Does posting URLs in comments be of concern?

It was brought to my attention today that adding an URL within a comment to a post can be interpreted as spammy and unprofessional (and I quote “needy“). This was a eureka moment for me because now I was given an opportunity to write about it.

I will link other articles I have found on other marketing websites that all basically say the same.

It has to take a top marketer to stop all the rumors and false information flying about.

Posting URLs in Comments Debunked.

If you post a picture or text-only post on LinkedIn and state “link in the comments,” would your post be penalized (i.e., receive lower impressions/views and lower engagement)? This may have been the case some time ago but it is not so any longer. (The instigator of the post this morning, automatically went on the defense and called the person I have got information from a “Moron”). I did not respond to the insinuation.

Here is What I have found out and is backed by credible sources.

Research conducted by https://growthrocks.com showed a study on the reach and click-through rate of LinkedIn posts with the link in comments and found reach to be almost three times higher on posts with the link in comments:

Linkedin Reach

According to Guy Kawasaki who conducted the research reported in mid-2017 amazing findings on his LinkedIn account when he added the link in the comments:

Linkedin Post Types

Guy Noted his LinkedIn post with the link in the comments section received three times the views over traditional link posts. (Views on personal profiles are equivalent to impressions on business pages.)

These two claims inspired the Social Media Lab to run a small experiment to see if they could verify this technique.

https://www.agorapulse.com/social-media-lab/linkedin-comments-link/

In conclusion, it was found that Hypothesis: LinkedIn is not punishing posts with the phrase “link in the comments.”

Data Testing LinkedIn “Link in Comments” Strategy

Data collected found impressions 169.29% higher on posts with the link in the comments, thus there is no punishment by LinkedIn using this technique.

But we need to delve deeper and what can happen if someone comments on a post and leaves an external link of their own. what would happen to your post?

In 2017, Facebook announced a change to its algorithm designed to reduce the reach of posts with click-bait and low-quality links. At the time this followed Google’s lead of penalizing lower quality content and intrusive ads and pop-ups that affected the user experience. However, in 2016, an update to the Facebook algorithm aimed to rank posts with engaging links higher in people’s feeds.

The topic of external links on social platforms is a hotly debated one.

If your link is ‘good’ (i.e. not click-baiting spammy rubbish) then will it affect your post’s reach or not?

External links act like backlinks although like any link you will find on the internet the link basically acts as an exit for users who are then directed elsewhere on the web.

Will the link damage your credibility, well let just say if the link posted does not match your niche and looks spammy then you have every right and are in control to remove the comment.

Going back to this morning I have been following a Super Yacht Hospitality Event Organiser for a few years and his content sometimes, very funny and sometimes crap has always caught my attention. I was planning on booking a VIP weekend for my 60th Birthday but it looks he has now lost a customer. He metaphorically speaking bit his nose to spite his face.

It turned out he had a bee in his bonnet because he went on a rant stating my link posted by me was and I quote”needy” in which I hit back stating his posts “Buy from me now as I have to feed the kids” were needier than my link, obviously this hit a nerve because he called it tongue in cheek humor and he could write what he wanted.

I tried handing an olive branch to keep the peace and even asked him to send me a banner so that I could advertise his business for free. I told him the link I sent him was not selling anything and that if he put a link in my comments I would not be so upset. I even tried to be the bigger person and apologized several times.

When I told my daughter who is studying marketing management at Cardiff University that he had blocked me, her words were his loss. She knew my plans for my birthday where I was planning on having a weekend on a Super Yacht. I guess I will have to look for another organizer and promote them instead.

What people fail to realize especially if they do not know me that well is if you cross me you do not get a second chance. I will not mention this person’s name or the company he represents but all I will say is he will see my posts including this one as he and I have mutual connections and he will know this post was about him.

What you should also do is act professionally and not draw attention to yourself. If the commentator shared a link that was found to be beneficial to you and your network, you should not bite the hand that feeds you and you should be civil. I was offering free advertising and trying to help him.

What you should not do is block the person, accuse them of hijacking your post, because “a happy customer will tell their friends and family whilst an unhappy customer will tell the world”.

By criticizing the commentator you stand to lose business especially if they happen to work in the marketing industry and maybe contemplating buying your product or service further down the line.

LinkedIn has stopped penalising posts with external links in 2020

It appears that LinkedIn has now stopped penalizing posts for containing external links.

In Summary

No one really knows for certain how social media algorithms work at any given time, and we also don’t know if or when LinkedIn might return to penalizing external links. There’s a lot of guesswork and bet-hedging that goes on in the social media community, all of which muddies the waters for therapy business owners who just wish social media could be simpler!

#socialmedia #socialmediacomments #socialmediabacklinks #eternallinks #socialmediacommentating #socialmediacomments #comments