How to Check and Debug Your OG Images
Introduction
OG images are crucial for making your social media links stand out, but what happens when they don’t display correctly? A broken preview can confuse your audience and hurt your content’s performance.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to check and debug your OG images, ensuring they always look great on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Step 1: Check Your Open Graph Metadata
Before troubleshooting, confirm that your website’s Open Graph (OG) metadata is set up correctly. Essential tags include:
og:image: URL of the image.og:title: Title of the content.og:description: Short description of the page.og:url: Canonical URL of the page.
Ensure these tags are in the <head> section of your HTML.
Step 2: Use Debugging Tools
Different platforms offer tools to test and debug your OG images:
Preview OGimage.gallery
- URL: https://preview.ogimage.gallery/
- What It Does:
- Fetches and displays how your OG image will appear.
- How to Use:
- Enter your link.
LinkedIn Post Inspector
- URL: https://www.linkedin.com/post-inspector/
- What It Does:
- Displays how your link will appear on LinkedIn.
- Checks for metadata issues and helps refresh LinkedIn’s cache.
- How to Use:
- Enter your URL and click Inspect.
Step 3: Common OG Image Issues and Fixes
- Broken or Inaccessible Image Links
- Cause: The image URL is incorrect or the image isn’t publicly accessible.
- Fix: Ensure the image is hosted on a server with public access and a valid URL.
- Wrong Image Dimensions
- Cause: The image doesn’t match the recommended dimensions.
- Fix: Resize your image to 1200x630 pixels (or platform-specific dimensions).
- Outdated Social Media Cache
- Cause: Social platforms often cache old metadata.
- Fix: Use the platform’s debugging tools to refresh the cache.
- Missing Fallback Tags
- Cause: Some platforms don’t recognize your OG tags.
- Fix: Add fallback tags like
twitter:imageor ensure platform-specific metadata is included.
Step 4: Test Regularly
Social platforms frequently update their requirements. Test your OG images regularly to ensure they meet the latest standards and display correctly.
Simplify OG Image Creation with ogimage.gallery
Manually debugging OG images can be tedious. With ogimage.gallery, you can:
- Generate images optimized for multiple platforms.
- Preview how your links will look before sharing.
- Save time by ensuring compliance with all metadata standards.
Conclusion
Broken or misaligned OG images can ruin your social media strategy. By using the right tools and following this guide, you can identify and fix issues quickly, ensuring your content always looks its best.
Start creating error-free OG images today with ogimage.gallery!
