How to get website traffic through Instagram

Instagram has managed to get a bad reputation when it comes to being a conduit for website traffic. This predominantly comes from the fact that you can’t link a post to a website and putting a link in the caption doesn’t work either. However, Instagram is a huge social media platform and there are ways to optimise it when it comes to getting users to your website – if you get these right they could be worth their weight in web traffic gold.

Use your bio more

One of the places on your Instagram profile where you can add a link is the bio. This could be a homepage link or one that directs people to a contact or ‘about us’ type page. You can update this link as often as you want and direct people to it via posts or stories with the phrase “link in bio” – this can be an especially useful resource if you’re launching a new campaign or project and want to make it easily accessible via Instagram, as you can update the link at any time.

Use IGTV

When you create an IGTV post you can include a clickable link in the description. This is a great way to drive users to your links but remember that to get to the link they will have to read the description. That means tapping on the post title, something you may need to develop a call to action to nudge them to do.

Use Instagram shopping to tag your products

You can effectively convert an Instagram page into your shop window by tagging your products in posts. Standard posts allow for up to product five tags and these can direct your followers straight to the product pages on your website if you meet the right criteria, sign up in the app with a business profile and connect to a Facebook catalogue.

Instagram stories

Depending on the type of profile that you have (either verified or 10k+ followers) you can add a link into your Instagram stories. Users can then go straight from the story to the web page that you want them to access. Stories are a great way to get people to visit your web pages – you can add “swipe up” stickers and other CTAs to make them more effective.

Use the action buttons on your profile

Instagram offers a number of different action buttons that you can add to the front of your profile and these can be useful when it comes to driving traffic elsewhere. For example you can add in options to contact your business, book an appointment or buy a ticket.

Create a library of highlights

Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours but you can create a series of ‘highlights’ that will sit on the front of your profile and allow people to access those stories long after they have expired. Not every Story should be added into these highlights only those that communicate information or messaging you want users to know – and which contain links to the web pages that you’d like them to visit.

Work with influencers

If you don’t have a huge Instagram presence yourself then it can be fruitful to work with those who do. Influencers can act as ambassadors for your brand, help to amplify your messages and enable you to reach a whole new audience. They can add links to your website to their Stories etc and these will get exposure to a larger audience that is potentially interested in browsing your website, buying or getting in touch.

Instagram offers a number of linking opportunities – there are more ways than you might think to use the platform to drive traffic to your website.

To find out more about how you can use social media to increase your brand awareness and generate website traffic for your business, give us a call today on 020 7100 0726 or claim your free marketing audit here.