Social media platforms such as Instagram are an excellent way to drive traffic to your website. While some may think Instagram is notorious for not being link-friendly, there have been improvements for business accounts that enable linking.
There are two ways to leave a link on your page: a profile bio with no time limits and a story for 24 hours only until the story last. Learning how to use these opportunities can be an excellent way to get new viewers or current followers to visit your website. Each app user that follows the link in story helps to increase traffic to your website and improves the overall engagement on your Instagram page. Increased engagement makes it more visible to more users.
Providing clickable links allows users to check out more about your business. Always give a link to the homepage of your website, as this will be the first thing that viewers see.
Otherwise, linking current promotions or coupons is also a suitable method. Don't worry if you don't know how to go about doing so, as we'll provide a brief breakdown of how you can drive more traffic to other places.
How to Drive Traffic from Instagram to Other Sites
1. Provide a Link in Your Bio
When setting up an Instagram profile, you'll be able to add a short bio. Instagram bios allow anyone to type up to 150 characters, which is limited space. To ensure that you get all the necessary information, you'll want to keep it short and straightforward.
For a bio, you should include the following:
- A link to your website or other social media account
- A short introduction to the company
- Mention your niche
- Name and username/handle
- Call to action buttons
- Contact information
As you can see, that is a lot of information to fit in a small text box. However, there are ways you can simplify it to make it all fit. Here is a short example of an Instagram bio:
"ABC Company
The Alphabet Company
Provider and distributor of used books across the globe.
www.ABCCompany.com"
2. Utilize the Tag Feature to Tag Products3. Use IGTV to Promote Clicks
One strategy that can help get views is posting a picture and using the tag feature to input a link from your store. The photo can be of merchandise or services you're offering, and the links will need to be the exact products or services shown in the picture.
Things you need to know about Instagram Shopping rules when tagging products:
- Only five tagged items can be in one standard picture or video post
- 20 carousel posts can be used to simulate an online lookbook
- One product sticker can be used in your Instagram stories
Not anyone can use Instagram's shopping, so you'll have to clear a few criteria:
- Meet Instagram's eligibility criteria
- Connect an account to the Facebook catalog
- Sign up for the app with a business profile
By including these in your profile, you'll be able to feature items and services to your audience. This is an easy and cost-efficient method to get free clicks to your website with few drawbacks. The only downside is if you don't have a large following, you may need to up your user engagement first.
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3. Use IGTV to Promote Clicks
IGTV posts are another Instagram feature that enables embedded links. IGTV is a video feature that allows users and businesses to upload high-quality videos longer than the standard stories and posts. This feature was released in June 2018 and was designed to help brands showcase products and services.
A video shot using the IGTV feature can be up to one hour long, which gives plenty of time to make a creative and inspiring video. Use the feature to create videos showcasing new products services or even asking brand ambassadors to review products. Other fun ideas can be testimonials, inspirational stories, and contests.
4. Utilize Instagram Stories
Chances are you're already posting Instagram Stories to your account. As a business, you should take this chance to add a link to your stories. Insert a link to your website or social media account, and you'll see that there will be more traffic to the site afterward.
Users who click on the link will be provided an option to "See More," which will open the link in Instagram's browser application. Using Instagram Stories is an excellent way to get free traffic to your site. However, there is a downside.
Instagram Story links are only available to shops that have over 10,000 followers. This is to ensure that there aren't any scam sites popping up. Although, there is another method to getting links, which is to become a verified account.
5. Don't Forget About Highlights
Once you create a story, you should always include it in your Instagram Story Highlights. Stories only last up to 24 hours before they permanently disappear from the account. Users will no longer be able to access or view them, which means that the post will essentially be useless after 24 hours.
A business can group past stories together and permanently store them on their profile by using highlights. Users will be able to scroll through and access past stories, including any links provided inside of them.
While it may be tempting to highlight every Story, we don't recommend that. Only specific stories should stay as a highlight. You'll need to think of this strategically.
You'll want only to highlight stories that have been proven to be successful. Not all stories you post to your timeline are going to be effective. Pinning compelling stories will help draw in more people. Plus, users will have less to scroll through and won't lose interest.
6. Direct Message Followers
While a more significant business may not need to implement this tactic, smaller companies should. Directly messaging links to followers in DMs and providing special promotions can help build clients. Not only does it help provide helpful feedback talking to followers, but it also gives you a chance to see what type of products or services are liked more.
Sending on DMs and responding to personal DMs sent by followers is also an excellent method to getting noticed. Responding to followers shows that you care to interact with them. This makes the brand seem more genuine and can help increase trust.
As for the message type, include a call to action message that consists of a link to a product or service. We highly recommend providing discounts to supporters to show thanks. You won't need to use a different message, as you can send the same message out in bulk.
As a business, you can set up "quick replies," which will send previously formatted text into a DM. This helps reduce the amount of time having to input the same message manually. That way, you can send out messages to a large group of followers without much hassle.
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7. Get Influencers or Brand Ambassadors
If you're a small business just starting, then the other methods may not be as effective. One way to build an online presence is to partner with influencers with a large following. If not, another technique is to hire brand ambassadors to help promote the company.
Partnering will provide a more extensive reach and be able to promote your brand's message and goals. They will also reach thousands of their followers, which can help draw in new users.
When selecting a partnership, don't just go for a person with a larger follower group. Instead, focus on partnering with someone who has the same goals and views as your brand. You'll want to find someone who accurately matches the brand and who will stand by the company.
Be sure to highlight all expectations when reaching out to them. In most cases, you will be asked to pay them or provide free products for them to review.
8. Use Call to Action Text
Call to Action text (CTA) is a term used to describe writing text that prompts an immediate response. The text is used to invoke a reader's response and ultimately get them to participate or engage in something.
This will likely be to either interact with followers or ask followers to purchase a product or service for a business. So, using CTA can boost you ahead of the competition. Although CTA's benefits are apparent, according to KoMarketing, 67.8% of posts still don't use Call to Action text.
For social media, some famous call to action texts include:
- Comment down below
- Click the link in the bio
- Save this post
- Tag yourself and share with two others
- Etc.
A call to action should not sound too demanding but instead, be suggested in a friendly tone. You don't want to come off rude to your users, so making sure to sound friendly and supportive is the way to go.
9. Encourage Followers to Enable Push Notifications
With the newer updates of Instagram, the app isn't required to provide push notifications. If users had already turned them off the first time, they downloaded the app, and then they will remain off until otherwise changed. A business should encourage followers to enable push notifications.
Allowing push notifications to be on can help further your reach. It would be best to encourage users to turn on their notifications for posts, TGTV, and stories.
To do so, let users know the following:
- Tap their profile picture in the bottom right and go to their profile
- Tap the Hamburger Menu icon and then tap settings
- Tap on notifications and then adjust the settings.
For turning on push notifications for only certain accounts, you can tell them the following:
- Tap the Profile icon or profile picture on the bottom right of their profile.
- Click on the text Following located in the top right.
- Next, find the Manage Notifications and click on it.
- Tap the slider and then slide on the notifications they want to be turned on.
10. Use Instagram Ads
Instagram recently announced that it was opening its API to all companies. This means that it's easier to target the correct demographic for your products or services. Ads are an effective method, and utilizing Instagram Ads means having more reach across the platform.
In an Instagram Ad, you can add clickable links which redirect viewers to other social media or a website. The main downside of using Instagram Ads is that it does cost money to advertise. However, the Ads are relatively affordable and cost anywhere between $0.20 to $6.70, depending on the bidding model.
Conclusion
Instagram is an excellent social media site that can help drive traffic to other websites. With over one billion monthly active users, you can help attract more users using all the marketing strategies. You'll have to be smart about your strategy, or else you'll fall behind with the rest of the crowd.
That doesn't mean that you won't be able to make a profit. However, it does mean that you may not see as much growth as other companies in a similar niche. That being said. Hopefully, you've found this helpful in your journey to expanding traffic to your website from Instagram.
