Twitter Card Generator: Create Rich Social Media Previews

When someone shares your link on Twitter/X, the platform looks for specific meta tags to build a rich preview card. Without these tags, your link appears as plain text with no image, no title, and no description. Twitter Cards turn bare URLs into eye-catching previews that drive significantly more clicks and engagement.

What Are Twitter Cards?

Twitter Cards are HTML meta tags you add to your page’s <head> section. When a user shares your URL, Twitter’s crawler reads these tags and generates a rich preview with your title, description, and image. The tags follow a simple twitter: prefix convention.

Card Types

Summary Card — The default card type. Shows a small square thumbnail alongside your title and description. Best for articles, blog posts, and general pages.

<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" />
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Your Page Title" />
<meta name="twitter:description" content="A brief description of your page." />
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://example.com/image.jpg" />

Summary with Large Image — Displays a large, prominently featured image above the title and description. Best for visual content, product pages, and landing pages where the image tells the story.

<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Your Page Title" />
<meta name="twitter:description" content="A brief description of your page." />
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://example.com/large-image.jpg" />

Player Card — Embeds a media player directly in the tweet for video and audio content. Requires approval from Twitter.

App Card — Links directly to a mobile app with install buttons. Useful for app promotion campaigns.

Required and Optional Meta Tags

Required Tags

Tag	Purpose
`twitter:card`	Card type: `summary`, `summary_large_image`, `player`, or `app`
`twitter:title`	Title displayed on the card (max 70 characters)

Recommended Tags

Tag	Purpose
`twitter:description`	Description text (max 200 characters)
`twitter:image`	Image URL (must be absolute, not relative)
`twitter:image:alt`	Alt text for the image (accessibility)
`twitter:site`	Your site’s Twitter handle (e.g., `@yoursite`)
`twitter:creator`	Content author’s Twitter handle

Open Graph Fallback

Twitter will fall back to Open Graph tags (og:title, og:description, og:image) if the corresponding twitter: tags are missing. If you already have Open Graph tags set up, you only need twitter:card to specify the card type and Twitter will use your OG values for the rest.

Image Requirements

Getting the image right is crucial for attractive cards.

Summary card: Minimum 144x144px, recommended 1:1 aspect ratio, max 5MB
Summary with large image: Minimum 300x157px, recommended 2:1 aspect ratio (1200x600px is ideal), max 5MB
Format: JPG, PNG, WebP, or GIF (only the first frame is used)
URL: Must be an absolute URL starting with https://
No text-heavy images. Twitter may reject or crop images that are mostly text

How to Use Our Twitter Card Generator

Select the card type — summary or summary with large image
Fill in your title — keep it under 70 characters for full display
Add a description — concise and compelling, under 200 characters
Enter your image URL — use the recommended dimensions for your card type
Add optional fields — site handle, creator handle, image alt text
Preview the card — see exactly how it will look when shared
Copy the meta tags — paste them into your page’s <head> section

Practical Tips for Better Cards

Write titles for clicks. Your card title competes with every other link in a user’s timeline. Make it specific and compelling, not generic.
Front-load the description. Twitter may truncate descriptions on mobile. Put the most important information in the first 100 characters.
Use high-contrast images. Cards are displayed on both light and dark backgrounds. Images with strong contrast and clear subjects perform best.
Test before publishing. Use Twitter’s Card Validator to confirm your tags are working correctly. Cached cards can take time to update, so test with a fresh URL when possible.
Combine with Open Graph. Most social platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, Discord) use Open Graph tags. Set up OG tags first, then add twitter:card to control the Twitter-specific card type.
Include twitter:image:alt. Alt text improves accessibility for users with screen readers and is a signal that your page follows best practices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my Twitter Card not showing? The most common causes are: missing twitter:card tag, image URL using HTTP instead of HTTPS, image smaller than minimum dimensions, or the page blocking Twitter’s crawler via robots.txt. Use the Card Validator to diagnose the issue.

How long does it take for card changes to appear? Twitter caches cards aggressively. After updating your meta tags, it can take minutes to hours for changes to appear. You can request a fresh crawl through the Card Validator.

Do Twitter Cards affect SEO? Not directly. Twitter Cards are social meta tags, not search engine ranking factors. However, attractive cards increase click-through rates from social media, which drives more traffic and can indirectly benefit SEO through increased engagement and backlinks.

Can I use different images for Twitter and Facebook? Yes. Use twitter:image for Twitter and og:image for Facebook and other platforms. This lets you optimize image dimensions and cropping for each platform independently.

Is twitter:site required? No, but it is recommended. Including your site’s Twitter handle connects the card to your account and can display your handle on the card, building brand recognition.

Try our free Twitter Card Generator to create rich social media previews for your pages.