There have been many small but important changes that have been made in the way that online searching operates since the rise of social media. Consumers are increasingly unwilling to guess about the contents of suggested links or pages and what to know more about these items before they take the time to click on them. People also are worried about clicking on links inside posts or in ads that might lead to a harmful site or cause a malware issue on their computer.
One of the most helpful and clever changes to the way that links behave since the all-pervasive influence of Facebook, is the link preview. This handy linking tool gives people looking at a link a small image of what the link will lead them to that pops up above the text they are reading. This helps consumers to feel more confident in their clicks and also helps to see what your link can do for them if they do click on it.
If you are not sure if you need to put some effort into improving your link previews, you will want to read this article about why they are so important.
Are Link Previews Only Used in Social Media?
Link previews are actually increasingly common on all kinds of internet pages. You will see link previews inside of blog posts and even in Google search results when you are looking for a new restaurant, the right place to get your oil changed and so forth. Link previews are becoming the norm for any link that is dropped into text or onto a landing page.
Consumers expect to see these handy tools show up when they are looking into different information, seeking out a place to buy something, or just trying to find out more about a business or a place. You will want to be sure that you keep this in mind when you are working on the links that you are using on your website, in your social posts and in your ads.
Why Link Previews Are Important
1. Link Previews Are Cached
When people search for something and they are shown the link preview for your site and then they click on it, that click is cached in Google. This means that whatever image and bit of text that is seen when your link is clicked on will then be associated with the link throughout Google and your social site of choice. This helps Google and other sites save time and offers a better search experience for users.
This instant recognition of the value and content of your link helps drive traffic to your site and makes sure that your desired presentation for the information about your link is stored in the online cache that is used to generate previews. You will want to be positive that the preview image that you have chosen as your featured image is the one that you want since the cache will usually store just the first image that you select unless you take the time to remove cached data and start fresh.
2. Link Previews Are Attached to Meta Tags
Meta Tags help to determine the search values that will deliver your site when people are looking for items or services or information. This is critical to searchability and your preview image will help you to get more traffic to your social media sites or website if you have associated it with the right tags. Every time someone uses your link to navigate to your page, Google stores this as a hit for your meta tags.
Preview images can help you to push your page ahead in Google’s estimation as a site that is relevant to specific searches. Between the use of meta tags and the right featured image, you can link your site up with lots of unique searches. This can help your social posts and your personal website to appear on the front page of the search results every time someone is looking for your kind of product or service.
3. Link Previews Instill Confidence
People expect to see link previews these days. When you are not taking the time to offer link previews to people, you are going to cheat yourself out of clicks, conversions to sales and more.
Having the right preview image on your social media post links is just as important as making sure these appear in other places like your personal website.
For people who are just learning to associate these images with links on their social media, there are some handy tools like PreviewLinks that handle the heavy lifting. These apps will take care of the design of these previews and make sure that your link previews look perfect every time you post. This saves money and time and makes for really professional results without all the hassle. Being able to add quality link previews within your social media posts is critical to conversions to sales and engagement with your brand or your products.
Link Previews Are Critical to Consumer Confidence
As link previews become the new normal for all kinds of social media posts and for other information that is shared online, you will want to be sure that you are not slipping behind the times. Having quality link previews associated with your social sites is easy when you use the right tools for this need. Leveraging these tools means that you will not need to learn anything too technical to gain access to this powerful tool for consumer confidence.
Consumers expect to see link previews these days and when you are not prepared to offer them, your site will be passed over in favor of other sites that do offer this benefit. Anyone who is trying to make their social posts or website relevant and searchable will want to invest the effort into making these link previews appear connected with any link that they share. Link previews are a major benefit to your site success as well as your searchability within Google.