How to put a link in Instagram bio? Are there any other ways to share your links? Hey, there are actually several ways to do so!
Are you looking for ways to increase website traffic from Instagram? Do you want to know how to share links in more places on Instagram?
This article will show you eight different ways to share links on your Instagram profile and posts.
How to Put a Link in Instagram Bio
Let’s begin with the most basic method of posting a link on Instagram. Anyone, including private personal accounts, can share a clickable link in their Instagram bio.
Consider this your “home” link. While there are other ways to share clickable links (which we’ll get to in a minute), those are aimed at a more specific audience. The link in your bio is available to anyone who visits your profile.
Opinions on the best strategy for this link differ. Some businesses simply link to their mobile website. Others keep their bio link up to date and direct users to the content of their posts.
However, there is a drawback to frequently changing the link. How do you keep track of your old posts? What if someone stumbles across an intriguing post from six months ago, clicks on your bio to learn more, and discovers a different link?
Instead, I recommend including more ephemeral links in your stories. You can save the stories as permanent highlights with clickable links if you want to keep that content available.
You can also use a link service, especially if you don’t have access to story links. The following section will go over how to use a single, consistent bio link to share a variety of content via link services.
Make Use of a Link Service to Display Multiple Links
Link services were widely used when Instagram first became popular among marketers, but their popularity waned. They’re back with improved design capabilities and a more pleasant user experience.
There are several formats to choose from. The traditional link service resembles Linktree in that you present followers with a list of clickable buttons. Linktree is used by The Workspace For Children to direct users to their most recent blog posts, activities, and Amazon shop.
Select a style and color scheme that complements the aesthetic of your Instagram posts and stories. Users will lose trust in your brand if they click through and find something that looks very different.
You can check out these 7 Best Link in Bio Platform to include multiple links.
Other Ways to Share Your Links
Put Short Links on Your Caption
Normal Instagram photo captions cannot include clickable links, but that doesn’t mean post captions are useless! You can still use hashtags to attract users’ attention, share excerpts from your content, and broaden your reach with carefully chosen hashtags.
I recommend these two strategies for making the most of your Instagram post captions for links.
Link Shortener
Use a link-shortening service like Bitly to make the link easier for users to copy or remember—bonus points if the link is customized for your brand and content. This method necessitates a little more effort from your followers, so save it for your most important content or links where you only want to convert a small, targeted group of people.
Check out these 8 Impressive Short Link Maker.
Incorporate Swipe-Up Links into Your Instagram Stories
Some brands have the ability to include live links in their Instagram stories. Because stories are so fleeting, they’re an excellent way to disseminate links to new or time-sensitive content. Consider flash sales, limited-time promotions and giveaways, seasonal events, or weekly Q&A sessions with your social media followers.
Alternatively, you can save stories with swipe-up links in your profile’s highlights section. These stories will be tethered to your bio and photo grid. Highlights can be used as a library for evergreen content such as essential FAQs, best-selling products, and past events to show new followers what they’ve missed.
Chocolatier Auro highlights news stories, community posts, recipe ideas, promotions, events, store locations, and featured products on their profile.
Whether you keep an Instagram story forever or delete it after 24 hours, keep in mind that each story only lasts 15 seconds. Because viewers don’t have much time to react, make the call to action (CTA) as clear as possible. Consider the following suggestions:
Use the highlighter and pen tools to draw attention to the See More link.
Stickers and GIFs can be used to direct users to a link, announce a new post, or encourage them to swipe up.
Photograph or film a member of your team pointing to the link. Bicho Vintage uses an arrow sticker to highlight a shopping link in this story.
There is one catch. Instagram has tight control over story links. This feature is not available unless you have over 10,000 followers (which takes time) or a verified account (which is an arcane and almost random process).
Why does Instagram limit story links in this way? Because, presumably, it wants you to prioritize follower counts. But does that really work for your company’s objectives?
A large number of followers is critical to the success of some brands, particularly direct-to-consumer brands. However, in some cases, it may be better to prioritize sales over followers.
Attollo Lingerie is a young brand that uses their Instagram story to promote real-world sales and connections. They lack access to swipe-up links… but they don’t require them. Instead, they use shared posts, graphics, and clever screenshots to point users to other websites.
This demonstrates that internal links can also be beneficial. Share stories with links to your own posts, profile, and IGTV. You can also link to other people’s relevant posts, stories, and profiles. Remember that collaborating on a promotion with an influencer or another brand potentially doubles the number of active links available to you.
Instagram Shoppable Posts and Stories
Another example of a highly specific link is shoppable posts. Each shopping tag only refers to one product (and it has to be a physical product, sold in one of a select group of countries). Shopping tags provide the most targeted conversion.
To begin using shopping tags, create a product catalog on Facebook. Once you’ve uploaded all of your products, including shopping links, images, and descriptions, you can begin adding shopping tags to your Instagram posts.
Pay for Link Promotion
You can pay to promote posts and stories on Instagram if you have a business profile. This not only allows you to segment your audience, but it also allows you to add clickable links to the captions of promoted posts. Yes, Instagram allows you to share links in post captions as long as you pay for them.
The Bam & Boo, a sustainable toothbrush brand, uses promoted posts to share links to blog posts and products.
The same rules that apply to any ad apply here as well. Make sure your links are completely relevant to the post or story in which they appear, because if people click and then bounce, your ad spend has been wasted.
Consider the conversion you’re aiming for. Are you promoting a shoppable post, informing users about your brand, or enticing them with intriguing content? Different conversions necessitate distinct designs. Try to strike a balance between an appealing post design and a prominent CTA.
Conclusion
Instagram marketing currently feels like driving a fantastic sports car while someone else changes the tires, tests the brakes, replaces the steering wheel, and fiddles with the wing mirrors. Instagram is an extremely powerful platform with a growing audience, but it is also constantly changing.
Sharing links on Instagram is one of the most difficult challenges that marketers face. New methods are constantly being tested, added, and depreciated. And, while researching this article, I discovered that Instagram’s own help guides don’t cover many of the available options.
Sharing links is simple in many other channels, such as email or your own website. People click on a live link you’ve placed. On Instagram, however, this is not the case.
You can’t share a single CTA in a single space because it’s more difficult to include clickable links. Instead, you must create a web of interconnected links and directions. People should be able to find a clear path to conversion wherever they land on your Instagram presence.
Does that make sense? As an example, consider including a link in your bio. Most users will never notice that link if you leave it to them to find it. To direct them there, you must use post captions, profile buttons, stories, ads, and even cross-posts from other networks.
That is why it is critical to understand all of the different ways you can share links on Instagram. You should use every method available to you to entice users to convert. This article, as of June 2019, covers all of the ways to share links on Instagram, including your bio, stories, link services, promoted posts, profile buttons, Instagram Shopping, DMs, and IGTV. To put it another way, you have a lot more options than you think.
It took me a while to figure out all of the different ways I could build my link strategy when I first started using Instagram for business. And, as time passes, I continue to learn and discover new ways to convert customers on the platform.
What are your thoughts? Which of these methods do you employ when sharing links on Instagram? Do you have any other tips for linking on Instagram? Leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments.
