Debugging Open Graph Sharing Issues

What is Open Graph and why is it important?

You might be sharing content on social media from your website regularly. Aren’t you fascinated by how the social media handles pick the image you have on the webpage or the post and create a social media post similar to how the platform shows other content?

What makes this possible is the open graph protocol. It enables content that’s shared on social media platforms to have the same functionality as standard content posted on the platform.

What can go wrong with the Open Graph Meta Tags?

Sometimes the image that is pulled from the source to be shared might be incorrect.

Sometimes, you don’t even get an image when you share the link on the social media handle.

Is this a message that you see when you use the Facebook Debugger Tools?

Provided og:image URL, could not be processed as an image

or do you get this message,

‘og:image’ property should be explicitly provided, even if a value can be inferred from other tags

Most of the time the standard solutions that people have mentioned would get the job done.

Below are a few steps to follow to resolve these issues,

When you get the wrong image when you share the link.

If you are using a CMS and the image is wrong,

First, update the new image on the relevant page.

Second, use the Facebook Debugger Tool to scrap the fetched content, if you don’t feel like waiting for 24 hours for the system to do it.

You should see the updated image when you share the link now.

You don’t get the image when you share the link

There can be multiple reasons as to why this happens.

Sometimes, it can be because of an HTTPS (SSL) issue with the Open Graph tag. In this case, you will have to use the correct meta tag which is,

If that’s not the issue then try resizing the image to the recommended size.

Deactivate plugins one by one to see whether there is a plugin conflict or duplication of tags.

Still, the issue persists? Once you have ruled out every possibility, Then try checking whether you have enabled Hotlink Protection on your hosting service.

If all solutions suggested are not helping out, it’s usually Hotlink Protection blocking Facebook from grabbing the imaged from your website.

Hope this helps!

Click Here for the Facebook Debugger Tool.

Click Here for the Facebook Guide to Sharing.