Silktide

The social image is the picture shown when a page is shared on social networks and messaging apps. Silktide checks that each page specifies one, that the image actually loads, and that its declared size suits a preview card.

The image is set with tags in the page's :

<!-- A full web address, with the image's dimensions declared -->
<meta property="og:image" content="https:\/\/www.example.com\/images\/course-preview.jpg" \/>
<meta property="og:image:width" content="1200" \/>
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630" \/>

Why this matters

Shared links with images get dramatically more attention than bare text links. If the image is missing or fails to load, platforms show no picture at all, or guess one from the page - often a logo or an irrelevant photo. If the image is too small or an unusual shape, it can appear cropped, blurry, or shrunk to a thumbnail. Declaring the width and height also lets platforms render the preview immediately the first time a link is shared, instead of showing it without an image.

How to fix it

In your , look for the page's social image, social preview image, or featured image field.
Use a full web address (starting with https:\/\/) that works for the public, not an address that only works while you are logged in.
Aim for a wide landscape image, ideally 1200 by 630 pixels and at least 600 by 315.
Publish the image's width and height in og:image:width and og:image:height tags - most SEO plugins can do this automatically.

How Silktide tests this

Test each page that pages that search engines and platforms are allowed to index.
Read the page's og:image tag. Report the page as having a missing or broken image if there is no image, the address is not a full http/https web address, the image fails to download, or the downloaded file is not an image.
If the image loads, check that og:image:width and og:image:height are declared. If they are not, report the page.
If dimensions are declared, report them as not ideal when the image is smaller than 600 by 315 pixels, or its shape is far from the landscape ratio preview cards use (roughly between 1.4 and 2.1 times as wide as it is tall).

Troubleshooting

The image loads fine in my browser

An image can work for you but fail an automated download for the same reasons a link can - logged-in sessions, geographic restrictions, or blocking of automated traffic. See the troubleshooting advice for broken links. If you conclude the image is genuinely fine, the finding.

My image is hosted on another domain

That is fine. The image can live anywhere, such as an image host or , as long as it is publicly accessible.

The reported dimensions are wrong

Silktide reads the dimensions the page declares in its og:image:width and og:image:height tags, not the pixels of the file itself. If you resized the image but the tags still declare the old size, update the tags.