Imagine, just a few years ago Facebook let you share a link and then edit its preview anyway you want. You could edit the title, the images that showed up and the description. While this could be used to give more accurate information to your audience or to correct any misspellings or bad titles, a lot of people used it to spread fake news or malware. Those people would put up a link to some virus-ridden website, but the photos and headlines would show something completely different.
Sadly, because of such people, Facebook decided that it is time to change how to link previews work. They managed to make the Internet a much better place and prevent such people form filling Facebook with nonsense, however, looks like Facebook forgot about its content creators and people that completely rely on those previews.
Let’s say you are in a situation where you have to share something that is completely work-related, but you notice that the preview of the link does not show any kind of image which will probably result in much fewer people clicking on the post. This means you are losing the audience and potential clicks, so what can you really do to fix such a problem?
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There are some situations on FB that feel like they completely randomize the content that gets shown of the website you have shared. This seems ridiculous and the whole point of sharing is lost. Fortunately, there are some things you should know about and do to help you have at least some kind of control when you are content on your profile or page.
The fix to such a problem is the tool Facebook Debugger. This isn’t some third party program that will ask for your personal information, emails, and passwords. This is actually a tool that is completely maintained by Facebook and its developer team which provides website owners with the ability to scan the links of their own websites so they can find out what the preview will look like when it is finally shared. It is the best way to ensure that your audience and customers will receive the best possible content instead of some random images and titles.
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What you should know about the Facebook Debugger
The Debugger is a tool where you have the ability to see your own page from Facebook’s viewpoint. It will show you all the data that has been scrapped and an image of what your previews will look like when you share a link on your facebook page or profile of your own website. It is the fastest way you can do a check on errors and to find out how your whole image will look like to the public. If you have ever shared some kind of an image or website, you probably have had a situation where the preview image is completely different from what you originally posted or the redirect site is also wrong. By using the debugger you can ensure that you have fixed this kind of issue.
Not only can you get a clear image of what you can expect when publishing your posts, but you can also use it as a tool to discover different kinds of errors and problems. Keep in mind, it is not a program that will automatically fix all of your errors. After using the tool you will have to check the website code on your own and fix the errors you have in the code. Most social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram or Facebook use the Open Graph tag as a standard when it comes to sharing content, so we recommend that you check out that aspect of your code first before delving deeper.
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What does it do?
While it may seem like we are talking about some very complex applications that can only be used professionals, you are wrong. Yes, this tool can do a lot, but there are many features that you do not ever have to use, so you won’t have to worry about whether you are skilled enough. All that you need is your own site on the Internet, a browser and then just put the URL of your website into the box and select Debug. After a few seconds, you will get an extensive report about its finds. According to Kontentino.com, there are several other websites and tools out there that can automatically debug and share your links.
What is the Open Graph Protocol?
Facebook first introduced us to this protocol somewhere around the year 2010, so it could provide marketers and websites a much easier way for interaction and accessibility. Open Graph is something that gives website owners a way to control the information they share when using social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook.
Believe it or not, the tags are very easy to implement which can help you keep your information accurate as much as possible which means that your online posts will bring more views.
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Is it hard to understand the Debugger’s information?
At first glance, it might seem like the data you see in front of you on the monitor is completely gibberish and that you will never understand what it means. But, with a short explanation and a bit of research, you can easily get into the debugger “mindset.
When you first run the diagnostic you will get a couple of lists that show different kinds of information. These are in-depth details that will tell you all about the type of content Facebook is trying to get from your website. By analyzing this data you can understand what you can change on your website to prevent the wrong content to appear on preview links. If the wrong headline appears on the debugger, then you should probably change something in the code that is related to the title of your posts. If you notice that the debugger data shows that the wrong images get shown through preview links, then you will also have to do some working around with your code.
After going through enough tweaking, you can feel confident that every post that gets shared by any Facebook user will look as it should.
