Social Media Link Preview Checker — See Exactly How Your Links Look When Shared

Before publishing a social media post that includes a link, content managers, marketers, and social media teams want to know exactly how the preview card will look. Will the right image appear? Is the title compelling? Does the description get cut off awkwardly?

This is not a tool that writes or schedules social media posts. It reads the Open Graph tags from your existing page and shows exactly how the link card will look when someone pastes your URL into Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. The answer is in the OG tags — and you can check them instantly without logging into any platform.

What a Social Media Post Preview Generator Does

A social media link preview checker reads the Open Graph meta tags from a web page and renders visual mockups of how that page's link will appear when shared on each platform. It answers the question: "If I paste this URL into a Facebook post, LinkedIn post, or Twitter post, what will the link card look like?"

The key tags it checks:

• og:title — the headline in the card (usually your page title or article headline)
• og:description — the body text below the title
• og:image — the thumbnail image
• twitter:card — whether Twitter shows a large image or a small thumbnail

For content teams sharing blog posts, product pages, landing pages, or press releases, verifying these tags before scheduling or posting prevents the embarrassment of a broken or generic-looking preview going out to your audience.

How to Generate a Social Media Post Preview

The Open Graph Checker functions as a social media link preview checker for any URL. Use the HTML paste method for the most reliable results:

Step 1 — Get the page HTML

Open the article, blog post, or page URL in a browser. Press Ctrl+U (Windows) or Cmd+U (Mac) to open the source view. Press Ctrl+A then Ctrl+C to copy everything.

Step 2 — Check the tags

Open the Open Graph Checker. Paste the HTML into the tool and click Check Tags. The tool parses the OG tags and renders two preview cards: Facebook/LinkedIn and Twitter/X.

Step 3 — Review and fix

Look at each preview card. Check that:

• The image loads and is not broken
• The title is not truncated mid-word
• The description is present and makes sense out of context
• The domain shown matches your brand

If anything looks wrong, find the og: tags in your page source (they will be in the head section) and update them. Then re-check.

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Social Post Preview Standards for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter

Each platform applies its own rules to the same OG tags. Here is what to check specifically for each.

Facebook

Facebook shows a large image card when og:image is at 1.91:1 ratio (1200x630 recommended). The title is capped at about 88 characters in the feed. Description shows up to 300 characters but is often truncated earlier. The domain name (not the full URL) appears below the image.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn requires a minimum 1200x627 image for the large card format. Titles are truncated at roughly 70 characters. LinkedIn is the strictest platform about image dimensions — smaller images get downgraded to thumbnail format. Test LinkedIn sharing especially for content aimed at B2B audiences.

Twitter / X

Add twitter:card set to summary_large_image for a full-width card. Without it, Twitter shows a small 120x120 square thumbnail beside the text. For content teams, the large card format dramatically increases engagement on Twitter. Check that your twitter:card tag is present in the page source.

Slack and Discord (for content shared in communities)

Both read og:image directly. A 1200x630 image renders cleanly in chat threads. For community managers and content teams sharing links in Slack channels or Discord servers, this preview matters as much as it does on traditional social platforms.

Content Team Pre-Publishing Checklist for Link Previews

Before scheduling or distributing any link, run through this checklist:

• og:title is set and under 60 characters
• og:description is set and under 155 characters (front-loaded with the key message)
• og:image is set to an absolute HTTPS URL at 1200x630
• og:image returns HTTP 200 (test by opening the image URL directly)
• twitter:card is set to summary_large_image
• The rendered Facebook/LinkedIn preview looks correct in the checker
• The rendered Twitter preview shows a large image, not a small thumbnail
• If this is an updated page, cache has been cleared using Facebook Sharing Debugger and LinkedIn Post Inspector

Build this into your editorial workflow as a step before hitting "publish." It takes 90 seconds and prevents the most common social sharing failures that waste distribution efforts.

For a workflow that includes SERP preview alongside social preview, check the meta tag SEO workflow checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a social media link preview checker and a social media post scheduler?

A link preview checker shows you how a URL's link card looks when pasted into a social post — it reads OG tags and renders the card. It does not write, schedule, or publish posts. A social media post scheduler (like Buffer, Hootsuite, or Later) handles scheduling and publishing. Some schedulers include a preview feature, but a dedicated OG tag checker is more accurate because it reads directly from your page HTML.

Can I preview how a social post looks for multiple platforms at once?

The Open Graph Checker renders both a Facebook/LinkedIn card and a Twitter/X card simultaneously. For extended platform coverage including WhatsApp, Discord, and Slack, check the social preview checker for all platforms guide which covers platform-by-platform testing approaches.

How often should a content team check link previews?

Check the link preview every time you publish new content, update an existing page's OG tags, change the og:image, or notice incorrect previews in live posts. Also check after major website changes (CMS upgrades, template changes, CDN configuration changes) — these can inadvertently break meta tag delivery.