Social media is a tricky place. You may have noticed that when viewing the Instagram Stories of famous people and brands, they often include links. In an Instagram story, an option will appear below to see more and swiping up reveals a new web page. You’ll often scroll through the main Instagram feed and see some sponsored posts with official links below the image.
However, if you dig into your Instagram feed to find out how to add your own links, you’re likely to be disappointed.
Instagram marketing is accelerating like a rocket and marketing managers and social media managers are constantly emphasizing the importance of Instagram traffic for their online store or website. So how can you add links to your Instagram stories and posts?
Here are the best options for adding a link to Instagram stories and posts.
See also: Top 14 Instagram Direct Message (DM) Tips and Tricks.
1. Add a link to your Instagram story
Unfortunately, only popular Instagram accounts and brands can currently add links to their Instagram stories. You must be “verified,” which is a status you can’t request on Instagram right now. Instead, they must seek you out and verify you of their own free will, which will not happen if you have a small following or are not a person of public interest.
Sure you can write a text link that you overlay on your story, but your audience can’t click on it.
I hope Instagram decides to allow everyone to use this feature soon instead of just public figures and brands. That could very well be the case thanks to a recent Snapchat update that adds support for links.
2. Add a link to your Instagram posts
Unlike Instagram stories, it is possible to add links to your Instagram posts. However, it’s not exactly easy either.
You can write any URL you want in your photo caption, but it won’t link anywhere. The only official way to add a link directly to your Instagram photo is through payment. See, Instagram allows advertisers to include links…because the money.
If you are really trying to promote a website or link somewhere through your Instagram, the best way is to give up on the Instagram advertising platform. You can promote a post for as little as $1, and the post will also include a link that you provide to analytics.
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To advertise on Instagram, you must first convert your personal account to a business account. Don’t worry, it won’t change anything. It just adds a few extra features like analytics tracking, phone/email links (optional), and of course the ability to boost posts.
Do this by going to your profile and tapping the button settings icon, then scroll to and select Switch to business profile. Play Continue several times to complete the transfer. Now go to any photo on your profile and tap the blue button. Promote button. They will take you to Facebook, where Instagram handles its advertising. Here you can add a link and submit your payment.
If you are really trying to promote a website or link somewhere through your Instagram, the best way is to give up on the Instagram advertising platform.
Unfortunately, this is a rather unorthodox way to just add a link to a post on Instagram, but it’s the only direct way. Of course, if you don’t want to pay for an “ad,” I don’t blame you. There are some less effective, but free, solutions for this. See below.
3. Add a call to action to your Instagram story
Sometimes followers get confused about what exactly they need to do to follow your page or how to navigate to the link you put in your story.
To avoid this, you can add a CTA or call to action to your stories to tell your audience what they need to do to click your link and navigate to the page you want them to go to.
To add a Call to Action, you need to create a clickable link and place it in your story post and write the action (swipe up, double tap or click this circle) to instruct your audience and generate traffic.
Note: Sometimes adding a large link can be tricky. Use Bitly to shorten your URL and add the shortlink generated on Instagram.
free solution
While Instagram doesn’t yet support links in Instagram posts for regular users like you and me, there are some workarounds. They’re not perfect, but at least the result is a link, even if it’s not where you want it.
If you want to keep it simple, you can always update the link in your bio. Instagram allows a link to appear on your profile. Any time you want to include a link in your Instagram post, go to your Instagram profile and look for the link in the bio. Then, in the headline of your Instagram post, direct viewers to your profile to click on the desired content. Say something like “Link in bio” or include the link emoji.
Another free option is Linktree.
However, this method limits your links. Since you have to update your bio every time you post a new photo, anyone looking at your old photos looking for a link can get confused when your updated bio takes them somewhere else.
Another free option is Linktree. This is a free service that allows you to create a mini website for your Instagram page. No knowledge of web design is required as the layout is just a list of links. You can add as many links as you want there, and track to see how many clicks they get.
First sign up with your Instagram account on the Linktree website. After that, paste your Linktree URL in your bio as the only website. Update your Linktree with the new link every time you post a new photo, and then just caption “link in bio” as usual. With this method, at least you don’t have to change your bio every time, and you get some analytics.
As you can see, Instagram’s options for linking to your photos are currently not perfect. Hopefully in the future Instagram will see how boring this is and make some much needed improvements.