Have you ever shared a page or post on Facebook from your site or blog and the image Facebook pulls is not the one you wanted or expected? Or what if you changed the main image of that page and Facebook is still showing the old one. This is frustrating indeed – but there is a little hidden tool that Facebook provides that can help you solve this problem.
Setting up the image you want in a WordPress website
1. First you need to add the image you want Facebook to pull on that particular page or post. Sometimes it is not always the featured or first image on the page. If you use WordPress, load a plugin called Yoast SEO.
2. Scroll down on any page or post editing screen and find the Yoast box. Click social icon.
3. Then, upload the image you want Facebook to use as well as changing the Facebook title or description and click update on your post/page.
Setting up the image you want on a non-Wordpress website
1. If you do not have a WordPress website, make sure that your first or only image on the page is large enough for Facebook to pull properly. The recommended image size for Facebook is 1200px × 630px.
Tell Facebook that you have new information for the shared page
Next is where the real trick comes in. You need to TELL Facebook that you want it to use the new image you just loaded.
Go to Facebook’s Debugging Tool: https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/ (Save this link in your bookmarks. It will come in handy! I use it ALL the time)
Enter the URL of the post/page and click Debug. Is it showing the correct image? If not Click Scrape again and then Scrape Again if still not showing. Sometimes it takes 4-5 times of scraping and pausing for it to go to the site and grab the correct image. Warning though….if you click Scrape too many times, the debugger will not let you scrape anymore for that URL. I have clicked impatiently too many times and my URL has been banned from the tool for a while.
If the image and information looks to be good, then test by pasting your URL in a Facebook status update (without clicking publish) and wait until the information for the link appears. What you see is what everyone else will see when that link is shared.
Ann Marie is a genius at making technology simple. She runs a small web design and online marketing company, Cascade Valley Designs just outside of Seattle. She specializes in building, customizing and maintaining WordPress websites. If you are a DIYer, she can help you avoid a catastrophe with her DIY WordPress training program and monthly Website Freedom Plan.. Learn more >>
P.S. Ann Marie is also part of #TeamKLC and lead the development of our #GetSocialSmart Academy. Tired of the social media time suck? Ready to get smarter about how you use social media? Check out our #GetSocialSmart Academy here!
