Facebook Algorithm Change: No More Links in Photo Captions

Lost in the headlines about Facebook cracking down on click bait (Amen!) was another change to its algorithm. This one, I suppose, will have a much bigger impact on small businesses and their social media marketing habits. From Facebook’s official memo:

We’ve found that people often prefer to click on links that are displayed in the link format (which appears when you paste a link while drafting a post), rather than links that are buried in photo captions. The link format shows some additional information associated with the link, such as the beginning of the article, which makes it easier for someone to decide if they want to click through. This format also makes it easier for someone to click through on mobile devices, which have a smaller screen. With this update, we will prioritize showing links in the link-format, and show fewer links shared in captions or status updates.

Let’s flash back to a year or so ago. As soon as everyone realized Facebook posts with images tended to have more interaction, everyone started posting images with every post. Golden, right? Well, that meant if you needed to include a link with your post, it had to go in the caption. And now Facebook says those types of posts will be shunned in its algorithm. So what now? You can always just start using Facebook's native link format. If you’re not a fan of Facebook’s native link format (like me), you’re probably going to try and find a way around this new change. The simplest thing would be to promote a post with an image and link. Facebook’s not going to turn your money away. It will be interesting to see if impressions continue at the same rate for this type of promoted posts. You could also post the link in a comment on your post. Problem with that, however, is that the link won’t show up when the post is displayed in News Feeds. How are you going to deal with the change? Let us know in the comments.