How to Add a Hyperlink to a Facebook Post

Sharing a link on Facebook is one of the most fundamental ways to drive traffic, share news, or promote your work, yet doing it effectively can make a huge difference in your results. This guide will walk you through exactly how to add a hyperlink to a Facebook post, from the simple copy-paste method to more advanced strategies for customizing how your links look. We’ll also cover best practices to get more people clicking.

Understanding How Facebook Handles Links

Before we get into the step-by-step instructions, it’s helpful to understand what happens when you share a link. Facebook's default behavior is designed to create a rich, visual experience for a URL. When you paste a link into the post composer, Facebook’s crawler visits the webpage in milliseconds and automatically pulls key information to generate a "link preview."

This preview typically includes:

• A large, clickable image (the featured image)
• The title of the webpage (the headline)
• A short description of the content
• The root domain of the URL (e.g., yourwebsite.com)

The entire preview box is one big clickable hyperlink. This is Facebook’s preferred way to share links because it gives users a clear idea of what they’re about to click on, which builds trust and encourages more engagement than a raw URL alone.

How to Add a Basic Hyperlink to a Facebook Post (The Standard Method)

This is the most common and straightforward way to share a link. If you’re just trying to share an article, blog post, or product page, this method will work perfectly 99% of the time.

Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

1. Find and Copy Your URL: First, go to the webpage you want to share. Highlight the full URL in your browser's address bar and copy it to your clipboard (Ctrl+C on Windows or Cmd+C on Mac).
2. Navigate to Facebook: Open Facebook and go to the page, profile, or group where you want to create your post. Click on the "What's on your mind?" box to start composing.
3. Paste the Link: Paste the URL you copied directly into the post composer (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V).
4. Wait for the Link Preview to Generate: Give Facebook a few seconds. You’ll see a gray box appear, which will soon populate with the image, title, and description from the link. This is your cue that Facebook has successfully fetched the link information.
5. Clean Up Your Post (Optional but Recommended): Once the rich preview box is visible and fully loaded, you can safely delete the raw URL text you pasted into the composer. The clickable preview box will remain. This makes your caption look much cleaner and more professional.
6. Write Your Caption: This is your chance to add context. Don't just paste a link and run. Write a compelling introduction, ask a question, or pull a fascinating quote from the article to entice your audience to click. Your caption provides the "why" behind the click.
7. Publish Your Post: Once you’re happy with your caption and the link preview, hit the "Post" button. The entire preview box now acts as a hyperlink, directing anyone who clicks it to your chosen destination.

How to Customize What Your Link Preview Looks Like

Years ago, Facebook allowed users to edit the link preview's title, description, and image directly within the post composer. They removed this feature to combat misinformation and clickbait. Today, the only reliable way to control how your link appears on Facebook is by editing its source code before you post it, using something called Open Graph (OG) tags.

What Are Open Graph Tags?

Open Graph is a protocol that allows a web page to become a rich object in a social graph. In simpler terms, OG tags are small snippets of code on your website that tell social media platforms like Facebook exactly which image, title, and description to use when someone shares your link.

If you own the website or blog you're linking to, you can (and absolutely should) set these up. Most content management systems like WordPress make this easy with SEO plugins like Yoast or Rank Math, where you can specify the "Facebook Title," "Facebook Description," and "Facebook Image" for every page and post.

If you were to look at the HTML code, it would look something like this in the <,head>, section of your webpage:

<,meta property="og:title" content="Your Catchy Title Goes Here" />,
<,meta property="og:description" content="A compelling description of your content." />,
<,meta property="og:image" content="https://www.yourwebsite.com/images/your-awesome-image.jpg" />,
<,meta property="og:url" content="https://www.yourwebsite.com/your-page-url" />,


Pro Tip: Use the Facebook Sharing Debugger

After you’ve updated your OG tags on your website, you might find that Facebook still shows the old, outdated information when you paste the link. This is because Facebook caches data for performance.

To fix this, use Facebook’s official Sharing Debugger tool. Just paste your URL into the debugger, and it will show you exactly how Facebook sees your link. More importantly, it has a "Scrape Again" button that forces Facebook to clear its cache and pull the latest OG tag information from your site. Use this tool every time you update a page’s title or image to make sure it shows up correctly when shared.

Creative Ways to Share Links on Facebook

While the standard link post is often best for driving traffic, there are other contexts where you might want to share a hyperlink creatively.

1. Add a Link to an Image or Video Post

Facebook’s algorithm sometimes gives greater reach to native photo and video uploads compared to standard link posts. A common strategy is to post a high-quality image or engaging video and then place your hyperlink directly in the caption text. The text URL will be automatically recognized by Facebook and become clickable.

This method works well when the visual is the main focus, and the link provides additional context or a call to action. For example, a fashion brand might post a stunning photo of a new collection and include a link to the "Shop Now" page in the description.

2. Use Your Page's Built-In "Call to Action" Button

One of the most valuable link placements on a Facebook Business Page is the primary "Call to Action" (CTA) button at the top of your page. This is a permanent, prominent hyperlink that sits right below your cover photo.

You can customize the button text to say "Shop Now," "Learn More," "Sign Up," "Contact Us," or "Book Now," among other options, and link it directly to the most important destination on your website. This is an excellent way to direct your page visitors to a sales page, a contact form, or your lead magnet.

3. Share a Hyperlink in a Facebook Story

If your page has access to the feature, you can add direct hyperlinks to your Facebook Stories using the "Link" sticker. After uploading your photo or video to your story, tap the sticker icon and select the "Link" option. You can paste any destination URL and edit the sticker text, giving your followers a direct way to tap and visit your site from your ephemeral content.

Best Practices for Getting Clicks on Your Links

Simply adding a hyperlink isn’t enough, you need to convince people to click it. Here are a few tips to increase your click-through rate.

• Craft Compelling Captions: Your text is your pitch. Ask a thought-provoking question, share a surprising statistic from the article, or create a curiosity gap that can only be filled by clicking the link. Give your audience a reason to care.
• Optimize Your 'og:image': The image is the single most important part of your link preview. Use a high-quality, vibrant, and relevant image. The recommended size for a Facebook link preview image is 1200 x 630 pixels. An image with text on it (like a blog post title) often performs very well.
• Shorten and Track Your URLs: While you should typically delete the raw URL from the caption, if you decide to keep it (like in an image post), use a URL shortener like Bitly. It not only makes the link look tidier but also allows you to track valuable click data.
• Know Your Audience: Share content that matters to your followers. A link that solves a problem, provides entertainment, or educates your audience on a relevant topic will always perform better than one that feels like a generic advertisement.

Final Thoughts

Adding a hyperlink to a Facebook post is a simple action, but mastering how your links are presented can dramatically improve your social media marketing. By focusing on compelling captions and optimizing your webpage with OG tags for the best possible visual preview, you can turn a basic link into a powerful traffic-driver for your brand or business.

As you plan and create content for Facebook and other platforms, tools that streamline the process become invaluable. We built Postbase to make social media management feel less chaotic. With our visual calendar, you can plan all your content - including those important link posts, videos, and Reels - in one intuitive place. Scheduling your content across every platform becomes a simple, reliable process, giving you back hours to focus on strategy instead of switching between tabs.