Administrators of Facebook pages have noticed an interesting hint in analytics — Meta now recommends not inserting external links directly into the post but leaving them in the first comment instead. This recommendation appears in the Professional Dashboard if the system detects that a URL was included in the text but removed after the preview was generated.
Technically, Facebook still “sees” the link but doesn’t treat it as part of the post. And that’s not a minor detail. According to Meta’s analytics, more than 97% of views in the U.S. come from posts without external links. This suggests that the algorithm indeed tends to “prefer” content that keeps users within the platform.
Read also: Meta launches advertising on WhatsApp: what users need to know.
Meta hasn’t published any specific technical guidelines, but the trend is clear. More and more pages are experimenting: instead of including a direct link, they add a photo or video and leave the URL in the comments. This approach helps avoid “irritating” the algorithm while still delivering the necessary information to readers.
The only drawback is that Facebook still doesn’t allow scheduling the first comment along with the post — everything has to be done manually. However, the very fact that this recommendation appeared in analytics is already a signal. Meta seems to be encouraging users to try this new format and see whether engagement rates actually increase.
Read also: TikTok simplifies video ad creation — now AI does everything.
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