Posting links on Facebook can be a great way to share interesting content with your friends and followers. However, the default setting when sharing a link on Facebook is that the full URL will be displayed. This may look messy or promotional in your post. Fortunately, Facebook allows you to easily customize how your links appear when posted.
Hide the URL when posting a link on Facebook
When you go to post a link on Facebook, simply paste or type the URL into the post as you normally would. Before hitting “Post”, click on the arrow next to the URL below your text. This will open up formatting options for the link.
From here, you can choose “Hide Link Thumbnail” to remove the preview image that shows up with some link shares. You can also choose “Hide Link Preview” to prevent the URL, image, and description from auto-populating when you paste the link.
Once you’ve hidden the preview and URL, it will appear as plain text in your post. You can then customize the text to say anything you want, like “Check this out!” or “Read this interesting article”. The text will still be clickable and direct people to the URL, but the link itself will be disguised.
Change the URL to custom text
Another option is to completely customize the text that is linked, rather than just hiding the URL preview. To do this:
- Paste or type your URL into your post as usual
- Highlight and delete the URL so only your custom text remains
- Click on the chain link icon in the bottom corner below your text
- In the pop-up, paste your URL into the “Link” field
- Type your custom text into the “Text” field
- Click “OK” to apply the changes
Now your custom text will appear in the post while linking to the specified URL. This allows you to completely disguise the link for a cleaner post.
Use a link shortener
If you want the simplicity of just pasting a link but don’t want the messiness of a long URL, you can run the link through a URL shortener first.
Shorteners like Bitly or TinyURL will shorten your link to a clean custom URL. When you paste that shortened link into your Facebook post, it will look nice and tidy. You can even customize the last part of the shortened URL to make it more relevant to your content.
Pros of using a link shortener
- Shortened link is smaller and cleaner looking
- Lets you customize the end of the URL
- Easy to do – just paste long URL into shortener
Cons of using a link shortener
- Link takes an extra redirect
- Need to use a third party site or tool
- Original destination not immediately clear from URL
Use Facebook’s built-in link formatting
Facebook actually has built-in formatting options that let you customize how your links appear without redirects or third party tools.
To use Facebook’s link formatting:
- Paste or type your URL into your post as usual
- Select the URL text and click the Formatting icon (> button)
- Choose “Hyperlink” from the pop-up menu
- In the box, delete the URL in the link field
- Type your preferred display text for the link in the text field
- Click “OK” to apply
The text you typed will now appear in your post instead of the URL. This option allows total customization without leaving Facebook.
Pros of Facebook’s built-in formatting
- Change link text without leaving Facebook
- No need for third party tools or shorteners
- Can make the link text very relevant to your post
Cons of Facebook’s built-in formatting
- Only option on mobile is Hide Link Preview
- Slightly more steps than just pasting a shortened link
Use Markdown formatting
Markdown is a simple typing format that allows you to add formatting like bold, italics, links, lists, and headers. Facebook has built-in support for basic Markdown formatting.
To format a link using Markdown on Facebook:
- Type your display text in brackets [ ]
- Directly after, paste your URL in parentheses ( )
So it would look like this:
[Check this out] (https://www.facebook.com)
When you post, the text in brackets will display as a clickable link directing to the URL in parentheses. This is a very quick and easy way to customize your links without extra menus or popups.
Pros of Markdown link formatting
- Very fast and simple to do
- Easily customize link text for each post
- Basic Markdown works on desktop and mobile
Cons of Markdown link formatting
- Only the most basic Markdown formatting
- URL is still visible and cluttered looking
Best practices for posting links on Facebook
However you choose to post and format your links on Facebook, keep these best practices in mind:
- Choose link text that accurately describes the content or piques interest
- Keep your text concise – usually just a few words or a short phrase
- Add commentary to provide context before or after the link
- Pay attention to privacy settings if you don’t want public visibility
- Check that your links work before publishing your post
- Consider using images or video to make link posts more engaging
Analyzing link post performance
Using links effectively takes experimentation and analysis. When sharing links to your own content, use Facebook Insights to view traffic and engagement.
Important metrics to analyze:
- Reach of link posts
- Clicks on your links
- Engagement rate compared to non-link posts
- Traffic to your website from Facebook
- Bounce rate of traffic from Facebook
Compare different wording, images, captions, and formatting to see what drives the most clicks and engagement. This will allow you to refine your link posting strategy.
Tools to manage posting links on Facebook
Managing and analyzing a lot of link sharing can be time consuming. These tools can help streamline the process:
| Tool | Key Features |
|---|---|
| Buffer | Link shortening, scheduling, and analytics |
| Hootsuite | Scheduling, post recycling, click tracking |
| Sprout Social | Post optimization, collaboration, reporting |
| Linktree | Create a profile linking to content |
| Bitly | Custom link shortening and metrics |
The key is choosing a tool that integrates the features that best fit your posting process and goals.
Conclusion
Facebook offers many options for customizing how your links display in posts and disguising long, ugly URLs. Take advantage of built-in formatting, link shorteners, Markdown, and preview-hiding to optimize your link presentation.
But don’t let optimization distract you from your core goal – creating great content that your audience wants to read and share. Focus first on crafting compelling content, then use these formatting tactics to put the best possible presentation around your links.
With refined posting practices, strategic formatting adjustments, and performance analysis, you can master the art of sharing effective links that drive traffic while keeping your Facebook feed clean.