How To Use Links
Links In The Post Editor
How do I add a link to my post?
Type the link into the Post Text.
How do I edit the link in my post?
Please do not edit the link directly in the post – instead, click the red 'Remove Link' button, and type the new link into the post text.
Why is the link missing from my Post Text?
If the link is missing from your Post Text this is because you removed the [[link]] placeholder from the Post Text. For Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn you can remove this from the Post.
For Twitter and Instagram you would not be able to remove this and would need to verify that it is in the Post Text.
How do I add Google Analytics UTM tracking parameters to my link?
This should be turned on by default, unless you’ve changed your General Settings. Click on the 'Link Settings' tab, and edit the Google Analytics section.
Read more about UTM Parameters.
How do I customise the UTM parameters for each social profile?
This can be done automatically for you, by using our Template Tags.
- Click on Link Settings
- Then, Google Analytics,
- Next, Edit UTM Settings
We recommend using the _ACCOUNT_ tag wherever you want to have the name of the social profile, or the _NETWORK_ tag wherever you want the name of the social platform.
Learn how UTM parameters work.
My link has lots of text added after it, like this:
utm_source=_NETWORK_&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=_ACCOUNT_&utm_content=_CATEGORY_
These are Google Analytics UTM tracking parameters. They help improve your Google Analytics, so you can see how your website visitors found your website.
The capitalised words will be replaced with your own profiles/Categories, which you can see in the Preview.
If you don’t want them in your link, you can turn UTM off from the 'Link Settings' tab; or you can use Bitly to shorten the link into something prettier.
Learn how UTM parameters work.
I want to use Bitly for click-tracking and/or to shorten my link.
Make sure you have a Bitly account connected, and your General Settings have Click Tracking turned on.
You can add one or more Bitly accounts from the Profiles page.
In the Post Editor, click on the Link Settings tab, and edit the Click Tracking setting.
Learn how Bitly works and discover how to update Bitly settings.
My post shows “No link tracking”.
This is because Bitly click tracking is turned off in 'Link Settings,' or else you’ve disabled click tracking in your 'General Settings.'
I added a link in the Post Editor, but it’s showing up as [[link]].
This is placeholder text to represent where the link will appear and will be replaced with the actual link when you save the post.
You can see in the Preview Pane (on the right of the screen) what the link will look like.
Why does my Bitly link show up as http://bit.ly/placeholder in the Preview Pane?
This is because we only generate the correct Bitly link after you’ve saved the post.
You’ll see the post has a correct Bitly link once it’s in your Queue.
Do I have to make separate Bitly links for each profile?
We take care of all this for you! If you turn Bitly click tracking on, and create a link post for several profiles, each post will get a unique Bitly link, so that you get separate click stats for each profile.
You can also customise your Bitly settings for each profile.
Will Evergreen posts use the same Bitly link on every cycle?
No, as SmarterQueue automatically generates a unique Bitly link for each cycle, so that you get separate click stats for each cycle.
Can I remove the link from the post text once I’ve attached it?
For Facebook and LinkedIn, once the link is attached to the post, you can remove it from your post text.
(Unless you add an image, then you won't be able to)
For Twitter and Instagram, you have to keep the link inside your post text.
If you have removed the link from the post text, or edited it manually, you will get a warning when you save the post, and an option to re-add the correct link.
How will the link look when published?
When posting a link to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or Pinterest, they will usually show a preview of the link (image + title + description). We show a preview of how this should look in the Preview Pane.
Bear in mind that Facebook and Twitter are responsible for this link preview, so if it doesn’t look correct when published, you would need to check that your website is configured correctly for link previews.
I want to have a picture of the link added to the post.
People sometimes incorrectly refer to the Link Preview as a “picture” being added to the post.
There is a link preview (image + title + description) added to posts by Facebook and Twitter when they detect a link in the post.
When creating a Pinterest post with a link, you can choose an image from the link to be used as the main picture.
If you attach an image file to the post, it will replace the link preview.
How do I change which image is used as the link preview?
For Facebook and Twitter, you cannot control which image is used in the link preview.
This is pre-defined by the website owner, in the meta tags of the linked page. If you do not like the preview image for that page, you can choose to attach an image instead, which will replace the link preview (including the title and description).
LinkedIn: In 2019 LinkedIn made a change that allows you to use images from the link (which you can do by scrolling through) but not attach your own images to Link Previews. We are looking into possibilities of workarounds in the future.
Pinterest, you can change which image appears in the link preview.
- Click on 'Link Settings' preview on the right, and scroll to the bottom
- You will see a 'Link Preview' section with tabs for each social platform that you have selected
- Clicking on the Pinterest tab will show you the current image chosen, with arrows at the top left
- You can use the arrows to choose a different image from the link
- You can also upload your own image to be used as the preview image for LinkedIn and Pinterest
How do I attach an image from the linked web page?
Once you’ve added a link to the post, click 'Add Media,' and there’ll be an option at the top to “Choose an Image from your link” – click this button, and you’ll see thumbnails of the images we found on the web page.
Click on an image to attach it to your post. This will prevent the Link Preview from appearing.
Why aren't my links clickable on Instagram?
Instagram has some specific settings in regards to links being shared on their platform.
These settings prevent clickable links being included in comments and posts themselves.
You can include one clickable link in your profile Bio.
Do you offer Rebrandly integration?
Currently, we do not offer Rebrandly, but you can use Bitly for link shortening/tracking services.
If you're interested in making this happen, please visit our Feature Request Board to upvote Rebrandly functionality.
Links In The Bulk Importer
How do I edit the Bitly or Google Analytics UTM settings?
At the bottom of the Find Content screen you’ll see an 'Import Options' button.
This lets you edit the Bitly Click Tracking settings, and the Google Analytics UTM settings in the same way as the Post Editor (described above).
How do I attach an image from each linked web page?
In the top row of the Bulk Import screen, you’ll find a drop-down menu with options for adding images (Add Images, Existing Images, Remove Images).
The default value is Existing Images (you can change this from your General Settings) – this means any link posts that don’t have an image showing in the bulk importer will show a Link Preview (if configured by that website).
All other posts with an image will have the image attached.
If you choose 'Add Images,' it will attempt to attach an image to any link posts that don’t already have an image showing in the bulk importer. This will usually be the primary image from the link, and will replace any link previews.