Twitter Launches New ‘Hyperlink Highlight’ CTA Button for Professional Accounts

After testing them out over the past couple of months, Twitter has now officially launched its new ‘Link Spotlight’ feature for US-based Professional Accounts, which allows manufacturers so as to add a URL, with a variable CTA button, to their profile within the app.

As you possibly can see on this sequence, for those who’re within the US, ‘Hyperlink Highlight’ is now out there in your skilled profile settings, as one other function ingredient to incorporate in your Twitter profile show.

As soon as chosen, you’ll then be capable of enter a vacation spot URL, and select a label for your CTA button.

Your CTA choices, at launch, are:

• E book an appointment
• Hear now
• Make a reservation
• Learn now
• See now
• Stream reside
• View menu
• Watch Now

So clearly, a number of of those are focused in direction of creators, and guiding profile guests to take a look at your content material. However the choices additionally present varied referral visitors drivers that might assist drive extra response for companies as effectively.

When you’ve determined in your CTA message, you possibly can activate your new Hyperlink Highlight in your profile, which shall be displayed above your tweet timeline.

Which sounds fairly good, fairly helpful, and a great way to drive extra visitors out of your Twitter presence, proper?

Effectively… there are some provisos that restrict what you are able to do right here.

First off, Twitter is just allowing some URLs to be included in the Link Spotlight display, with solely 34 domains really eligible to be included as a click-through choice.

These domains are:

• open.spotify.com
• music.apple.com
• pandora.com
• music.amazon.com
• pay attention.tidal.com
• deezer.com
• music.youtube.com
• boomplay.com
• play.anghami.com
• napster.com
• soundcloud.com
• bandcamp.com
• mixcloud.com
• toneden.io
• odesli.co
• ticketmaster.com
• bandsintown.com
• substack.com
• youtube.com
• twitch.television
• vimeo.com
• podcasts.google.com
• podcasts.apple.com
• open.spotify.com/present
• menupages.com
• styleseat.com
• opentable.com
• calendly.com
• etsy.com
• github.com
• kickstarter.com
• indiegogo.com
• grubhub.com
• chownow.com

So there are some helpful choices in there, together with YouTube, Ticketmaster, podcasting platforms, meals supply companies, and so forth.

There are some good choices to assist drive visitors – however you possibly can’t simply chuck in any hyperlink that you really want. Like, a hyperlink to your individual web site, for instance.

You’ll be able to already embody a hyperlink to your individual web site in your most important profile choices, however the CTA button gained’t join via to your pages particularly, which is a bit disappointing.

Why restrict which URLs you possibly can hyperlink out to?

As per Twitter:

“With the intention to tackle technical complexity and belief and security issues, we’re limiting URLs that can be utilized with the Hyperlink Highlight to an allowlist. We are going to think about increasing this checklist in response to requests from professionals and the way the highlight is getting used.”

In different phrases, Twitter doesn’t wish to be sending referral visitors to dodgy spam websites and the like by way of its shiny new button, so it’s solely permitting some URLs to be eligible.

So, I imply, it’s nonetheless helpful, it’s only a bit totally different to what you may anticipate.

As famous, the choice can also be solely out there for US-based Professional Account holders at this stage, whereas the precise CTA messages are additionally restricted to what’s there.

Twitter says that it’ll think about increasing the checklist of CTA choices in future, primarily based on requests from professionals. Customized CTA textual content, nonetheless, will not be on the playing cards, additionally because of belief and security issues.

Even with these restrictions, it may very well be a worthwhile choice in serving to to drive visitors, with that large CTA button standing out, and certain luring extra clicks because of this.

And there are some good host websites right here which you could hyperlink to. Simply not yours. As a result of Twitter doesn’t belief you. Or one thing like that.

In any occasion, it’s one other consideration for Professional Account managers, who may add a Location Highlight, a Store Module and app hyperlinks, by way of devoted buttons on their profile show.

It may very well be value contemplating – no phrase from Twitter on when the Hyperlink Highlight shall be expanded to all areas.