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Fixing SEOPress Open Graph Image Issues on Facebook and Social Media

29 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Seopress – on-site seo

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If you're using the SEOPress plugin for WordPress, you might encounter issues where your Open Graph (OG) images don't appear correctly when sharing links on Facebook, LinkedIn, or messaging apps like iMessage. This is a common problem reported by many users, but the good news is that it's often solvable. This guide will walk you through the most frequent causes and their solutions.

Why Do Open Graph Image Problems Happen?

SEOPress generates og:image tags by following a specific hierarchy. Understanding this order is key to diagnosing problems:

  1. A custom OG image set in the SEO metabox for a specific post or page.
  2. The post's featured image (also known as the post thumbnail).
  3. The first image found within the post's content.
  4. The global default OG image set in SEO > Social > Open Graph.

Problems can arise from conflicts within this hierarchy, caching (both on your site and on Facebook's servers), incorrect image URLs, or server configuration issues that block social media crawlers.

Common Solutions for OG Image Issues

1. Clear All Caches

This is the most common fix. You must clear:

  • Your WordPress caching plugin (e.g., LiteSpeed Cache, WP Rocket).
  • Your browser cache.
  • Any Content Delivery Network (CDN) cache like Cloudflare.
  • Facebook's Cache: Use the Facebook Sharing Debugger to scrape your URL again. This forces Facebook to fetch the latest meta tags from your site.

2. Verify the Image URL and Size

Facebook and other platforms have specific requirements:

  • Image Size: Ensure your image is large enough. Facebook recommends 1200 x 630 pixels. A small thumbnail (e.g., 150x150) will often be rejected.
  • Valid URL: Check that the image URL in your source code is absolute and does not contain errors. Look for malformed URLs in the og:image tag.
  • File Type: While common types like JPG and PNG work, some users have reported issues with WebP. Try using a JPG as a test.

3. Check for Server Blocking

Social media platforms use crawlers (bots) to fetch your OG data. If your server blocks these bots, the image will fail to load. Check your .htaccess file or server security rules for any directives that might be denying access to images for user-agents like facebookexternalhit/1.1.

4. Understand the Hierarchy and Override Setting

In the Social > Open Graph settings, there is an option to "Apply this image to all your og:image tag". When enabled, this global default image should override options 2 and 3 (featured image and first content image). However, it will not override a custom OG image set for an individual post (option 1).

If your featured image is still appearing instead of your global default, double-check that this override box is ticked and that you have not set a custom image on the post itself.

5. Plugin Conflicts

Other plugins, especially those that handle social sharing or SEO (like Jetpack Publicize), can sometimes conflict with SEOPress. To test for this:

  1. Temporarily disable other social media or SEO plugins.
  2. Check if the OG image appears correctly.
  3. If it works, reactivate plugins one by one to identify the culprit.

6. Use the Facebook Debugger Tool

The Facebook Sharing Debugger is your best friend. After making any changes, paste your URL into the debugger and click "Scrape Again." It will show you exactly what Facebook sees and report any specific errors, such as "Invalid Image Content Type" or "URL not valid."

When All Else Fails: Custom Code

For advanced needs, such as using a product gallery image instead of a featured image, SEOPress provides hooks for customization. The SEOPress team suggests using filters like seopress_social_og_thumb to modify the image output. Always test custom code on a staging site first.

By methodically working through these steps—clearing caches, verifying settings, and using the debugger tool—you can resolve most Open Graph image issues and ensure your content looks great when shared across social platforms.

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