Facebook and Instagram Embeds…Don’t Panic

Don’t Panic! The latest change is all about Facebook and Instagram embeds and I’d like to dispel some worry for my clients and everyone else…

Using Social Media in Your Marketing

I have always followed the philosophy that your website comes first, online. Meaning-post your content on your website, and then post links to that content on your social media. This ensures that your website receives all the “juice” (traffic, visits, hits). It’s the best way to market your business and improve your SEO. So…website first.

The Change Doesn’t Affect Everyone

There has been a lot of near panic going around this week, that everyone with a WordPress website and a Facebook or Instagram account is going to have issues. I’d like to clarify some things for you and hopefully, make you feel more at ease because it’s not everyone.

First. Do you “pull” (or embed) feeds from Facebook into your website? Videos, posts, reviews? If so, you’ll want to make sure that you have one of two things:

1. A Facebook Developer account with a registered Facebook App. This is done through Facebook, and your web designer may have set this up for you. Contact them if you’re not sure. But ONLY contact them if you have feeds from Facebook embedded into your website.
2. A WordPress Plugin that will do everything for you. The best one around (and I’ve been using it for my clients) is Smash Balloon They have already updated their plugin for these upcoming changes, so if yours is up-to-date you have no worries.

Second. Do you “pull” (or embed) photos or videos from Instagram into your website? If yes, then all you need is the Smash Balloon plugin I mentioned above, and you are good to go!

Keep Calm and Use Smash Balloon

So, to sum it all up…NO, your WordPress website is not going to break because you also have Facebook and Instagram accounts that you use to market your business. It’s a very SPECIFIC change to how a very SPECIFIC process will work. NO, they didn’t spring this on everyone this week. They’ve been emailing people for months to let them know.

The specific process that is affected by this change is: “pulling” (or embedding) content into your website from Facebook and Instagram, not the other way around.

And by the way, the Smash Balloon plugin is an incredible thing! If you’re thinking of adding your social media content to your website, it’s the way to go. It is super easy to use (you don’t need developer knowledge) and it’s kept up to date. And it works on Twitter and YouTube, as well!

I’m always happy to answer any questions you may have regarding this change, so email me if you need more info!

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Smash Balloon in any way, and do not receive any compensation from them. The plugin is just that good!