As you might know, images don’t support URLs. This means to create a post where the image is linked to a specific website, you have to do the linking within the individual social media platform. Read on to learn which platform is supporting which option to get more website clicks!
Facebook makes it easy to include clickable links in your posts. Here are two ways:
Create a visual preview of a link
Simply paste a link into the text field of a new post. Facebook creates a preview of that link by taking a graphic from the target page.
You now have the ability to add further images that will also be clickable (click on the +). To make the post look cleaner you can delete the link from the text field (the preview remains) and type in any desired post caption.
Note: You can also edit the title below each image and change the order of the carousel.
Create a visual post with a link in the caption
Upload an image or video, type in a suitable caption and paste the desired link into the text field.
After publishing the post, the link in the caption is clickable.
Instagram currently only offers one possibility to share links (besides the bio link), which is via Instagram Stories. But in order to get this ability you either have to have 10,000 followers or a verified account.
Include a link in Instagram Stories
To include links into your stories, tap this link icon on top of a new story:
You can choose to link a specific URL or link to an uploaded IGTV video.
After publishing the story, viewers can get to your link by swiping up.
Include a link in a regular Post
If you put links into the caption of regular posts they won’t be clickable (see screenshot below).
For this reason you can include a call to action in your caption, that tells your followers to click the link in your bio. You can update the bio link at any time to support your current post.
To include a clickable link preview in a new Tweet, simply paste the link into the text field. The link preview will be shown after publishing the Tweet. Twitter won't allow you to edit this preview.
Note: The URL in the caption is automatically shortened.
If you want to publish a specific image, upload the desired one and the link preview will not be shown. You will still have a clickable link in the caption (but not on the uploaded image).
Sharing links on LinkedIn works in a similar way to Facebook. By pasting a link into the caption of a new post, a preview is automatically generated. You can customize the preview.
It allows you to change the displayed image to any other image (by choosing from local files). Plus you can edit the title of the preview.
This is how it looks after the customization:
Like Twitter and Facebook, the link you paste into the caption will always be clickable in your published post.
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