In short. Ghost requires no SEO plugin for basic metadata because automatic fallbacks and custom metadata fields are built into core.
Definition: Metadata is information about a page, such as its search title and description. As of October 2026, Ghost supplies automatic and editable metadata in core, so basic metadata requires no SEO plugin.
Key facts
- Ghost's SEO documentation lists metadata fallbacks, automatic XML sitemaps and canonical tags among its built-in features.
- Ghost's post settings guide describes custom meta titles and descriptions, plus separate social sharing settings.
- Ghost's theme helper reference specifies that
{{ghost_head}}outputs the meta description and social metadata through the theme.
What else does Ghost core supply?
Ghost's SEO documentation describes an XML sitemap, a file that helps search engines find a site's content, which Ghost creates and updates automatically. It also supplies canonical tags: links identifying the preferred version of a page when duplicate versions exist.
The same documentation lists automatic structured data, machine-readable information about a page's content and context, on posts and pages. These features accompany the metadata fields already available in Ghost.
Where are the metadata controls?
Ghost's site setup guide places site metadata controls in the following admin location:
Settings → General → Meta data
The guide also documents X card and Facebook card settings beneath that area. These control the site's social sharing presentation. For example, the Facebook card accepts a custom image, title and description.
For individual content, Ghost's post settings guide describes the editor's Meta data section. It accepts custom search metadata. Separate X card and Facebook card sections control social previews for the post.
The same guide documents a Canonical URL field for overriding the post's automatic canonical when republishing content or handling duplicates. Setting a custom canonical also excludes that URL from the sitemap, so that field affects more than the preview text.
What should a custom theme include?
A theme helper is a template instruction that outputs content. Ghost's helper reference places this instruction immediately before the closing head tag in default.hbs:
{{ghost_head}}
</head>
The helper outputs the meta description, structured data and social sharing tags. The reference also lists global and page-level Code Injection content among its outputs. For a custom theme, checking this template instruction is therefore part of checking how Ghost's built-in metadata reaches the published page.
Related terms
- Where do I edit a Ghost post's search metadata?
- Where does Ghost publish its XML sitemaps?
- What structured data does Ghost generate automatically?
- Why does a Ghost theme need the ghost_head helper?
FAQ
What happens if I leave metadata fields blank?
Ghost's SEO guide says it falls back to available page content. You can enter custom values instead.
Does the preview determine the search result text?
The same SEO guide says search engines may display alternative metadata. The editor preview shows the supplied metadata.
Why are SEO features absent on my private site?
Ghost's site setup guide states that private site mode switches off all search engine optimization features. You can check the private site setting under Settings → Membership → Access.
Sources
- Ghost, "SEO in Ghost", undated
- Ghost, "Preparing posts for publishing", undated
- Ghost, "Setting up your site", undated
- Ghost, "ghost_head & ghost_foot", undated
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