Change URL Image with Yoast SEO: Easy Guide

Did you know 65% of search engine users click on the first 5 results¹? It’s important to make your website stand out in search results. One way to do this is by changing the image next to your URL on social media. Yoast SEO, a popular WordPress plugin, makes this easy.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to change the image next to your URL with Yoast SEO². This can help improve your site’s branding, social media engagement, and SEO. Learning this technique can boost your online presence a lot.

Key Takeaways

Yoast SEO lets you edit Open Graph tags, controlling the image next to your URL on social media.
The plugin helps optimize your site’s identity, including whether it’s for an organization or a person¹.
Yoast SEO tools verify your site with search engines like Baidu, Bing, Yandex, and Google, helping monitor your site’s search performance¹.
The plugin’s Crawl optimization feature improves site efficiency and reduces carbon footprint by removing unnecessary content from being crawled¹.
Yoast SEO’s Breadcrumb settings make adding customizable breadcrumbs to your WordPress site easy¹.

Why Does an Image Appear Next to a URL?

When we share links on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, they show a preview. This preview has a title, description, and an image³. It’s made possible by “Open Graph” tags, which tell social media what a web page is about³.

Understanding the Role of Open Graph Tags

Yoast SEO lets us change these Open Graph tags. This means we can pick the best image for our URL³. It’s great for making our links more shareable and attractive on social media⁴.

With Yoast SEO, we can tailor the title, description, and image for each page. This makes sure our social media previews are perfect⁴.

Open Graph tags help us control how our content looks on different social media sites. This can bring more visitors and engagement to our website³.

Social Platform	Minimum Image Resolution	Suggested Image Resolution
Facebook	1200 x 630 pixels	–
Twitter	600 x 335 pixels	1200 x 675 pixels
LinkedIn	–	–

By optimizing our images and Open Graph tags, we can make our content pop on social media³. This improves the user experience and helps our online marketing succeed.

Installing and Activating Yoast SEO Plugin

Before we start, make sure the Yoast SEO plugin is installed and active on your WordPress site⁵. It’s a top choice for over 3 million websites⁶. The plugin is used by 71.94% of WordPress sites, with over 5.9 million users.

To begin, go to your WordPress dashboard. Click on “Plugins,” then “Add New.” Search for “Yoast SEO” and install it. After installing, activate the plugin to use its many features⁵. The free version has a lot to offer, even without the premium features.

Before adding SEO data, back up your database. Use a plugin like⁵ Duplicator, which is free and popular. This way, you can restore your site if needed.

⁵ Yoast SEO has a setup wizard to help with basic SEO settings. It makes installation and setup easy⁵. You can also verify your site with search engines, making it easier to find.

⁶ With Yoast SEO installed, you get a lot of SEO settings. You can set default titles, meta descriptions, and more for your content.

With Yoast SEO, you’re ready to improve your website’s search visibility. Next, we’ll look at setting a featured image for your content.

Setting a Featured Image for Your Content

When you share a link to your WordPress content on social media, the featured image is usually shown by default. To make sure the right image is displayed, it’s key to set a featured image for your content⁷. You can do this by going to the post or page editor. There, you’ll find the “Featured Image” option in the right-hand sidebar. You can upload your chosen image there⁸.

Ensuring the Proper Image Displays

If you want more control over the image shown when your content is shared, there are steps you can take⁸. The Yoast SEO plugin, for example, has settings and options to help optimize your featured image for social media⁹. By adjusting the Yoast SEO plugin, you can make sure the same image is shown everywhere. This boosts the look and feel of your content⁸.

Remember, set featured image wordpress, optimize featured images for seo, and featured image best practices are important when showing your content to your audience⁹. Spending time on setting and optimizing your featured images can greatly impact how your content is seen and shared online⁷.

Accessing the Yoast SEO Meta Box

After installing and activating the Yoast SEO plugin, you’ll see the Yoast SEO meta box at the bottom of your editor. This is where you can tweak your metadata. You can choose the image that shows up next to your URL in search results and on social media³.

The Yoast SEO meta box is packed with tools to help your content shine online. You can customize your title, description, and even the image that represents your content. This puts you in charge of your website’s online look¹⁰.

The Focus Keyphrase field is key for SEO, with Yoast SEO giving you real-time feedback¹⁰.
Yoast SEO Premium users get extra tools. They can add related keyphrases and synonyms¹⁰.
The Readability analysis helps make your content easy to read. It guides you in writing engaging and clear text¹⁰.
The Google Preview feature lets you tweak your SEO title, URL, and meta description. This ensures your content pops in search results¹⁰.
The Facebook and Twitter previews let you customize your content for social media. You can optimize the images and descriptions that show up¹⁰.

Using the Yoast SEO meta box, you can manage your website’s online image. This ensures your content is optimized for search engines and social platforms³¹⁰.

Remember, the Yoast SEO plugin gives you control over your images on social media like Facebook and Twitter³. By exploring and customizing the Yoast SEO meta box, you can create a consistent and appealing online presence. This will connect with your audience¹¹.

Uploading Images for Social Sharing

Optimizing your images for Facebook and Twitter is key in social media marketing¹². Making sure your images fit the right dimensions for these platforms can boost visibility and engagement¹³. Facebook introduced OpenGraph over a decade ago to show specific page elements when shared, like content type and images.

In the Yoast SEO meta box, you can customize how your content looks on social platforms¹³. You can upload your own images for Facebook and Twitter shares¹³. Yoast SEO fills out OpenGraph tags automatically, making social media optimization easier.

Optimizing Image Sizes for Platforms

¹² Open Graph Protocol defines tags like og:image and og:title for shared content¹². Most sites automatically add Open Graph elements to all pages and posts¹². For the best results, og:image tags should be between 1200x800px and 2000x1600px, and under 2mb in size.

¹² The Yoast SEO plugin picks the best social image for each platform¹².
¹² Different platforms interpret Open Graph tags in their own ways¹².
¹² Facebook and Twitter are the default for all other networks, limiting image formats¹².
¹² Some platforms have rules on image sizes and ratios, affecting display¹².
¹² Yoast SEO often uses the same og:image for multiple platforms, despite different rules¹².
¹² The interaction of multiple og:image tags on different platforms can be complex¹².
¹² Documentation on how platforms treat og:image tags can be unclear or missing¹².
¹² Some platforms handle multiple og:image tags by cropping and using the first tag, applying size and ratio constraints¹².

¹³ Facebook supports image uploads of at least 1200px by 630px, giving flexibility in image sizing¹³. To optimize a Facebook post, set social media account details in SEO settings and enable OpenGraph¹³. The Yoast SEO plugin lets you change social media post details directly in the preview, making optimization more efficient¹³. Facebook may not show changes right away, so use the Facebook Debugger tool for up-to-date previews.

¹³ Twitter’s functionality includes Twitter Cards, requiring specific metadata fields like content type and image¹³. Yoast SEO allows users to preview Twitter shares and customize metadata for Twitter posts directly from the plugin.

¹³ Pinterest Rich Pins, which use OpenGraph markup, focus on product data like name and price¹³. Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin offers features to create Rich Pins for product pages, increasing Pinterest visibility.

Customizing Title and Description for Sharing

Yoast SEO lets us control what shows up when we share content on social media¹⁴. We can add context or a call-to-action that matches our featured image¹⁴.

In the Yoast SEO meta box, we can tweak the SEO title and meta description for each piece of content¹⁵. These options are split into “Search appearance” and “Social appearance” sections. This gives us detailed control over how our content looks in search results and on social media¹⁵.

The “Search appearance” settings let us adjust the SEO title and meta description for search engine results pages (SERPs)¹⁵. The “Social appearance” settings allow us to make unique titles and descriptions for Facebook and Twitter shares¹⁵.

We can use variables and snippet variables to make dynamic, catchy titles and descriptions for each social platform¹⁵. This makes our content more engaging and likely to attract more traffic to our site¹⁵.

By customizing our social media sharing settings in Yoast SEO, we can make our content more discoverable and appealing¹⁵. This leads to more visibility and engagement across different digital platforms¹⁵.

Creating content that is both informative and visually appealing is key to effective social media sharing¹⁵. By optimizing our titles, descriptions, and images, we can make sure our content grabs attention and connects with our audience¹⁵.

yoast seo how to change image next to url

With the Yoast SEO plugin, changing the image next to your URL in search results is easy. This makes your content look better and helps more people find it¹⁶.

Install and Activate the Yoast SEO Plugin: First, make sure the Yoast SEO plugin is installed and active on your WordPress site¹⁶.
Set a Featured Image for Your Content: Next, pick a featured image for your content. This image will show up as your page or post’s default image¹⁶.
Access the Yoast SEO Meta Box: Find the Yoast SEO meta box in your page or post editor. Go to the “Social” tab to change the image next to your URL¹⁶.
Upload Images for Social Sharing: In the “Social” tab, you can upload images for Facebook and Twitter. Pick the best images for each platform¹⁶.
Customize the Title and Description: Lastly, change the title and description for social media shares. This makes your content look good when shared¹⁶.

By following these steps, you can change the image next to your URL in search results. This makes your content more appealing and helps it get more clicks and shares¹⁶.

Optimizing your content’s visuals is key to a good SEO strategy. With the Yoast SEO plugin, you can easily manage and change the image for your web pages. This ensures your site looks professional and eye-catching in search results¹⁶.

Testing and Validating Your Changes

After making changes to the Yoast SEO meta box, it’s important to test and validate your work. This ensures your updates work right and your content looks good on social media. The Facebook Sharing Debugger and Twitter Card Validator are key tools for this.

Using Facebook and Twitter Debugging Tools

The Facebook Sharing Debugger¹⁷ lets you see how your content will look on Facebook. It’s vital if you’ve changed your post’s image or social media details. By using the debugger, you can fix any problems and make more changes if needed¹⁷.

The Twitter Card Validator¹⁷ shows how your content will appear on Twitter. It helps check if you’ve used Twitter-specific tags right. This ensures your content looks great in the Twitter feed¹⁷.

These tools help you test social media sharing, validate yoast seo changes, and make sure the facebook sharing debugger and twitter card validator work well. This focus on detail boosts your content’s visibility and engagement on different social platforms.

The Yoast SEO plugin offers many features for optimizing your content¹⁸. It includes tools for improving readability, tracking keywords, and checking cornerstone content. These tools help make your articles better for search engines and social media¹⁸. Yoast SEO Premium also lets you see how your content will look on social media¹⁸.

By using Yoast SEO’s tools, along with the Facebook and Twitter debuggers, you can test social media sharing, validate yoast seo changes. This ensures your content is seen by more people and gets more engagement across different digital channels.

“Attention to detail is key when optimizing your content for search engines and social media platforms. By using the right tools and features, you can ensure your updates are working as intended and your content is reaching the right audiences.”

Remember, it’s vital to regularly test and validate your Yoast SEO changes for a strong online presence and more website traffic¹⁹. Using Google Search Console data can also help you find and fix problems. This improves your content’s performance even more¹⁹.

Managing Sitemap Images with Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is a powerful WordPress plugin that optimizes your website’s content and manages XML sitemaps. It includes an entry for every public post and page. If those pages have images, it also includes info about those images in the XML sitemap entry²⁰.

As an SEO-conscious website owner, you can use Yoast SEO to customize sitemap images. This ensures they are optimized for search engines. The `wpseo_xml_sitemap_img` filter lets you modify the images, and the `wpseo_xml_sitemap_img_src` filter allows you to change the image URLs²⁰.

Customizing your sitemap images can greatly impact your website’s SEO. Over 72% of consumers search for visuals before buying, and 74% prefer image searches over text for shopping²¹. Optimizing your sitemap images can help your content get discovered and drive more traffic to your site.

It’s also important to keep up with Yoast SEO updates. For example, a bug in Yoast SEO 7.0 was fixed by the team²². By staying informed and proactive, you can keep your website’s SEO strong and your content ranking well.

In conclusion, managing your sitemap images with Yoast SEO is key to optimizing your website for search engines. By using the plugin’s features and staying current with updates, you can boost your website’s visibility. This drives more targeted traffic and improves your business’s online success²⁰²²²¹.

Redirecting Image URLs for SEO Benefits

When you upload images to your WordPress site, it creates unique URLs for them, like https://example.com/image.png²³. These URLs might seem okay, but they can hurt your site’s SEO²³. Search engines might see these pages as thin content, which can lower your site’s rankings²³.

The Yoast SEO plugin can help with this problem²³. It lets you redirect these image URLs to the actual post or page where the image is used. This makes your site’s structure better and improves your SEO²³. This feature works in both the free and premium versions of the plugin, so everyone can use it²³.

To set up the redirect in Yoast SEO, go to the Search Appearance section in your WordPress dashboard. Then, click on the Media tab²³. There, you can turn on the redirect option. This stops new pages from being made for each image or attachment²³. It helps keep your website organized and improves its SEO²³.

Redirecting image URLs is a simple way to boost your site’s SEO²³. It reduces unnecessary pages and links each image to its content. This can make your site more visible and improve its rankings²³. With Yoast SEO, this process is easy, letting you focus on creating great content and improving user experience²³.

Redirect Type	Description
301 Redirect	²⁴A 301 redirect is the most commonly used redirect for permanent URL changes²⁴. It tells search engines the content has moved and the new URL should be indexed²⁴.
302 Redirect	²⁴A 302 redirect is for temporary changes, showing the content will be back soon²⁴.
Redirect Checker	²⁴A redirect checker is a tool to see if a URL is redirected and follow its path²⁴.
Redirect Manager	²⁴The redirect manager in Yoast SEO Premium is an easy tool for managing redirects²⁴.

Using redirects right is key for good SEO²⁴. Correctly redirecting image URLs helps avoid losing PageRank and traffic. It also makes your site easier for visitors to use²⁴. Also, updating your internal links is important when using redirects to keep your site’s navigation and search engine indexing good²⁴.

By using Yoast SEO’s redirect features, you can manage your image URLs well. This unlocks SEO benefits for a well-structured and optimized website²³. This simple technique can greatly improve your site’s visibility and rankings²³.

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve looked at how to change the image next to your URL with Yoast SEO. This makes your content pop and shows your brand well on social media²⁵.

Key points include changing the OpenGraph image URL and managing sitemap images. Yoast SEO also helps with redirecting image URLs for better SEO²⁶.

Keep improving your Yoast SEO settings. Use debugging tools to check your work. This ensures your content is shared right on social media²⁷.

FAQ

What is the purpose of the image that appears next to a URL when shared on social media?

The image next to a URL on social media comes from “Open Graph” tags. These tags tell social media platforms what to show when sharing a link.

How does the Yoast SEO plugin help with customizing the image that appears next to a URL?

The Yoast SEO plugin lets you edit Open Graph tags. This way, you can choose the image that shows up with your URL on social media.

What are the steps to change the image that appears next to a URL using the Yoast SEO plugin?

To change the image with your URL, follow these steps: 1) Install and activate Yoast SEO. 2) Pick a featured image for your content. 3) Go to the Yoast SEO meta box and click on the “Social” tab. 4) Upload the images you want for Facebook and Twitter. 5) Customize the title and description for sharing on social media.

What image size requirements are recommended for social media sharing?

For Facebook, use an image that’s at least 1200 x 630 pixels. Twitter needs a minimum of 600 x 335 pixels, but 1200 x 675 pixels is suggested.

How can you test and validate the changes made to the image that appears next to a URL?

Use Facebook Sharing Debugger and Twitter Card Validator to test your changes. These tools show how your content will look when shared and help fix any problems.

How can you manage the images included in the Yoast SEO XML sitemap?

Yoast SEO includes image info in the XML sitemap. You can change the images using the `wpseo_xml_sitemap_img` filter. Or, use the `wpseo_xml_sitemap_img_src` filter to change the image URL manually.

What is the recommended approach for redirecting image-specific URLs for SEO benefits?

Redirect image-specific URLs directly to the actual image file. This boosts the SEO value of your content.

Source Links

Configuration guide for Yoast SEO – https://yoast.com/help/configuration-guide-for-yoast-seo/
The beginner’s guide to Yoast SEO – https://yoast.com/beginners-guide-yoast-seo/
Yoast SEO: How to change image Next to Url – https://aitoolmaster.com/yoast-seo-how-to-change-image-next-to-url/
Yoast SEO 12.4: Image in snippet preview – https://yoast.com/yoast-seo-12-4/
How to Install and Setup Yoast SEO Plugin in WordPress – https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-install-and-setup-wordpress-seo-plugin-by-yoast/
Yoast SEO Plugin 101: Install, Setup, and Configure Yoast in WordPress – E2M Solutions – https://www.e2msolutions.com/blog/yoast-seo-plugin-101-install-setup-and-configure-yoast-in-wordpress/
Featured Images – https://wordpress.com/support/featured-images/
WordPress Yoast SEO Duplicating Featured Image in Link Share – https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-yoast-seo-duplicating-featured-image-in-link-share/
How to Use a Featured Image from a URL in WordPress – GreenGeeks – https://www.greengeeks.com/tutorials/use-featured-image-url-wordpress/
PDF – https://academy.yoast.com/app/uploads/sites/4/2021/01/2.2-Yoast-SEO-meta-box-and-sidebar_19-jan-2021.pdf
How do I set og:image property for a specific web page? – https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-do-i-set-ogimage-property-for-a-specific-web-page/
How social image sharing works and how to optimize your og:image tags – https://yoast.com/advanced-technical-seo-social-image-ogimage-tags/
Social media optimization with Yoast SEO – https://yoast.com/social-media-optimization-with-yoast-seo/
Yoast SEO settings: Content types – https://yoast.com/help/yoast-seo-settings-content-types/
Yoast SEO settings: Categories & tags – https://yoast.com/help/yoast-seo-settings-categories-tags/
How to customize the sitemap index – https://yoast.com/help/how-to-customize-the-sitemap-index/
SEO Meta Image not showing, but text is – https://wordpress.org/support/topic/seo-meta-image-not-showing-but-text-is/
How to use Yoast SEO’s content analysis tool – https://yoast.com/use-content-analysis-yoast-seo/
How to use Google Search Console: a beginner’s guide – https://yoast.com/beginners-guide-to-google-search-console/
How to Correctly Configure Your Yoast XML Sitemap and Advanced Settings in WordPress – https://pressable.com/blog/configuring-yoast-sitemap-right-way-2/
Image SEO: A Common Sense How-To Guide for WordPress – https://aioseo.com/wordpress-image-seo/
Search Snippet: Yoast SEO Plugin Image URL Bug Fix – https://www.reflectdigital.co.uk/blog/search-snippet-yoast-seo-plugin-image-url-bug-fix
Redirect attachment URLs – Yoast SEO Features • Yoast – https://yoast.com/features/redirect-attachment-urls/
6 questions about redirects for SEO – https://yoast.com/6-questions-about-redirects-for-seo/
Yoast SEO snippets to customize your site – https://yoast.com/yoast-seo-snippets-to-customize-your-site/
Yoast SEO’s hidden features that secretly level up your SEO – https://yoast.com/yoast-seo-hidden-features/
Optimizing Images for SEO with Yoast: A Comprehensive Guide – https://medium.com/@seomarketplace251/optimizing-images-for-seo-with-yoast-a-comprehensive-guide-aa9383db71a7