diff --git a/metal/cli/seo/generator.go b/metal/cli/seo/generator.go
index 42f17ca0..5129f0ad 100644
--- a/metal/cli/seo/generator.go
+++ b/metal/cli/seo/generator.go
@@ -294,6 +294,8 @@ func (g *Generator) GeneratePosts() error {
 	for _, post := range posts {
 		cli.Cyanln(fmt.Sprintf("Building SEO for post: %s", post.Slug))
 		response := payload.GetPostsResponse(post)
+		cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("Post slug: %s", response.Slug))
+		cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("Post title: %s", response.Title))
 		body := []template.HTML{sections.Post(&response)}
 
 		data, buildErr := g.BuildForPost(response, body)
@@ -457,6 +459,22 @@ func (g *Generator) TitleFor(pageName string) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%s · %s", pageName, g.Page.SiteName)
 }
 
+func truncateForLog(value string) string {
+	const maxRunes = 80
+
+	cleaned := strings.TrimSpace(value)
+	if cleaned == "" {
+		return "(empty)"
+	}
+
+	if utf8.RuneCountInString(cleaned) <= maxRunes {
+		return cleaned
+	}
+
+	runes := []rune(cleaned)
+	return string(runes[:maxRunes-3]) + "..."
+}
+
 func (g *Generator) BuildForPost(post payload.PostResponse, body []template.HTML) (TemplateData, error) {
 	path := g.CanonicalPostPath(post.Slug)
 	imageAlt := g.SanitizeAltText(post.Title, g.Page.SiteName)
@@ -464,11 +482,19 @@ func (g *Generator) BuildForPost(post payload.PostResponse, body []template.HTML
 	image := g.PreferredImageURL(post.CoverImageURL, g.Page.AboutPhotoUrl)
 	imageType := "image/png"
 
+	cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("Preparing post metadata"))
+	cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("  Canonical path: %s", path))
+	cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("  Sanitised alt text: %s", imageAlt))
+	cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("  Description preview: %s", truncateForLog(description)))
+	cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("  Preferred image candidate: %s", image))
+
 	if prepared, err := g.preparePostImage(post); err == nil && prepared.URL != "" {
+		cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("  Post image prepared at: %s (%s)", prepared.URL, prepared.Mime))
 		image = prepared.URL
 		imageType = prepared.Mime
 	} else if err != nil {
 		cli.Errorln(fmt.Sprintf("failed to prepare post image for %s: %v", post.Slug, err))
+		cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("  Falling back to preferred image URL: %s", image))
 	}
 
 	return g.buildForPage(post.Title, path, body, func(data *TemplateData) {
diff --git a/metal/cli/seo/pictures.go b/metal/cli/seo/pictures.go
index 0ce6c37f..6ba012be 100644
--- a/metal/cli/seo/pictures.go
+++ b/metal/cli/seo/pictures.go
@@ -27,11 +27,15 @@ const (
 func (g *Generator) preparePostImage(post payload.PostResponse) (preparedImage, error) {
 	source := strings.TrimSpace(post.CoverImageURL)
 	if source == "" {
+		cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("Skipping image preparation for %s: no cover image", post.Slug))
 		return preparedImage{}, errors.New("post has no cover image url")
 	}
 
+	cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("Preparing post image for %s from %s", post.Slug, source))
+
 	spaImagesDir, err := g.spaImagesDir()
 	if err != nil {
+		cli.Errorln(fmt.Sprintf("Could not determine SPA images directory: %v", err))
 		return preparedImage{}, err
 	}
 
@@ -48,22 +52,29 @@ func (g *Generator) preparePostImage(post payload.PostResponse) (preparedImage,
 		return preparedImage{}, err
 	}
 
+	bounds := img.Bounds()
+	cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("Fetched image %s (%s) with bounds %dx%d", source, format, bounds.Dx(), bounds.Dy()))
+
 	resized := pkgimages.Resize(img, seoImageWidth, seoImageHeight)
+	cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("Resized image to %dx%d", seoImageWidth, seoImageHeight))
 
 	ext := pkgimages.DetermineExtension(source, format)
 	fileName := pkgimages.BuildFileName(post.Slug, ext, "post-image")
 
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(spaImagesDir, 0o755); err != nil {
+		cli.Errorln(fmt.Sprintf("Unable to create SPA images directory %s: %v", spaImagesDir, err))
 		return preparedImage{}, fmt.Errorf("create destination dir: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	destPath := filepath.Join(spaImagesDir, fileName)
 	if err := pkgimages.Save(destPath, resized, ext, pkgimages.DefaultJPEGQuality); err != nil {
+		cli.Errorln(fmt.Sprintf("Unable to save resized image to %s: %v", destPath, err))
 		return preparedImage{}, fmt.Errorf("write resized image: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	relativeDir, err := filepath.Rel(g.Page.OutputDir, spaImagesDir)
 	if err != nil {
+		cli.Errorln(fmt.Sprintf("Unable to determine relative path for %s: %v", spaImagesDir, err))
 		return preparedImage{}, fmt.Errorf("determine relative image path: %w", err)
 	}
 
@@ -73,6 +84,8 @@ func (g *Generator) preparePostImage(post payload.PostResponse) (preparedImage,
 	relative := path.Join(relativeDir, fileName)
 	relative = pkgimages.NormalizeRelativeURL(relative)
 
+	cli.Grayln(fmt.Sprintf("Post image relative path: %s", relative))
+
 	return preparedImage{
 		URL:  g.siteURLFor(relative),
 		Mime: pkgimages.MIMEFromExtension(ext),