How does og:site_name differ from og:title?

Definition: og:title names an individual Open Graph object, such as a page, article or video. og:site_name names the larger website that contains that object, when such a site exists.

Key facts

• The Open Graph protocol requires og:title, og:type, og:image and og:url for every page. og:title is the object's title as it should appear in the graph.
• og:site_name is optional metadata. The protocol defines it as the name displayed for the overall site when the object belongs to a larger website.
• Google defines a site name as the name of the site shown with a result and distinguishes it from a title link, which is specific to each web page. Google Search Central documents this distinction.
• Google Search lists content in og:title meta tags among the sources it uses to determine title links, alongside the page's <title>, headings and visible title. Its title-link documentation describes this as an automated process.
• Google says its site-name system also considers og:site_name, the home page's <title>, headings and other home page text. It gives greatest importance to WebSite structured data when a site indicates a preference.

What does each property name?

The Open Graph protocol is metadata placed in <meta> tags in the page <head>. It treats the page being described as an object. og:title supplies that object's title, so its value can change from one page to another. The same specification describes og:site_name as the overall site name for an object that belongs to a larger website. The two values therefore occupy different levels of the description.

For example, a page about a film can identify the film as the object and IMDb as the site containing it:

<meta property="og:title" content="The Rock" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="IMDb" />

The protocol's example uses The Rock for og:title and IMDb for og:site_name. The first property belongs to the required basic metadata; the second belongs to optional metadata. The object's og:url supplies its permanent graph identifier, while og:type describes its type.

How does Google Search use the distinction?

Google's site-name documentation says a site name describes the source of a result for the entire site, while a title link describes an individual web page. Google can show both pieces around a result, so a website name and an object title answer different identification needs.

Google generates site names automatically from home page content and references on the web. Its documentation says a site can indicate a preference with WebSite structured data on the home page. The same system also considers og:site_name, the home page's <title>, heading elements and other home page text. Google currently supports one site name per domain or subdomain, and its documentation says site names are unsupported at the subdirectory level.

The documented WebSite representation is:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "WebSite",
  "name": "Example",
  "url": "https://example.com/"
}
</script>

What changes on an individual page?

Google's title-link documentation defines a title link as the title of a search result that links to a web page. Google determines it from several sources, including the HTML <title>, the main visual title, headings, og:title, prominent text, anchor text and WebSite structured data. This means og:title is a page-level input to that process. og:site_name belongs to the separate site-name input described above.

Google also says title-link generation is automated and uses both page content and references to the page on the web. The displayed title link can therefore reflect more than the value of one metadata property. A page template can keep the site's og:site_name stable while giving each object its own og:title.

How can you check the markup?

Inspect the HTML source for the page's <head> and look for property="og:title". Check whether property="og:site_name" names the overall site rather than repeating the page's title. For Google's site-name preference, inspect the home page for WebSite structured data with name and the canonical home-page url; Google's documentation says this markup belongs on the home page and need not be repeated on every page.

Related terms

• WebSite structured data
• Structured data
• Semantic HTML

FAQ

Is og:site_name required?

No. The Open Graph specification lists it under optional metadata, while og:title is one of the four required properties for every page. The site-name value describes the overall site that contains the object.

Should og:title be the same on every page?

og:title describes the individual object, so its value can identify that page's content. Google's title-link guidance also calls for distinct text that describes each page in its <title> element, while og:site_name describes the wider site.

Does og:site_name set Google's site name automatically?

Google considers og:site_name when generating a site name, together with home page content and other sources. Its documentation says WebSite structured data is the most important way to indicate a site-name preference, and the system remains automated.

Sources

1. Open Graph protocol, "The Open Graph protocol", undated
2. Google Search Central, "Site Names in Google Search", 2025-12-10
3. Google Search Central, "Influencing Title Links in Google Search", 2025-12-10

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