How long should the meta description be?

Between 150 and 160 characters. Longer and Google truncates; shorter and you lose the chance to sell the click.

Do I need meta keywords?

No. Google has ignored meta keywords since 2009. It is dead code that only adds weight to your HTML.

Are Open Graph and Twitter Card mandatory?

Not technically required, but without them your links look ugly when shared. Always worth adding.

HTML Meta Tags Generator

What meta tags are

Meta tags are HTML elements that live inside the <head> and describe page content to the browser, Google and social platforms. Users do not see them directly: search engines read them to decide how to display your site in results, and Twitter, LinkedIn or WhatsApp read them to build the preview when someone shares the link.

The essential meta tags

title: the most important tag for SEO. Appears as the blue headline in Google and in the browser tab. Aim for 50–60 characters.
meta description: the snippet beneath the title in Google. 150–160 characters. Has to sell the click.
meta viewport: required for mobile. Without it, your site renders as desktop and is shrunk down.
link canonical: declares the official URL for this page. Prevents duplicate-content penalties.

Open Graph and Twitter Card

Open Graph is a standard created by Facebook adopted by nearly every platform (LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, Telegram). Twitter uses its own variant, Twitter Card. Both define how your link looks when shared: image, title, description.

Without Open Graph, your link shows as plain text or grabs a random image from the page. With Open Graph properly set, you get a clean visual card that significantly increases CTR.

Ideal Open Graph image size

1200x630 pixels, PNG or JPG, under 1 MB. Keep critical content centered: many platforms crop the edges. Make sure text remains legible even in small thumbnails.

Common mistakes

Same title across every page: each URL needs its own title.
Generic description: "Welcome to our site" does not convert. Be specific.
Forgetting canonical: with UTM parameters and no canonical, Google indexes N versions of the same page.
Broken OG image: test your URL in Facebook Sharing Debugger and Twitter Card Validator before going live.

Validation

Once you have pasted the meta tags, validate them with official tools: Facebook Sharing Debugger, Twitter Card Validator and Google Search Console URL inspection. These tools show you exactly how each platform parses your HTML and warn you about missing fields. Always test before shipping to production.

Meta Tags Generator