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Fixing Yoast SEO Social Image Problems: Why Your Open Graph or Twitter Image Isn't Showing

37 threads Sep 7, 2025 Plugin → Yoast seo

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If you've ever shared a link only to find the wrong image appears on Facebook, Twitter, or WhatsApp, you're not alone. Incorrect social media preview images are one of the most common issues reported by users of the Yoast SEO plugin. This guide will walk you through why this happens and the most effective solutions to get your preferred images showing correctly.

Why Do Social Images Show Incorrectly?

Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter use 'scrapers' to read specific meta tags from your webpage's code to generate link previews. The primary tag for the image is og:image for Facebook (and many other platforms) and twitter:image for X (formerly Twitter). When the wrong image appears, it's typically due to one of several reasons:

  • Caching: Your website, your browser, or the social platform itself has stored an old version of the page.
  • Image Source Conflict: Another plugin or theme is outputting conflicting Open Graph tags.
  • Incorrect Configuration: The social image hasn't been set properly within Yoast SEO's settings for the specific page or site-wide.
  • Crawler Issues: The social platform's crawler cannot access or process the image you've specified.

How to Troubleshoot and Fix Social Image Issues

1. Clear All Caches

This is the most common fix. You must clear multiple caches for changes to take effect:

  • WordPress/Site Cache: Clear any caching from plugins like WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or from your hosting provider's dashboard.
  • Social Platform Cache: Use official debugging tools to force the platform to re-scrape your page: After using these tools, re-share your link to see if the correct image appears.

2. Verify Your Yoast SEO Social Settings

Ensure the image is set correctly in the right place. The hierarchy for social images typically is:

  1. Individual Page/Post Image: When editing a post or page, scroll down to the Yoast SEO meta box. Click on the 'Social' tab. Here, you can upload a specific image for both Facebook and X (Twitter). This overrides all other settings. If you change a post's featured image later, you must also update the image here manually.
  2. Site-Wide Default Image (Free Version): You can set a default fallback image that is used when no other image is found. Go to Yoast SEO > Settings > Media and set your 'Facebook Image' and 'X Image'.

Note: The free version of Yoast SEO does not allow setting unique default images for custom post types; this is a premium feature.

3. Check for Plugin or Theme Conflicts

If another plugin or your theme is also generating Open Graph tags, it can create conflicts, causing social platforms to see duplicate or incorrect tags.

  • Identify the Conflict: Temporarily disable other SEO, social media, or caching plugins one by one. After disabling each one, check your page's source code (right-click > 'View Page Source' and search for og:image). If the incorrect tag disappears, you've found the conflict.
  • Resolve the Conflict: Once identified, check the conflicting plugin's settings for an option to disable its Open Graph output. This is the preferred method, as it allows Yoast SEO to handle the tags exclusively.

4. Confirm Image Specifications

Social platforms have specific requirements for images. Using an incompatible image can cause it to be ignored.

  • Format: Use JPG or PNG. SVG files are not supported for social media previews.
  • Size: The recommended size is 1200 x 630 pixels for a landscape ratio. While you can use other ratios, they may be cropped automatically by social platforms in ways you can't control through Yoast SEO alone.
  • Availability: Ensure the image URL is publicly accessible and not blocked by server security rules or .htaccess files.

When the Issue Isn't Yoast SEO

Sometimes, the problem occurs even though Yoast SEO is outputting the correct meta tags in your page's source code. If you can verify the correct og:image and twitter:image tags are present but platforms still show the wrong image, the issue almost always lies with the platform's cache or crawler. In these cases, using the debuggers linked above is the only solution.

By methodically working through these steps—clearing caches, checking settings, looking for conflicts, and verifying image specs—you can resolve most social image preview issues and ensure your content shares exactly as you intend.

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