How to actually test the link-in-first-comment trick

How to actually test the link-in-first-comment trick

Everyone says: "Put your link in the first comment, the algorithm punishes outbound links in the body."

Stop believing it. Test it. Here's the clean protocol:

— Pick 10 posts you'd run anyway. Same topic family, same length.
— 5 get the link in the body. 5 get it in the comment. Randomize the order.
— Hold everything else still: same posting hour, no pod, no manual reshare.
— Measure link clicks per impression, not total clicks. Reach skews raw numbers.
— Run it over 3 weeks so one viral fluke doesn't decide it.

Most people who swear by the comment trick never ran the A side at all.

Credit where due: body links do sometimes dip reach. But "sometimes, a little" is not the law everyone repeats.