How to display Facebook post thumbnails

In this post I will share an easy method to make sure the thumbnail from your (photo) blog will show up beside your link when posting it on Facebook.

On my Focx Photography Facebook page I usually post the same pictures as on this site to make it easier for everyone to look at my photos and maybe visit my page. For a photography page, images are everything – especially if the link I want my followers to click is part of a never-ending information stream on Facebook. The only option I have to make my link stand out is to push my photograph directly on Facebook, in the form of a thumbnail of the picture displayed beside the link. Fortunately, Facebook tries to do that automatically with every link I post. Unfortunately, it never works (for me) out of the box. Luckily, I have found a way to make sure Facebook eventually displays the thumbnail!

Here is what I do to make the thumbnails show up in Facebook beside my blog post:

1. Copy the link to my blog post containing my photo into the status box.
2. Facebook will fetch the blog title and content text, but will fail to load my main post picture (I use NextGen gallery, maybe that’s why?). The tab of the box will switch to “Link” automatically as Facebook has recognized that I copied a link.
3. I select the posted link, delete the text and click on “Status”. The box is now empty and shows no sign of my post or link.
4. I select “Link” above the text box, copy my post link and click “Attach”.
5. Facebook loads the blog title (again), and all of a sudden – the thumbail shows up, too! Ready to go!

And that’s all there is to it: this method to display Facebook post link thumbnails hasn’t failed me once. Let me know if it works for you, too!