## **🐦 What Is a Twitter Card?**

A Twitter Card is social metadata added to a webpage. It tells X (formerly Twitter) how to display a link when someone shares it, including the preview title, description, image, and website account.

Twitter Cards can make shared links more informative and engaging. Without these tags, X may generate a limited or inaccurate preview from the page content.

## **🏷️ Common Twitter Card Tags**

- **twitter:card:** Defines the preview type, such as **summary** or **summary\_large\_image**.
- **twitter:title:** Sets the title shown in the social preview.
- **twitter:description:** Sets the preview description.
- **twitter:image:** Specifies the image used in the preview.
- **twitter:site:** Identifies the X account associated with the website.

These tags are placed in the page's HTML head section. They do not usually appear as visible page content.

## **🔍 How Search Atlas Checks Twitter Cards**

Search Atlas Site Audit and OTTO SEO analyze a page's HTML to detect Twitter Card metadata. In Site Audit, you can inspect detected tags in the social panel and identify missing or incomplete values.

OTTO can also provide recommended fixes and, when appropriate, deploy those changes to your site.

## **⚙️ Understanding Card Types**

The **summary** card uses a compact layout with a smaller image. The **summary\_large\_image** card gives the image more space and is often preferred for content with a strong visual asset.

Search Atlas currently defaults a missing **twitter:card** tag to the standard **summary** type. It does not automatically determine when **summary\_large\_image** would be a better recommendation.

## **🛠️ Fixing Missing or Incorrect Metadata**

1. Open the affected page in Site Audit.
2. Review the social panel and check the detected Twitter Card tags.
3. Confirm that the title, description, image, and card type match your sharing goals.
4. Review any OTTO recommendation before deploying it.
5. Check the page source after deployment to confirm the tags are present and correct.

## **⚠️ Avoiding Plugin Conflicts**

Automated deployments may conflict with or override metadata generated by CMS SEO plugins, such as Yoast. Before deploying a fix, confirm which tool should manage the tags and avoid maintaining competing versions.

If your CMS or SEO plugin already controls Twitter Card metadata, coordinate the settings before enabling an OTTO deployment. After changes are published, clear any relevant cache and recheck the page source.

## **✅ Quick Checklist**

- Each important page has a **twitter:card** tag.
- The title and description accurately represent the page.
- The image is available and suitable for social sharing.
- The selected card type matches the content.
- Only one system manages the final Twitter Card tags.

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be instantly connected with a member of our team.