Twitter, absolute URLs for images [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using name instead of property for Open Graph
• Using relative URLs for images
• Omitting twitter:card meta tag