Facebook is known for making attention-grabbing announcements such as its revamped News Feed or rollout of autoplay ads. Much of the time, though, important updates sneak through without so much as a peep. Check out three of the latest under-the-radar changes and learn how you can use them to your advantage.

Think ‘Links’
Once the stepchild of the News Feed, Facebook has rethought its approach to links and weighted them more heavily in an effort to become a platform of higher quality content. Now links are more visible than ever and carve out a significant space if an image is attached.

Capitalize on this new capability by linking to rich content with a meta (open graph) image for Facebook to incorporate in your News Feed. If you’re looking to optimize your own website for Facebook, make sure your web pages are marked with the appropriate meta image, title and description tags so Facebook can optimize posts and shares. Use a link shortener whenever possible to cut down on URL clutter.

Optimize Image Size
The News Feed and Timeline used to display images differently. The Timeline cropped images to fit in a square frame, while the News Feed showed the images in their entirety. That’s in the past, as the Timeline now mirrors the News Feed in displaying images in their original dimensions.

Images no longer need to be optimized for both sets of dimensions and can be shown consistently in whatever form you choose.

To take up the most screen real estate and eliminate any awkward surrounding space, upload your images at 2053 x 1540 pixels.

Monitor More Easily
Every time you post on a Facebook page you manage, it appears in your personal News Feed. This gives you a better idea as to how your post appears to fans and reminds you that your post is up if you had scheduled it days or weeks earlier. Now you can keep a closer eye on your News Feed.

Any other Facebook secrets you’ve seen slip by? Share your discoveries in the comments below.