In this three-part "Search Engine Optimization" series, I discuss how to optimize your WordPress website for search engines using the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin. In the first part, I explained what on and off page SEO is and how to get started with the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin. In the second part, I discussed how to analyze and improve your page. Today I'll close with an explanation of the Social tab.
Optimize your page/message for Facebook as well
After you create a new page on your website or write a blog, you often share it on Facebook. Once you paste the link into a post, Facebook itself creates a preview.
In the preview above, I used the link from the first part of this series. Facebook automatically uses the first photo that appears in this post and, in this example, uses the title and description I entered in the "General" tab of the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin. The photo used is very useful in the post, but will not attract as many people on Facebook. Therefore, I would like to use a different photo on Facebook and change the title and description slightly. The nice thing is that that too can be done with the Yoast plugin.
Yoast WordPress SEO plugin - Social
Go to the page or post you want to optimize for Facebook, find the block WordPress SEO by Yoast and choose the last tab "Social. Here you can adjust three things:
- The title shown on Facebook when you share the URL
- The description displayed on Facebook when you share the URL
- The photo shown on Facebook when you share the URL
I modified all three options. The meta description for Google is limited t0t 156 characters, Facebook shows about 300; so you can use a slightly longer description here. I also used a different photo that will appeal more and is optimized for the size in which Facebook shows the photo (486 x 254 px).
After you've made all the changes, save the post or page. Copy the URL of your page and go to Facebook's debug tool. Place the link in the Input URL box and click show existing scrape information. This way you can find out what information Facebook shows when you share your link. Is this still showing the old information? Then click on Fetch new scrape information. Facebook will check your URL again and will now fetch the new information you entered in the 'Social' tab.
Once again, I used the same link on Facebook, but you'll see a different photo and a custom title and description. So in this way, you can also use the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin to optimize your website for Facebook. The more your link is shared on Facebook, the better. In fact, Google also counts links on Facebook in their algorithm.
This was the last part in the series search engine optimization with the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin. I hope to have helped you a little further along the way in this wonderful world. If you still have questions, feel free to ask (in a comment, via email, Facebook or Twitter).
