Marketing when Facebook rations your links
You may already have seen the pop-up. You go to share a link to your own website on your Facebook Page, and Meta tells you that you only get two of those a month unless you pay. That is a process change, not just a news story.
The rules, the prices and the workarounds are in our article, Facebook’s two-link limit and Meta One: what UK small businesses should do. This guide is about what you do differently from next week: how you plan posts, where you send people, and how you stop renting all of your marketing from one platform.
By Mike Dunkling, founder of Zatheo, a web design and SEO agency in Ashford, Kent.
What’s changed
On Pages where the limit is on, Meta’s help centre says you can include links in up to two organic posts or comments per month. A Meta One Advanced, Expert or Max plan raises that cap. The free allowance resets on the 1st of each month, and unused allowances do not carry over.
Links in comments from your Page count towards the same limit, so putting the URL in the first comment no longer saves you an allowance. Extra links in the comments of a post that already includes a link do not count again. Ads are not affected, and links to Meta’s own apps, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, do not use the allowance either. Photos, videos, Reels, text posts and messages have no new cap on their own, but an external link in a photo or video post does count.
Meta tested the limit with selected Pages from December 2025 and is now enforcing it much more widely, page by page, with no published timeline. You find out when a notice appears as you go to publish a link. I have not seen a confirmed UK price list for Meta One, so I am not quoting figures in pounds. Official US dollar prices, what each plan includes, and the advice from Mari Smith and others on whether to pay, are in the full article.
The useful point for this guide is simpler. If your weekly habit was “post on Facebook and drop in a link to the website”, that habit is now rationed.
What it means for your process
The work does not disappear. It moves.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Share a website link whenever you have something to say | Choose two link posts a month in advance, and treat them as a scarce resource |
| Put the URL in the first comment as a workaround | Assume comments count, unless they sit under a post that already has a link |
| Use Facebook as the main door to your site | Keep the profile website link accurate, and send other people to your site by message, ads, email or Google |
| Post first, think about email and Google later | Build the habit of writing to your list and keeping your Google presence up to date, whether Facebook cooperates or not |
In practice, that means a short planning session at the start of the month, not a last-minute post on a Friday. It also means your website, your email list and your Google Business Profile have to do more of the work that Facebook used to do for free.
A 90-day plan
Weeks 1-2: take stock
Check whether the limit has reached your Page. Try to publish a post with a link, or look for the notice. If it has not appeared yet, work through this plan anyway, because the rollout is happening page by page.
Write down how many website links you posted last month, and which ones actually led to enquiries or bookings. If you use Google Analytics, look at visits from organic social. You only need a rough picture.
Then fix the free doors that are not capped. The website field on your Facebook Page, and the link in your Instagram profile, stay clickable. Point them at the page you most want people to visit, and check the page itself is clear on a phone: what you do, who it is for, and how to get in touch.
Month 1: change how you post
Pick the two link posts that most deserve a clickable URL this month. A new service page, a booking link or an event usually beats a general “visit our website” post.
For everything else, use routes that do not spend the allowance. Invite people to comment with a word, such as “PRICE” or “GUIDE”, and send the link by message, which is the free comment trigger in Meta Business Suite that Mari Smith highlights. Use ads, or put a small budget behind a post that is already doing well, when something has to reach people this week. Ads do not count towards the cap. Say a short web address out loud in a video, or show a QR code, when you want people to find you without a clickable URL.
Start, or restart, a simple email habit in the same month. Even a short monthly note to people who have already enquired or bought from you is a channel nobody else can ration.
Months 2-3: move the weight onto channels you own
By the second month you should have a repeatable way of choosing the two links, and a message or ad route for the rest. Spend months 2 and 3 strengthening the channels that still belong to you.
Make sure your website can take the people who do arrive: a clear service page, a form that works on a phone, and a page you are happy to point your profile link at. If updates currently wait in an agency queue, see running your website without an agency queue.
Get your Google presence into a state you would be happy for a stranger to judge you by. That is the work in from word of mouth to a steady flow of enquiries: a complete Google Business Profile, recent genuine reviews, and a simple follow-up habit.
At the end of 90 days, look again at whether Facebook is sending you enquiries worth paying for. If it is, revisit the Meta One question with real numbers. If it is not, keep the two free allowances and put the money into the site, the list or ads instead.
Common mistakes
Spending both links in the first week. The allowance does not carry over, but using it up on low-value posts leaves you with nothing for a launch or a booking deadline later in the month.
Paying for Meta One before you have checked the numbers. Paying for more links does not come with extra reach. For most small businesses, the article’s conclusion still holds: be slow to subscribe, and only look at a plan if Facebook already sends you a steady stream of enquiries.
Leaving the profile website link pointing at an old or weak page. That link is still free and still clickable. It should go to a page that can turn a visit into an enquiry.
Treating Facebook as the only plan. A limit on links is a reminder that a social platform is rented space. If the Page went quiet tomorrow, you still need a way for people to find you.
Ignoring email because the list is small. A short list of real customers is more useful than a large following you cannot reach with a link.
How Zatheo can help
We can help you make the owned side of this solid: a website that is clear on a phone, local SEO and a Google Business Profile that is fit to be found, and, where it is the right fit, an AI-driven website you can update yourself. If you already have a site and just need it to work harder, start with our web design page. When a campaign has to reach people this week, our paid media work covers Google Ads and Meta ads, measured on enquiries and sales, not clicks.
If you would like a hand sorting out the website and the Google side of this, Book a free 30-minute call.
Frequently asked questions
Has the two-link limit reached every Facebook Page?
No. Meta is rolling it out page by page and has not published a timeline. The help centre says it may not apply to every Page, and can differ between Pages you manage. Check what your own account shows before you change your plan, or spend anything.
Can I still put a link in the first comment?
Not as a way to avoid the limit. Links in comments from your Page count towards the monthly cap. The exception is extra links in the comments of a post that already includes a link, which do not count again.
Should I stop using Facebook?
No. Photos, videos, Reels, text posts, messages and ads still work as they did, and the profile website link stays clickable. What has to change is the habit of adding an external link to most posts. Use the two free allowances carefully, and lean on the channels Meta cannot cap.