# Meta Tags Meta tags provide metadata about your web pages to search engines and social media platforms. Varbase uses the **Metatag** module to manage meta tags both globally and on a per-content basis. ## What Are Meta Tags? Meta tags are HTML elements in the `` section of a page that provide information about the page to search engines and other services. Key meta tags include: * **Title tag**: The page title displayed in search engine results and browser tabs. * **Description**: A summary of the page content displayed in search engine results. * **Canonical URL**: The preferred URL for the page, preventing duplicate content issues. * **Robots**: Instructions for search engine crawlers (e.g., index, noindex, follow, nofollow). ## Social Media Meta Tags ### Open Graph **Open Graph** meta tags control how your pages appear when shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms that support the Open Graph protocol: * **og:title**: The title displayed in the social share preview. * **og:description**: The description displayed in the social share preview. * **og:image**: The image displayed in the social share preview. * **og:type**: The type of content (e.g., article, website). ### Twitter Cards **Twitter Cards** meta tags control how your pages appear when shared on Twitter/X: * **twitter:card**: The card type (summary, summary with large image, etc.). * **twitter:title**: The title displayed in the Twitter card. * **twitter:description**: The description displayed in the Twitter card. * **twitter:image**: The image displayed in the Twitter card. ## Configuring Global Meta Tags Global meta tag defaults apply to all pages on your site unless overridden at the content level: 1. Navigate to **Configuration > Search and metadata > Metatag**, or go to `/admin/config/search/metatag`. 2. Click **Edit** next to the **Global** defaults. 3. Configure the default values for meta tags using tokens (e.g., `[node:title] | [site:name]` for the title tag). 4. Click **Save** to apply the defaults. You can also configure defaults for specific entity types (e.g., Content, Taxonomy terms, Users) to provide type-specific meta tag patterns. ## Configuring Meta Tags per Content Item Each content item can have its own meta tag values that override the global defaults: 1. Open the content item for editing. 2. Find the **Meta tags** section on the content form (usually a collapsible fieldset). 3. Fill in or modify the meta tag values: * **Page title**: Override the default title for this specific page. * **Description**: Write a custom description for this page. * **Open Graph** fields: Set specific social sharing information. * **Twitter Cards** fields: Set specific Twitter sharing information. 4. Click **Save** to apply the meta tags. If a field is left empty at the content level, the global default is used. ## Using Tokens Meta tag values support **tokens**, which are placeholders that are automatically replaced with dynamic values: * `[node:title]`: The content item's title. * `[site:name]`: The site name. * `[node:summary]`: The content item's summary or trimmed body. * `[node:field_image:entity:field_media_image:alt]`: The alt text of the content's primary image. Tokens allow you to create dynamic meta tag patterns that work automatically for new content without manual configuration. ## Tips * **Write unique descriptions.** Each page should have a unique meta description that accurately summarizes its content. Avoid duplicating descriptions across pages. * **Keep titles under 60 characters.** Search engines typically display only the first 60 characters of a title tag. * **Keep descriptions under 160 characters.** Longer descriptions may be truncated in search results. * **Use Open Graph images.** Always set an `og:image` for important pages. Social shares with images receive significantly more engagement. * **Review meta tags after content changes.** When updating a page's content significantly, review and update its meta tags to ensure they remain accurate. * **Do not keyword-stuff.** Write meta tags for humans, not just search engines. Natural, descriptive text performs better than keyword-stuffed meta tags.