Sharing Facebook and Instagram Links

Learn how link sharing works on Facebook and Instagram in Publlish — including how link previews are generated, how to edit preview metadata, and how to fix broken or incorrect link previews.

Bhanu Prasad

— 3 min read
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Sharing links on Facebook and Instagram works differently from other platforms — Facebook generates rich link previews while Instagram doesn't make caption links clickable at all. Understanding how each platform handles links helps you get the best results when posting through Publlish.

When you paste a URL into the Publlish composer for a Facebook post, Publlish fetches the link preview automatically — pulling the page title, meta description, and preview image from the URL.

The published post appears as a link card with:

  • Preview image (pulled from the page's Open Graph image tag)
  • Page title
  • Meta description
  • The URL or domain name

Facebook link posts vs. image posts with a link in the caption: These are two different post formats. A link post (where the URL is the main attachment) shows the preview card. An image post with a URL in the caption shows the image — the URL appears as plain text in the caption and Facebook may or may not generate a separate preview. Link posts generally get less reach than native image or video posts on Facebook.

Publlish lets you edit the link preview metadata before scheduling — so if the automatically pulled title, description, or image isn't right, you can fix it:

  1. After pasting a URL in the composer, the preview card will appear
  2. Click on the preview title or description to edit them
  3. To change the preview image, click the image in the preview card and upload a replacement
  4. Your edits will appear in the published Facebook post

Note: These edits only affect how the post looks in Publlish and on the published post — they don't change the actual metadata on the linked website.

Instagram handles links very differently from Facebook:

Links in captions are not clickable on Instagram. If you paste a URL in your Instagram caption, it will appear as plain text — users cannot tap it. This is an Instagram platform restriction, not a Publlish limitation.

The only clickable link on Instagram is the link in your bio. The standard approach for driving traffic from Instagram is:

  • Put the destination link in your profile bio
  • In your caption, write "link in bio" or "tap the link in bio"
  • For multiple links, use a link-in-bio tool (like Linktree or a similar service) that lets you maintain multiple clickable links from one bio URL

Instagram Stories links: Stories support swipeable links for accounts with 10,000+ followers or verified accounts. This must be set up natively in the Instagram app — it's not available through the API.

If your Facebook link preview is showing the wrong image, wrong title, or wrong description, the issue is usually with Facebook's cached version of the page metadata.

Fix:

  1. Go to the Facebook Sharing Debugger
  2. Enter the URL and click Debug
  3. Click Scrape Again to force Facebook to refresh the cached metadata
  4. Once updated, reschedule the post in Publlish and the preview should show correctly

If the metadata shown in the debugger is still wrong, the issue is with the website's Open Graph tags — these need to be updated by the website owner or developer.

Full link preview troubleshooting guide →

On Facebook:

  • If reach is the priority, use an image post with the link in the caption rather than a pure link post — image posts get better organic reach
  • Make sure the link destination has proper Open Graph metadata (og:title, og:description, og:image) for a clean preview
  • Use domain verification so Facebook recognises your website domain Facebook domain verification guide →

On Instagram:

  • Don't put bare URLs in captions — they don't work and look unprofessional
  • Always direct to "link in bio" with a specific, compelling reason to click
  • Update your bio link when you have a new destination to drive traffic to

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I post a clickable link on Instagram through Publlish? No — Instagram doesn't allow clickable links in captions. The only clickable link is in the profile bio. This is an Instagram platform restriction, not a Publlish limitation.

How do I change the preview image for a Facebook link post? After pasting the URL in the Publlish composer, click on the preview image to replace it with a custom image. Alternatively, update the Open Graph image on your website and use the Facebook Sharing Debugger to refresh the cache.

Why is my Facebook link preview showing the wrong information? Facebook caches link previews. Use the Facebook Sharing Debugger to force a refresh of the cached data.

Does sharing a link on Facebook hurt my reach? Facebook's algorithm generally gives lower organic reach to posts that link out to external sites compared to native photo or video posts. If reach is important, consider using an image post with the URL in the caption instead of a pure link post.

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