🔗 Do link posts get low reach on Facebook? Should you post the link in the comment?

Get the full scoop inside... Greetings {NAME}! Let’s settle this longtime debate once and for all: Do LINK posts get low reach on Facebook? Should you post links in the caption of a photo or video post instead? Or does it work to put the link in the comments? I just hosted a [compelling Facebook live]() addressing this common challenge! [Links on Facebook?]( We all know that Facebook tends to deprioritize link posts in the Feed, right? That is certainly true. So then we all try that nifty 'hack' by posting a photo or video and adding the link in the caption. BUT, that is still seen as a link post by the algorithms. For the longest time, I have never been a fan of putting the link and CTA in the first comment. Why? Well, because the moment anyone SHARES your post, bye-bye link! The original post's comments never go with the shares. BUT. Stop the presses. I might be changing my mind. Haha!! I'm currently running my own tests with no links in image posts and placing a link in the comments instead. The jury's out. We'll see. What prompted this change of mind? Meta's Transparency Center recently published its Widely Viewed Content Report: What People See on Facebook for Q3 2022. ([Try this link to the report](=) - some folks said it wasn't working for them. It's possible that Meta is only making the article visible to certain regions. But I show the full report on [my FB Live](). This is just for people in the US and for content in the main (news) feed. Guess what? A whopping 92.3% of the most widely viewed posts DO NOT HAVE LINKS. Yikes, right? BUT, context is everything. This report is *ONLY* for the most widely viewed content in the news feed in the US, which is a mere HALF PERCENT (0.05%) of all content viewed on Facebook. [Links on Facebook?]( And the most popular posts are coming from Pages with over 100M followers. A lot of them are just 'silly meme' Pages, as I call them. Lol. So, hello? There's that, right? We cannot really compare Pages with a lot less followers with the findings in this report!!! So, here's the bottom line advice from Mari for you: You have to TEST, TEST, TEST, and TEST some more on your Page to see what performs best. No two Pages are alike, really. The good news is Meta Business Suite offers an A/B Testing tool where you can compare up to four different posts that are text, photo, link with preview, link with no preview. The A/B Test tool is the little science beaker icon under the publisher (where you craft the post). Each of the two to four versions will be shown to a different group of your followers for 30 minutes to determine the top performer. And then the winner goes out publicly. You can also compare up to four video posts together. This is a FREE tool and allows you to do some pretty Ninja discovery of what might work best for your posts. In Creator Studio, the same feature is called Post Testing. In closing, let me leave you with this comment by Alison on my Facebook Live today: She states, "I've been popping links in client's posts for the last two years now, we don't see a decrease in reach. In fact, we find people click more. Putting links in the comments can get lost." [image] See? Different strokes for different folks. TEST, my friends, test! What are you finding on your Facebook Page? Leave a comment on my [Facebook Live]( and/or feel free to reply to this email. To share this information, please do share my FB Live. Or, the same video is [also on YouTube](=). (And now I really need to turn this email into a blog post, Lol!) That's all for this issue of my Social Scoop e-zine. Got questions? You're welcome to reply to this email and my team and I will do our very best to get back to you in a timely manner. Also, for sure meet us in my very lively, welcoming and supportive [Social Scoop Facebook Community]() - celebrating 21.7k+ amazing members. Cheers 'til the next time, Best, Mari Smith CEO, Mari Smith International, Inc. Premier Facebook Marketing Expert Top Social Media Thought Leader Author, The New Relationship Marketing Coauthor, Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day P.S. I just finished teaching my last social media class of the year and am planning a nice long break over the Holidays, including a fabulous trip up to BC, Canada (where I grew up!) to enjoy Christmas with my dear mother and stepfather. That Alice Cooper song has been going through my head for the last 24 hours: [School's Out For... Winter](=)! Haha! (The actual song is summer, as you may know). I'll still be active on social media and also have a zillion projects and loose ends to complete before the new year. I hope you have something magical planned for the Holidays! [Schools out for Winter!](=) [Mari Smith SUPERSTARS]( P.P.S. Have you joined my NEW community proudly built on the Mighty Networks platform yet? Come visit and see if it's for you - a wonderful, peaceful oasis away from the firehose and hustle of social media channels! [MariSmithSuperstars.com](=). By the way, Mighty Networks just launched a major upgrade to their platform - founder Gina Bianchini calls this update 'cultural software' - love that! :) If you wish to unsubscribe or CHANGE or UPDATE your information, please click this link: [Unsubscribe]( Mari Smith International 11956 Bernardo Plaza Dr., #201 San Diego, California 92128 United States