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Issue #121 · important

The og:sitename meta tag specifies the name of your website or application.

What is this issue?

The og:site_name meta tag specifies the name of your website or application. This appears in social media previews alongside the page title, helping users identify the source of the shared content.

This issue checks whether your page has the og:site_name tag implemented. A passing implementation must include:

  • og:site_name - The name of your website or brand

Example of passing implementation:

<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Company" />

Why does it matter?

The og:site_name tag is valuable for brand recognition and social media sharing:

  • Brand visibility: Displays your brand name prominently in social previews
  • Source identification: Helps users quickly identify the source of shared content
  • Trust signals: Establishes credibility by showing the content originates from a known brand
  • Consistency: Maintains consistent branding across all social shares
  • AI Search / AEO: AI systems use site name to understand content attribution

Without the og:site_name tag, social media previews will only show:

  • The page title without brand context
  • Users may not recognize the source of the content
  • Reduced brand visibility in social feeds

Resolving this issue improves brand presence in social sharing and contributes to a higher overall SEO health score by strengthening brand signals.

How to fix it

  1. Add the og:site_name tag to your HTML <head> section:

    • Use your official website or company name
    • Keep it concise (under 50 characters recommended)
    • Be consistent across all pages of your site

  2. Choose the right name:

    • Use the name users would recognize
    • Match your logo text or official brand name
    • Avoid adding taglines or descriptions (use og:description for that)

  3. Test your implementation:

    • Use Facebook Sharing Debugger to verify site name appears
    • Share your URL on social platforms and check the preview
    • Ensure site name displays correctly across different platforms

Examples

Example 1: Missing OG Site Name

Problematic state (what fails):

<meta property="og:title" content="My Awesome Product" />
<!-- Missing og:site_name tag -->

Corrected state (what passes):

<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Company" />
<meta property="og:title" content="My Awesome Product" />

Example 2: Inconsistent Site Name

Problematic state (what fails):

<!-- Page 1 -->
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Co." />

<!-- Page 2 -->
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Company Inc." />
<!-- Inconsistent naming across pages -->

Corrected state (what passes):

<!-- All pages use consistent name -->
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Company" />

Example 3: Site Name with Tagline

Problematic state (what fails):

<meta
  property="og:site_name"
  content="Example Company - The best SEO tools for your website"
/>
<!-- Too long, includes tagline -->

Corrected state (what passes):

<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Company" />
<meta property="og:description" content="The best SEO tools for your website" />
<!-- Site name is concise, description separate -->

How PixyScan detects this

PixyScan checks for the og:site_name tag by:

  1. Fetching the page HTML after following all redirects
  2. Parsing the <head> section to extract the meta tag with property="og:site_name"
  3. Validating presence: Checks that the og:site_name tag exists
  4. Validating content: Ensures the tag has a non-empty value
  5. Flagging the issue if the tag is missing or empty

The detection is performed on the raw HTML response without JavaScript execution, matching how social media crawlers see your pages.

References