What is twitter:card?
The twitter:card meta tag tells X (formerly Twitter) what type of preview to display when your link is shared. Without it, X falls back to a minimal link preview that gets much less engagement.
Card types
summary_large_image (Recommended)
- Large image above the title and description
- Best for: Blog posts, articles, landing pages, most content
- Image appears at 2:1 ratio (e.g., 1200x600px)
- Gets the most clicks and engagement
summary
- Small square thumbnail next to title and description
- Best for: Homepage, profile pages, content without strong imagery
- Image appears at 1:1 ratio (144x144px minimum)
player
- Embeds a video or audio player directly in the tweet
- Best for: Video content, podcasts, music
- Requires additional tags and Twitter approval
app
- Shows an app install card with download button
- Best for: Mobile app promotion
Why does it matter?
Tweets with summary_large_image cards get up to 40% more clicks than tweets with plain links. The large image format dominates the timeline and draws attention.
How to fix it
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />Complete Twitter card setup
For best results, include all relevant Twitter tags:
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Your Page Title" />
<meta name="twitter:description" content="A compelling description of your page" />
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://yoursite.com/twitter-image.jpg" />
<meta name="twitter:site" content="@yourbrand" />
<meta name="twitter:creator" content="@authorhandle" />Twitter's fallback behavior
X/Twitter checks tags in this order:
twitter:*tags (highest priority)og:*tags (fallback)- Page
<title>and content (last resort)
So if you have og:title set, X will use that even without a twitter:title. But twitter:card has no OG equivalent, so it must be set explicitly.
Testing your card
Use X's Card Validator to preview how your link will appear before sharing.