Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms for both individuals and businesses to share photos and videos. With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram offers a huge potential audience for your content. One great way to leverage your Instagram account is by sharing links to your other social profiles and websites to drive traffic and grow your following.
But Instagram does not allow you to include active clickable links in your posts or profile bio. The only place you can include clickable external links is in your Instagram Stories. So how can you share your other social media profiles and websites to your Instagram followers? There are a few clever solutions.
Add Links in Your Instagram Bio
The first and easiest option is to include links in your Instagram bio. Your bio is the small area under your username and profile photo on your Instagram profile.
While you can’t use active hyperlinks, you can type out the URLs in full for users to manually click and open in their browser.
For example:
Website: www.mysite.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/myhandle
Facebook: www.facebook.com/myhandle
To make it easier, use link shortening services like Bitly or Rebrandly to shorten the links first before adding to your Instagram bio.
Here are some tips for adding effective links in your Instagram bio:
– List your most important website or social media link first
– Use consistent branding by mentioning your website domain and social media handles across all platforms
– Keep it short and sweet – choose the 3-4 most important platforms to highlight
– Update it regularly – your links and messaging may evolve over time
Link in Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories allow you to include active swipe up links that users can tap to open your website. This makes it a logical place to promote your other social media and website links.
To add a link to your Instagram Story:
1. Capture or upload content into your Instagram Story as usual
2. Tap the paper airplane icon to add a link
3. Paste in the URL you want to use
4. Tap ‘Done’ and post your Story
When viewing your Story, users will see a “See More” CTA at the bottom that they can swipe up to open the link.
You can include links in both photo and video Instagram Stories. Some best practices for linking in Stories include:
– Link to your latest blog post or podcast episode
– Promote a sale, special offer or event on your website
– Drive traffic to a landing page to collect emails or downloads
– Link to your latest video on YouTube or another platform
– Share a “swipe up link in bio” prompt to drive traffic to your main website or social profiles
One thing to keep in mind is that links in Instagram Stories expire after 24 hours, so you’ll need to continuously replace them with updated links in new Stories.
Link in Instagram Posts
While you can’t add clickable active links directly within Instagram photo captions or video posts, there are some creative workarounds.
Option 1: Add the link in your caption and instruct users to copy/paste it into their browser. For example:
“Check out our latest blog post on Instagram marketing tips {copy and paste the link in our bio to read}”
Option 2: Use a link formatting service like @linksinbio, Linkin.bio or Milkshake.app to create a custom, branded link for your bio. Then reference that link within your Instagram captions.
For example:
“Read our Instagram marketing guide through the link in our bio”
The link in your bio will then redirect to the specific page you referenced in your post caption.
Option 3: List your @username for your other social media profiles that users can search and find you on. For example:
“See our latest videos on @YouTube and @TikTok profiles!”
Link Stickers in Instagram Stories
Along with swipe up links, you can also use link stickers within your Instagram Stories. Link stickers function like hyperlinks – when users tap on the sticker, it will open the linked web page.
To add a link sticker:
1. Capture or upload content to your Instagram Story
2. Tap the sticker icon and select the ‘link’ option
3. Paste in or enter the URL you want to link to
4. Resize and drag the sticker to position on your Story
5. Post your Story
The link sticker will appear as a clickable button on top of your Story content.
This is great for prominently promoting links to products, blog posts, events pages or any website you want to drive traffic to from Instagram. Some tips include:
– Make the sticker larger for high visibility
– Use contrasting colors between the sticker and Story background
– Add text like “Click here!” or “Link in bio” on the sticker
– Position near bottom so users tap sticker before Story disappears
Link Sharing in Instagram Feed Posts
While less convenient than active hyperlinks, you can also explicitly share links to your other profiles as part of your Instagram Feed photo or video captions.
For example:
“Looking for social media marketing tips? Check out our latest video here {YouTube URL}”
“Read our home decor blog for inspiration {Blog URL}”
“Follow me on TikTok @myhandle for funny videos”
While users will have to manually type the link into a browser, some will take the effort to visit your other channels, especially if the content teaser is compelling.
Cross-Promote Instagram Content on Other Channels
A final option is to cross-promote your Instagram content from your other social media and website channels, directing traffic back to your Instagram profile.
For example:
– Share Instagram posts/videos on your Facebook and Twitter
– Embed Instagram posts on your blog and website
– Link to your Instagram account in your YouTube video descriptions and end screens
– Mention your Instagram handle in your TikTok profile bio
By showcasing your Instagram content across channels, you can organically drive more followers and traffic to your Instagram, even without direct links on the platform itself.
How to Track Link Clicks
To see if your link sharing efforts on Instagram are effective, use link tracking services like Bitly to collect analytics on:
– Number of link clicks
– Click-through rate
– Top referrers
– Locations
– Devices
Shorten your links with Bitly or Rebrandly first before adding them on Instagram. This will let you monitor performance and optimize your links over time.
You can also use UTM tracking codes to tag the links and see if clicks are coming directly from Instagram.
Examples of Link Sharing on Instagram
Here are some examples of effective link sharing on Instagram accounts:
Link Sharing in Bio:
@nike:
Just Do It @nike.com
@nikesupport
@nikefootball
Swipe Up Link in Stories:
@buzzfeedtasty – Swipe up link to latest Tasty food recipe
@garyvee – Swipe up link to relevant business and entrepreneurship content
Link Stickers:
@shopify – Link stickers to latest ecommerce resources and Shopify blog
@hubspot – Link sticker to download their State of Marketing Report
Explicit Links in Captions:
@starbucks – “Check out our latest holiday drinks on the Starbucks app {app URL}”
@techcrunch – “Read our latest gadget reviews here {TechCrunch URL}”
Conclusion
While you can’t use active hyperlinks on Instagram like other social platforms, there are still several creative tactics you can leverage, such as:
– Listing out your external websites/social media URLs in your Instagram bio
– Including swipe up links, link stickers and explicit mentions in Instagram Stories
– Cross-promoting your Instagram content on other channels
– Using link formatting services and UTM tracking codes
Link sharing allows you to drive traffic from Instagram to your other online assets and grow your overall audience across multiple channels and websites.
Implement a mix of these solutions to share your important links on Instagram, while analyzing performance using analytics and tracking. With strategic link promotion, Instagram can be a powerful referral source alongside your other social platforms.