What is Twitter Card Validator and how does it improve the visibility of your content?
Twitter Card Validator? I know, it is very likely that this term does not sound familiar at all.
However, I am sure that, if you have a blog and a Twitter account where you regularly share your latest content, it will have happened to you that, when sharing that article, the main image of it is not shown as it really is or that, directly, nor does it appear.
This is a fairly common problem, but one that we can solve precisely with the Twitter Card Validator tool, which is the homonym of “Facebook Debugger” to debug the URLs in this other social network, which I told you about in previous articles.
Knowing how to use it is a real advantage with which you can increase the reach of your content since sharing it on social networks will make it more visible and attractive. But let’s first go over the basics a bit.
What are Twitter Cards?
The Twitter Cards or “cards” you could say that is an optimized version of the publications in this network, consisting of a rectangular sheet or “board” made up of the main image, title, and description of the content.
This makes it considerably more attractive than traditional tweets written simply in plain text.
This characteristic is precisely what causes the publications that use a Twitter Card to have a greater reach, since being more visual and attracting more attention, people are more likely to retweet.
And, therefore, there is a greater diffusion and amount of people who click on it.
What is a Twitter Card like?
You will be asking yourself this question if this is the first time you hear or read this term.
Well, it is a tab that is added to the tweet and that contains, as I just told you, an image of the content you share and an extract or “ synopsis ” of the content, all in the form of a snippet with a call to action, which generally includes a redirect to your website or blog.
And, since everything is better understood with an example, here you have it:
»Publication without Twitter Card:
15 types of posts that you should publish on your Social Networks.
»Publication in the form of a” Card “:
Your BLOG does not work? Maybe you need to leave it in the hands of a PROFESSIONAL
• Position your Brand on the Internet
• Gain organic visibility in Google
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What is the Twitter Card Validator?
Twitter Card Validator is a tool for developers created by and for this social network, with which you can validate the metadata of the contents of your website, to share them more attractively on it.
The set of these metadata (meta title, meta description, and main image of the URL) is what we commonly call “Twitter Cards”, which we already defined previously.
As was the case with the homonymous functionality of Facebook, it is safe to use and efficient, in addition to being very simple and fast.
What are the advantages of including your new URLs in the Twitter Card Validator?
Twitter Card Validator: Like any tool, it has some very interesting benefits:
1) Confirm how your content will look
If your target audience is, among others, on this social platform, it will be useful to confirm which cover image, title, and description your community will see when sharing the URL.
Also, if for example you are trying and doubting between several cover photos, from here you can perform all the tests you want.
Because yes, repeatedly tweeting the same content can damage the image of your brand within the social network, and without Twitter Card Validator, the only possible method to confirm how your Twitter Card will look is through a tweet.
2) Check for possible errors in the metadata
In addition to this, another advantage that it has is that you can check any oversights that you may have had in the implementation of the Twitter Card within your content page.
This caused that, when sharing my contents, Twitter sometimes showed them without an enriched card, with which its CTR was not the desired one, since at least the cover photo was not displayed.
3) Detection of unaccepted characters
Depending on the evolution of the algorithm of this social network, there are times when it accepts (or not) to include certain special characters or emoticons in the title and description that we choose for Twitter.
Using this tool will allow you to check it before sharing it in your account if some of these are displayed correctly or, on the contrary, it does so with its corresponding HTML code .
If the latter is fulfilled, we would have a problem, since this piece of code is usually quite long and can lead to mistrust when clicking on the link to your article.
How to display your content more attractively with Twitter Card Validator?
Creating a Twitter Card validator is very easy if you have a CMS like WordPress. Therefore, you will only need a plugin, which is quite famous and you will surely have already installed it:
1. View/install “Yoast SEO”
The first thing you need to do is enter the Yoast SEO configuration options. If you do not have it installed yet, you will have to do it through this link:
[appbox WordPress-SEO wordpress]
It is very complete and has a free option with a scope such that you do not need to switch to the payment option, which you also have if you need it in the future.
2. Activate Twitter Open Graph data
Once you install and have entered Yoast SEO in WordPress, look for the ” SEO> Social ” section and, in the corresponding option, you will see the option to activate its respective functionality.
In addition, you can indicate whether the type of card will be displayed with the main image or not.
3. Configure the metadata in Yoast SEO
Within the options of this plugin, at the bottom of the editor of each WordPress article, the ” Social ” tab is included .
If you enter it after having activated the metadata for this platform, you will see that it gives you the option to add in a personalized way:
- Meta title
- Meta description
- Main image to be displayed on Twitter
Read more: How to write killer meta description
4. Go to Twitter Card Validator with the URL of your content
Now that you have the “Cards” implemented, what you finally need to do is check them.
And for this, you only need to copy the URL of the content you want to share and take it to Twitter Card Validator.
Once you are inside, you just need to copy the URL in the box under ” Card URL “.
Then click on ” Preview card ” or ” Preview ” and you will be able to see how the card enriched with your content will look when you share it in your tweets.
That’s how easy you can to create your Twitter card validator to have more diffusion and reach within this social network with your content.
Have you understood what Twitter Card Validator is for and how it works?
As you can see, knowing how to create a much more attractive display mode for the contents of your Blog through Twitter Card Validator is fast and, above all, simple.
You just have to enter their website, add your new URL and wait a few seconds for the tool to “render” your content.
It will immediately return the corresponding meta-information that you have added in a plugin of the type “Yoast SEO”.
TWITTER CARD VALIDATOR: HOW & WHEN TO USE THEM?
On Twitter it’s the war of the thousands, millions of Tweets are circulating on the Twittersphere, so how do you stand out? One solution, the Twitter Card VALIDATOR.
In addition to being more visible on the Twitter feed, some Twitter Card validators allow you to add call-to-actions! Ideal if you are looking to retrieve email addresses, sell products directly on Twitter, showcase your services, …
Twitter Card validator is Simple to set up & Free. Yet few people use it when their impact in terms of impressions, acquisitions, and conversions is unmatched on Twitter.
WHY USE TWITTER CARD VALIDATOR?
Twitter Card validator allows you to extend the possibilities of a tweet, we speak of Extended Tweets.
Here are some possible uses:
- Increase the size of shared images
- Add metadata from your website (product description, etc.)
- Retrieve email addresses
- View a video
- …
THE 4 TYPES OF TWITTER CARD VALIDATOR
The “Summary Card”
- In short: “Summary Cards” is Twitter’s default Twitter Cards. They include a title, description, image, and a direct link to the content.
- Use it when … you want to feature a blog post
The “Summary Card with Large image”
- In short: Much the same as the “Summary Card”. However, if you favor image over text, it will suit your need very well. You will trade part of your text for a beautiful image.
- Use it when… you are working on visuals, it would be relevant to use this card.
The “App Card”
- In short: The App Card allows you to download an application directly without leaving Twitter. This card is particularly effective on mobile devices.
- Use it when… you want to promote a mobile app available on the iOS store / Google Play.
When viewing the tweet below from the Twitter mobile app, the tweet below displays an app card.
The “Player Card”
- In short: The “Player Card” will allow you to include a video player
- Use it when… you want to share/feature a video, its description, etc.
HOW TO GENERATE A TWITTER CARD?
Using Twitter Ads: By using Twitter Ads, you can already generate Twitter Cards (without having to code anything).
Go to Twitter Ads. Then in the navigation bar, choose “Contents” then “Maps”. You can then choose one of the 4 cards offered among:
THE +
- Easy to put in place
- Fast
THE –
- Doesn’t allow your readers to share a Twitter Card
- Lead generation: generate a card with a call-to-action to retrieve emails for example for a newsletter
- Website: generate a call-to-action to redirect to your website/blog
- Application (Simple): Allows you to download/buy, … your Android app, IOs in one click
- Application (Wide Image): Same as the previous one with a larger image
Once your card has been chosen, all you have to do is complete the form, and presto you can Tweet it! Then go back to your dashboard and click on the icon to export your data.
Good… but it would still be much easier if you could generate Twitter Cards automatically when someone shares your post/page. Good news, it’s possible and what’s more, it’s easy!
For WordPress Users
Some themes integrate Twitter Cards:
Responsive template quality themes integrate the Twitter cards as a base. Among these are the Genesis Themes, which exploit the framework of the same name. The themes are optimized for social networks (Twitter cards, open graph…), referencing (schema.org tags…), and mobile (responsive). For those who don’t want to bother with it (or who don’t know anything about it), their themes are great qualities.
Use a dedicated plugin on WordPress
THE +
- Allows you to easily set up any Twitter Card
- Allows your readers to share Twitter Cards
THE –
- Requires WordPress
How to Install a WordPress plugin for Twitter Cards?
From the Dashboard of your WordPress, choose the menu “Extensions”> “Add an extension”. Among the existing plugins, 2 stand out in our opinion: WordPress SEO by Yoast and JM Twitter Card.
WordPress SEO by Yoast will allow you to set up Twitter Cards quickly and easily but in addition to that, you can work on your SEO.
Go to the submenu of the plugin named “Social Networks” then choose “Twitter”. Then choose the type of card you want to use (Our articles use the “Summary Card with Large Image” card for example) then save.
When you write a new article, you will find a “WordPress SEO by Yoast” insert at the bottom of the page, within which you can define a title, description, and image for the article. If you leave blank, the default info will be the page title, description, and featured image.
WordPress SEO is very powerful but it nevertheless has a big weakness, it only allows you to set up two types of Twitter Cards: “Summary Card” and “Summary Card with Large Image”.
To use Twitter Cards in “advanced” mode, try JM Twitter Cards, you can then use all the cards offered by Twitter and have access to card statistics directly on your Worpress rather than on Twitter Analytics.
Use Twitter Cards in your digital marketing
Twitter Cards or Twitter cards are an enriched format for tweets, which allows preview mode to show multimedia information of the same with title, summary, author, and image, which makes it more attractive to the user.
There are several formats of Twitter Cards according to the needs, today there are six available: summary, product, photo, a summary with large image, player, and app:
Twitter Cards not only make the tweet more attractive, but also favor the branding of the brand that launches the tweet since it gives it greater visibility, and it is visible both in desktop and mobile formats:
How to create Twitter Cards for your website or blog
- – Go to https://cards-dev.twitter.com/validator and log in with your Twitter account
- – To create the Twitter Cards we must insert some tags in the web code that you can obtain directly by clicking on “Try it them” and selecting the Twitter Card format you want to use, but this option should only be done by someone who knows HTML code:
- – The other simpler option, if you have a website or blog made with WordPress, is to use a plugin that automatically creates and inserts the tags, and I specifically recommend JM Twitter Cards, a plugin that performs this task. You just have to download and install it on your WordPress:
- – With the plugin already installed, it is time to return to the Twitter page to validate it and for Twitter to authorize it, in the tab “Validate & Apply” you must enter a URL of your website or blog and click on “Go” will tell you if it is correct to validate.
If so, you will see a screen similar to the following one where on the right it shows a preview and you must click on “Request Approval”: - – The approval process can take a few weeks, although at other times it takes much less:
- – As soon as it is approved you will receive an email confirming the activation:
With this, you would already have your Twitter Cards configured so that your content is visible in an enriched format.
The process may have changed, since as you know Twitter is constantly changing them, so if so, just follow the instructions that they are giving you. Twitter is indeed losing strength as a social network in many sectors, but today it is still interesting, especially at the communication level, so evaluate its potential in your case.
Twitter cards: how to take advantage of your digital business
So far, you already know the advantages of using Twitter Cards, but there are also some caveats that you should take into account and that can help you get the most out of them.
1. Cause the click.
Make sure all the additional information goes with each post on Twitter. Although this does not guarantee 100% that your audience will click, it is an addition that you can add to your cards with attractive messages and calls to action.
2. Prioritize images.
Twitter is a very good social network to work with the size of the images and make them fit the publications, but do not trust yourself. Spend a little more time on the visual content that you are going to use in your Twitter Cards. Tweets with images attract 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites, and 150% more retweets than those without them.
3. Test your Twitter Cards.
With so many Card options on Twitter, we can’t miss the A / B tests. We recommend that you create several cards for the same campaign and that you do it with different images, texts, and CTAs to see which types work best. You could also consider using various types of Cards. Depending on your content and goals, you may be able to increase your traffic by using different cards for the same URL.
4. Cards, pins, and ads.
With Cards plus the ability to pin tweets, Twitter has given businesses a huge opportunity with the tweet pinned to their feed.
5. Choose your Cards well.
It can be incredibly difficult to predict which of your Tweets will get a lot of engagement. That is why you surely do not want to create Tweets as Ads and spend money on them if you are not sure of the Return that this can bring.
This happens because, if quality content is not published, it will affect your image and budget. So what you can do is test the Tweets by posting them to a different account and then use only the best ones for ads.
Read more: How to do an advanced Twitter search
How to create free Twitter Cards validator
Since the launch of Twitter Ads & Twitter Analitycs, the microblogging social network offers a lot of new possibilities when it comes to advertising for brands and companies. One of those options is Twitter Cards, which can be paid (sponsorship) or free. The latter are the ones that we are going to learn to create in this post.
How to create custom Twitter Cards validator
If you want to create personalized Twitter Cards to promote a landing, a product, a course, etc., you must access Twitter Ads ( ads.twitter.com ) or directly here with your Twitter account.
If you go to Creativities> Cards you can see all the cards that you have created manually.
If you want to create a new Twitter Card, simply click on the blue ” Create card ” button and choose what type of card you want:
- Website card
- Video website card
- Image app card
- Video app card
I am going to create, for example, a Website Card, for which you have to follow these steps:
- You upload an image, crop it to fit size, and choose the format (square or rectangular).
- You add the title: the message that appears inside the card.
- You paste the link where the card will take when users click on it.
- You name the card .
- You preview the result and, if everything is ok, click on the “create” button.
Once these steps have been carried out, you have already created your personalized Twitter Card and you can preview it, share it, duplicate it or edit it.
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