Are you interested in how to share a link on Facebook and get traffic back to your blog? Along with status updates and pictures galore, the other major items shared on Facebook are links. It’s a great way to share content you find online, or to promote your content.
One mistake many people make is to simply paste the link onto Facebook. In doing so, you overlook an opportunity to optimize your Facebook posts: the description box.
How to Share a Link on Facebook Using the Description Box
What is this description box, exactly?
A description box is the place for you to share a link on Facebook telling your readers exactly what your post is about.
The content can be generated in several different ways. If you just post the link without doing any type of work on the back end of your blog, then it will pull the first characters of your post. If you use the first sentence or two to very clearly describe each and every post you share, then this is no issue. However, this is rarely done in most posts and leaves an important optimization effort overlooked.
If You Are On WordPress:
Luckily, this can be adjusted. If you are on a WordPress blog, there are two ways:
- One way is to use a premium theme, such as Genesis Framework or the Thesis Theme. These themes offer built-in SEO settings that allow you to set a custom SEO document Title and- the key part here- a custom post/page meta description. In this description, you should use the 140 characters most search engines will read to clearly explain what your post is about and what message you want to convey.
- An alternative to using a specific premium theme is to use an SEO plugin such as Yoast. A plugin such as this one will give you the same optimized settings as a premium theme.
If You Are Not On WordPress:
If you are not on WordPress or want to describe an article you are sharing from somewhere you have not written, then there is a different way to edit the description area. When you post the link to the article, Facebook will generate a preview. If you double-click on the text description in the preview, it will open up an edit box. You can then put in your own custom description explaining what the link you are sharing is all about.
Do you manually adjust your Facebook previews? How do you share a link on Facebook
Interested In More Facebook Tips?
Then be sure to check out these posts:
- How to Make a Facebook Fanpage that Gets Noticed
- 5 Surefire Ways to Be Successful on Facebook
- What We Can Learn from Brilliant Brands on Facebook
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Twitter: copilotmom
says:
Great tips! There is so many details to be aware of when posting links on Facebook. Thank you!
Kim@Co-Pilot Mom recently posted..I Dreamed a Dream
Twitter: winetoweights
says:
Still learning a lot about SEO and optimizing my own blog using Facebook.. great tips!!
jennifer recently posted..It goes on.
Twitter: MOLM2011
says:
I just learned this a few days ago when I started using the Yoast SEO plugin. Thanks for putting this out there so other bloggers can learn!
Making Our Life Matter recently posted..Menu Planning On Monday: Week Of January 27th
Twitter: laceysgarden
says:
still learning SEO and all the wonderful things blogs can accomplish. Thank you for sharing this tip
Candi recently posted..It’s Glossy Boxes Birthday
Twitter: shanMKwalker
says:
Thank you!!! I have been thinking of this a lot the last few days of what I can do to optimize this opportunity. Right I have the settings where twitter sends it directly to fb. I’m not getting many ‘likes’ or comments at all. Then I remembered that before I understood twitter and would see someone’s links to twitter on fb. I also did nothing—I especially never clicked on them. hmmmmm
blessings,
The How to Guru
Twitter: kastanton01
says:
I highly, highly recommend sharing a link on Facebook of every post you write! I do this, and it’s actually one of my biggest traffic sources. Sometimes I manually adjust the preview if I don’t like the picture it chose, or want to add a little something to the description, but for the most part I leave it as is.
Kristen recently posted..How’s that whole growing up thing going for you?
Twitter: MOLM2011
says:
Facebook is also my largest traffic generator. Twitter, however, is a different story!
Making Our Life Matter recently posted..Blogging Goals For 2013~Ways I Want To Improve My Blog
Twitter: TheWineabe
says:
Great Tips! I had it figured out on Blogger…but now that I am on WordPress it is a whole new ball game!
Suzanne @The Wine{a}be recently posted..For the Love of Wine
Twitter: Omgtheresthree
says:
Is the method better than putting the link in the first comment?
Sarah @OMGTheresThree recently posted..Sesame Street Live
Twitter: babybabylemon
says:
Great tips!
Amy recently posted..Paper Heart Tic Tac Toe
Twitter: jenhavice
says:
What a lot of people are doing is writing an update about the post and then telling readers to look for the link in the comments. The Facebook algorithm now seems to penalize the sharing of links and photos by fan pages when before they didn’t. I have a feeling this has to do with Facebook wanting to optimize the selling of ads. I have experimented and found that if I post the link in the first comment, my status update gets seen by far more people than if I share the link directly in the update. This is unfortunate but true.
When Pigs Fly recently posted..End of the Internet and Back
Twitter: bloggingitfwd
says:
INTERESTING. I have been wondering why people are doing it. I am going to test this. Thank you!
Twitter: AFrugalFriend
says:
I’ve noticed the same thing, so I leave my link in first comment.
Debra @ A Frugal Friend recently posted..Today Only: Vera Bradley Backpack only $39.99 (Reg $89)
Twitter: straddlinggap
says:
I just got the “like” box on my blog and I’m trying to make sure that when I share content (whether it’s mine or someone else’s), I write a better description than the generic one the source media gives me. I also try to make sure if I share it on Twitter, I direct it to other bloggers or blog groups.
Twitter: thedosetweets
says:
Ever since they changed their stuff, FB has been giving us fits! We are trying to work around it, but man it is tough. Our FB numbers are definitely down! Thanks for this helpful post!
thedoseofreality recently posted..The Fastest Way To Get Laughed Out Of The Emergency Room
Twitter: MyPixieBlog
says:
If my theme is customized, can I still use one of these plug-ins? I’m really a novice when it comes to this stuff, but would like to use FB to my advantage as much as possible. There are characters that appear in the description on FB which leads me to believe that I already have this set up somehow, but GAH! Is this stuff really confusing to anyone else, or just me?
Love,
-Major Spazz
Charlotte recently posted..What I have learned from being a foster mommy
Twitter: TheMomCafe.com
says:
Thanks for the info and tips!! Always helpful…
Chris Carter recently posted..Natural Childbirth…
Twitter: Blended4Purpose
says:
THANK YOU!!! My posts are sent directly to my facebook page but no one ever clicks the links that I am aware. You have given us valuable information.
Blessings~
Alethea
Blended4Purpose recently posted..Grandma Strikes Again!
Twitter: housewifehowto
says:
Lately I’ve noticed that Facebook is showing an old image from my blog when I post the link to my main URL. Since I’ve recently updated my site’s theme, this is VERY frustrating. Any idea how to fix it?
Katie B. of HousewifeHowTos.com recently posted..How To Tuesday Link Party
Twitter: Omgtheresthree
says:
I’d like know this too. It’s had chosen some interesting pictures recently
Sarah @OMGTheresThree recently posted..Where Do Babies Come From
Cool ~ Thank you!!
: )
Julie M.
Twitter: dominiquegoh
says:
Facebook too is one of my largest traffic source. I do try to tweak the preview when I post my links to facebook by choosing the most eye catching photo.
Dominique Goh recently posted..Cycling Fun at the Park
Twitter: allierambles
says:
Thx Ashley,
There are so many tricks to FB to remember but this one I think tops my list. I always like to give a little description of what the post is about or how I feel about it so i don’t just repeat the auto generated content.
As bloggers we always have to remember that SEO and social media are very intertwined so it always a good idea to use your keywords as often as possible but still be human.
~Allie
Allie recently posted..WAHM Online: Establishing Your Online Hubs
Twitter: ThePearLady
says:
I’ll keep this in mind when I can actually make money with my blog. Right now, it’s just cycling around between how much I have, how much I need and how much I can do.
The Pear Lady recently posted..Ad On
Twitter: bucktownbargain
says:
Thanks for the great tips. I am not sure if I should be putting the same info into the SEO box that is in my post? Do I just copy/paste? My SEO traffic is terrible and I think it has to do with the back end of my site and that I slack with SEO. Wish there was an easy button for SEO
Twitter: lisapatb
says:
Yes I always manually add my own description to be unique. (and use keywords) Sometimes images don’t come up right and then I will copy and paste it and then add the link. Takes more time, but I think images really help too.
Lisa recently posted..How Do Blog Comments Help Your Blog’s SEO?
Twitter: TheLadyTrainer
says:
I used to get a great deal of traffic from FB before the new “sponsored posts” feature. Now, when I post a pic, I get a great deal of response, but when I post a link from my blog, I get little to no response. When this first started happening I asked my friends, family and fellow bloggers to check on my links. They told me that my links had stopped showing up in their newsfeeds altogether, or if they showed up, it was 2 days later. After some research into this I learned that it is most likely because FB now wants to force bloggers to pay to post links that show up at the top of people’s newsfeeds through their “sponsored posts” feature. Is anyone else here having this problem as well?
Paulin recently posted..Top 10 Ab Exercises For Women
Twitter: Omgtheresthree
says:
I’ve started manually posted a teaser about the post and then adding the link to the first comment. It’s more work but it gets at least double the views.
Twitter: ugojoloms
says:
Oh yes I do it manually, I always want to catch my audience’s attention.
Ugochi recently posted..ATTRACTED OR NOT
Twitter: CarliAlice
says:
This is awesome! I had no idea I could edit that.
Carli recently posted..Purex Crystals for Baby #Giveaway
Twitter: PreciousPreemie
says:
Great tips as always. So much to do, so little time
Raquel S. Hunter recently posted..Sounds just like my grandpa, who in the 1950s had a house full of teenagers
I really appreciate this advice. I have been experimenting, too, with putting my link in the first comment. I don’t understand SEO, but I’d like to learn more about it.
Elaine recently posted..I’m Ba-a-a-a-ck
Twitter: amothersdesign
says:
Thank you for this. My blog automatically posts across my social networks, but I haven’t been getting as many clicks. This makes me think I need to turn that off for FB and manually post them.
Kelly recently posted..2 Carat White Topaz Sterling Silver Stud Earrings Review and Giveaway
Twitter: LavishTreats
says:
Yes, we turned off automatic posting to FB and now manually post each update on Facebook. This gives us more control over the title/description as well. I might have to try the first comment linking trick some people above have mentioned, sounds like an interesting loophole.
Nicole recently posted..Why You Should Steer Clear Of Counterfeit Bags
Twitter: mrsdchastain
says:
Thank you so much! I hated seeing my preview just describe the message I have about leaving comments. Thanks for sharing!
This is EXACTLY what I needed to know; I had been wondering last week if there was a way to change that description before my post and this was incredibly helpful.
Thank you!!
Twitter: crazyTXsavings
says:
Great Tips I cant wait to move over to Word Press soon.
Trice @ Crazy Texas Savings recently posted..Heart Disease Prevention | Heart Month Fact# 3
Twitter: binnsphoto
says:
Oooh great tips, I will start changing the text on my previews from now on – never knew you could do that!
I’m working with a client, and we’ve just started a brand new Facebook page. Their magazine has a great target audience and building a community of their Facebook page has been slow. These tips will really help!