Have you noticed incorrect post thumbnails when you share your articles on Facebook?
It’s a common error that beginners often complain about.It’s not always clear how to get Facebook to display the right thumbnail.
In this article, we will show you how to fix the Facebook incorrect thumbnail issue in WordPress.
Why Is Facebook Not Picking Up the Thumbnail Image?
There are many reasons why a Facebook post might show the wrong thumbnail or display the correct thumbnail incorrectly.One of the most common reasons is having multiple images set in the
og:Image tag where your featured image is smaller than the other images.
Facebook uses Open Graph og tags, and many WordPress plugins like All in One SEO (AIOSEO) and Yoast SEO automatically add them to your
WordPress website to prevent missing thumbnails.
Some other causes are
caching plugins, CDN conflicts, or a missing open graph meta tag for the thumbnail image.
It’s really hard to guess what’s causing the issue because there are no specific error messages displayed when using the debugging tool.
That being said, let’s take a look at some ways to fix the incorrect Facebook thumbnail issue:
Video Tutorial
If you prefer written instructions, then just keep reading.
Choosing Your Facebook Thumbnail With AIOSEO
One way you can show the thumbnail you want is with the
free AIOSEO plugin.It is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market and allows you to easily optimize your content for search engines and social media websites.
We will show you how to do this with the free version of AIOSEO.If you want to unlock more SEO features and get more traffic to your WordPress site, then you should check out
AIOSEO Pro.
See our full AIOSEO review for more details.
First, you need to install and activate
AIOSEO.
Here’s our full guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
After you have installed the plugin, you can easily change the Facebook thumbnail when writing a post.Just scroll down to the AIOSEO Settings meta box below the post editor and then click on the ‘Social’ tab.
A little further down the page, you will see an ‘Image Source’ dropdown where you can select the thumbnail image for Facebook.
For example, you can use your featured image or upload a custom one instead.
Once you add your Facebook thumbnail image there, you need to update your post.
This will fix the issue in most cases.
Here’s what our post looks like when shared on Facebook:
Pro Tip: If this doesn’t work, then make sure you have
cleared your WordPress cache and refreshed the post in the Facebook debug tool, as mentioned below in this article.
Choosing Your Facebook Thumbnail With Yoast SEO Plugin
The Yoast SEO plugin also comes with the ability to add a custom Facebook thumbnail to each post or page.
Simply install and activate the
Yoast SEO Plugin.For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, it’s time to set up a Facebook thumbnail into whatever post you want.
When writing a post, scroll down to the Yoast SEO meta box below the post editor and then click on the social tab.There, you will see a button to upload a thumbnail image for Facebook.
Here’s what the Facebook thumbnail looks like for our
How to Start a Blog article:
Using Facebook Debug Tool to Clear the Cache
If you have added the right thumbnail, and Facebook is still not showing the right thumbnail, then the issue is related to caching.
First, you need to make sure that you
clear the page cache in WordPress.
After that, you need to reset the Facebook cache using their debug tool.
The
Facebook debug tool is the easiest way to troubleshoot Facebook thumbnail issues.Simply copy the URL of your WordPress post and paste it into the Facebook debugger tool.
After that, click on the ‘Scrape Again’ button, and Facebook will update the thumbnail for your post.Sometimes, you may have to click the ‘Scrape Again’ button twice.
Expert Guides on Using Social Media in WordPress
Now that you know how to fix incorrect thumbnails on Facebook, you may like to see some other guides related to using social media on WordPress:
The Complete Social Media Cheat Sheet for WordPress (Updated) How to Add Your Social Media Feeds to WordPress (Step by Step) How to Schedule WordPress Posts for Social Media with Buffer How to Add Social Media Icons in Your WordPress Sidebar How to Add Social Media Icons to WordPress Menus (Easy Way) How to Display Social Media Followers Count in WordPress How to Display Author’s Twitter and Facebook on the Profile Page Best Social Media Plugins for WordPress Best Social Media Monitoring Tools For WordPress Users
We hope this article helped you resolve the Facebook incorrect thumbnail issue in WordPress.You may also want to see our guide on
how to add social share buttons in WordPress or our expert picks for the best business phone services for small business.
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