Add And Organize Links In Your Posts
When working with social media posts, managing your links effectively ensures that your content is clear, functional, and optimized for each platform. SmarterQueue simplifies this process by automatically handling links in the Post Editor, making it easy for you to focus on your content without worrying about the technical details. Here’s how links work in the Post Editor and how you can manage them effectively.
đź“Ś In This Article
- How Do I Add A Link To My Post?
- How Do I Edit A Link In My Post?
- Can I Remove A Link From My Post Text Once It’s Added?
- How Do I Add And Manage Multiple Links In A Single Post?
- How Will The Link Look When Published?
- Additional Link-Related Features And Considerations
- Common Questions
How Do I Add A Link To My Post?
- Adding the Link:
- When creating or editing a post in the Post Editor, simply paste your link directly into the text box. The link will appear highlighted within the text, and it will also be copied to the Link Box below.
- Understanding the Link Box:
- The Link Box is where SmarterQueue manages your link’s settings. You can click the "Edit" button in the Link Box to adjust Bitly and UTM settings, check the link preview or make other necessary changes.
How Do I Edit A Link In My Post?
- Editing via the Link Box:
- To edit the link, click on the "Edit" button in the Link Box. Here, you can update the URL, modify Bitly and UTM settings, or adjust other details related to the link.
- You can also edit or replace the actual link in the “Original Link” box.
- Editing Directly in the Text Box:
- It’s not recommended that you make changes to the link directly within the text box.
Can I Remove A Link From My Post Text Once It’s Added?
- Removing a Link:
- If you added a link that you no longer want to use in the post, simply click “Remove” in the Link Box;
- If you want to remove the link from the post text but keep it in the post, simply delete it from the text box. For some platforms like X (Twitter) and Instagram, removing the link from the text will result in a validation error upon saving, requiring the link to be present in the text. For platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, you can remove the link from the post text without issues.
- Handling Platform-Specific Requirements:
- Each platform has its own rules for handling links. Ensure that you meet these requirements, especially for Instagram and X (Twitter), where links must be present in the text for the post to be valid.
How Do I Add And Manage Multiple Links In A Single Post?
- Adding Multiple Links:
- You can add multiple links to a single post by simply pasting each link directly into the text box. However, only the first link will be highlighted and copied to the Link Box below for easy management.
- Analytics and Bitly Shortening:
- When posting multiple links, note that only the first link will be automatically shortened and tracked by Bitly. Subsequent links will not be automatically shortened, and their analytics won’t be available through SmarterQueue.
- If you want to track additional links, you’ll need to manually shorten them using Bitly. Log in to your Bitly account in a separate tab, create the shortened links, and then paste them into your post.
- Link Previews:
- The preview in SmarterQueue will be generated based on the first link you add to your post. This preview includes the image, title, and description associated with the first link.
- On most platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, SmarterQueue will provide the first link to the social platform to use for generating the link preview when the post is published.
- For X (Twitter), the platform’s API determines which link is used for the preview. X (Twitter) often picks the second link in the post rather than the first, and SmarterQueue cannot guarantee which link will be chosen.
How Will The Link Look When Published?
- Link Display Across Platforms:
- When your post is published, the link will display differently depending on the platform. For instance, Instagram will show the link as unactionable text, and no preview will be generated.
- However, for LinkedIn, SmarterQueue will attempt to generate a link preview automatically, pulling in an image if available.
- Bear in mind that Facebook and X (Twitter) are responsible for this link preview, so, if it doesn’t look as expected when published, you would need to check that your website is configured correctly for link previews.
- Adding an Image:
- For platforms like Instagram, which don’t generate link previews and require an image to publish content, SmarterQueue will attempt to pull an image from the link and add it to your post. However, we recommend uploading your preferred image to ensure you’re satisfied with the post's aesthetics and to avoid situations where no valid image is available to pull.
Additional Link-Related Features And Considerations
- Hyperlinking Text in Social Media Posts:
- Currently, it’s not possible to hyperlink text within social media posts due to platform limitations. Instead, SmarterQueue allows you to post links with link previews, which are more interactive and clickable.
- Understanding Redirects:
- A URL redirect takes your URL and points it to another destination. In SmarterQueue, click “Edit” in the Link Box to check if the link contains a redirect. If a redirect is present, you'll see it under “Initial Link Handling”, where you can use the “Use redirected link” option to switch between the link you added initially and the one it redirects to.
- Preventing Text from Being Converted to a Link:
- Sometimes, you may want to post text that contains dots (e.g., a business name like “design.studio”) without it being converted to a link. SmarterQueue automatically detects valid domains and converts them into links. To prevent this, you can use a "fake dot" instead of a normal dot. Here’s an example you can copy/paste into your post: www․test.com. This article provides more details.
- How Canonical URLs Work in SmarterQueue:
- A canonical URL is the version of a web page that Google considers most representative out of a set of duplicates (e.g. example.com?dress=1234 and example.com/dresses/1234). When sharing canonical URLs via SmarterQueue, you might notice different links being used depending on the platform (desktop or mobile). This happens because Google selects the optimal version for the best user experience. If a canonical URL points to a different source than expected, it might be due to incorrect setup on the website. If needed, you can override the automatically selected URL by editing the link in the Post Editor.
Common Questions
1. Why is the link missing from my post text?
SmarterQueue ensures links are managed both in the text box and the Link Box. If a link is missing from your post text and you haven’t removed it, check if the platform’s requirements are being met (e.g., X (Twitter) and Instagram require the link to be present in the text box).
2. Why aren't my links clickable on Instagram or TikTok?
Instagram and TikTok don’t support clickable links in captions. The link will appear as plain text.
3. How do I change which image is used as the link preview?
Currently, SmarterQueue does not support selecting a specific image for the link preview. You can manually upload an image to be published with your post but note that doing so will replace the actionable link preview that would otherwise be generated.
4. How do I attach an image from the linked web page?
Simply click on the “Add Media” button. Underneath the other media upload options, you’ll see images pulled directly from the attached link. Use the checkboxes in the top-left corner of each image to select one or more for your post. Read more about choosing images from your post’s attached link.