Social Media Post Formats - The differences between Image Post and Link Post

The social networks Twitter, Facebook, VKontakte (VK.com), XING, and LinkedIn offer you to choose between two basic post formats to present your content:

• Image Post
• Link post

Using different post formats gives you the opportunity to determine the focus of your social media post.

The Image Post

The image post format sets the focus on your image. If you click on the image, the image will enlarge. When using Blog2Social, your link is inserted as a clickable link below your text.

The images you used for your social media posts will be automatically uploaded to the image gallery aka photo album. This way they stay visible on your profile when your post has long disappeared in the flow of social media posts.

An image post consists of:

1. The comment you want to publish on your social media.
2. Automatically generated hashtags from your WordPress tags (Blog2Social feature).
3. A clickable link to your blog post (optional via "Edit Post Templates").
4. The image you selected to share on your social media.

The Link Post

A link post focuses on your link and your blog content. When using the link post format the social networks automatically generate a link preview from your Meta or Open Graph information. 

Clicking on your image or link preview will take them directly to your blog post.

Use the link post format to lead your readers to your blog, website or online shop by giving them a first impression of your content. If your post contains an image, the social media also display the first image detected on the your page or the selected image you choose from the Blog2Social image gallery. The image is automatically linked to your blog post.

A link post consists of:

1. The comment you want to publish on your social media.
2. Automatically generated hashtags from your WordPress tags (Blog2Social feature).
3.-5. The link preview: By clicking on the link preview you will be lead directly to your blog post.
    3. Description: automatically generated from your og:description / twitter:description tags.
    4. Image: automatically generated from your og:image / twitter:image tags.
    5. Title: automatically generated from your og:title / twitter:title tags.

Post Format examples for every network

Facebook

Twitter

VKontakte

XING:

LinkedIn:

Why is my image small when I post a link post on Twitter?

The size of you image in the link post format on Twitter is determined by the twitter:card tag.
There are two basic Twitter card types to use: “summary” and “summary_large_image”.

The twitter:card tag “summary” sets an equal focus on your image and your text content:

The twitter:card tag “summary_large-image” sets the focus on your image:

You can use whichever twitter:card tag you like. If your website has stunning visuals, however, you should consider using the twitter:card tag “summary_large-image”.

This is how these tags will look inside your source code:

or

Setting your twitter:card tag with Blog2Social

You can choose the twitter:card tag format you like best in the Blog2Social Settings.
Just go to “Settings” in your Blog2Social menu bar and then click on “Social Meta Data”.


Scroll down to “Twitter Card” and choose you default twitter:card tag in the dropdown menu “The default card type to use:”, then click on the lower right “save” button.

How to select your social media post format with Blog2Social? (Premium)

There are two ways to choose and define the best post format for your social media posts.

• By default in your settings
• Individual for each social media post

Select your social media post format by default

To select your Social Media post format by default, simply click on "Networks" on the upper or the left-hand navigation bar: Blog2Social>Networks.

Click on the “Edit Post Format” button right-hand of your social media connection.

Select the post format for your content: link post or image post.

If you are happy with your settings, click on "save".

Tip:

Select not only your post format, but also other settings for your social media posts by default with social media post templates.

Select your social media post format individually for each post

To change the post format in the Blog2Social editor go to “Blog2Social > Posts & Sharing >  Share on Social Media”.

Click on “post format” on the upper right side of the respective network’s editor field to change the post format.

You will get a pop up window to select your post format.

Save your customized posts as drafts

After your individually customization of your post you can save these as drafts. All of your customizations, as well as your network selection and scheduling times will be saved in your draft.

If you are happy with your settings, click on "Save draft".

Please note: When you try to save a draft for a WordPress post or page with an already existing draft, you will be notified that saving your draft will overwrite the old saved draft. Please make sure that you are okay with this before you proceed.

After saving your social media post customizations you can edit and share them later. This saves time that you can spend on other things like creating valuable content or engaging with your community.