You can’t share links on Instagram. So you shouldn’t try to share links on Instagram. Period. This policy keeps the platform on point and uncluttered.
Each Instagram user is allowed one web address and one only: the link in your bio.
Instagram is meant for sharing photos, videos, Reels, stories, and other trendy content. Other platforms—like Facebook and Twitter—are built for sharing links (among other things). But there are simple workarounds to encourage your audience to click through for more information.
Sharing links in captions or comments
People try to work around the rule. They post links in comments or captions. The problem here is this approach doesn’t create clickable links, it’s just text. To make matters worse, users can’t even copy the link.
Finding links they can’t tap or click only frustrates your most engaged users. They want to click, tap, or copy, but they can’t.
How many people will take the time to manually type out a web address they find in an Instagram comment? None.
Frequently updating the bio link
Another way around this is to change your bio link to align with your most recent post. As new posts go up, you update the link to match the new content.
This creates a new problem—older posts end up pointing users to a link that is no longer there. Attentive creators will update their posts to reflect the changes, but this takes consistent effort.
Third-party link services
Services like LinkTree allow you to create a link page, share it in your bio, and update it with all the links you need active at any given time. This serves your audience by always helping them find what they need.
If you don’t have a website, this is the best option for you.
One link to rule them all
You can harness the power of your bio link and the #LinkInBio hashtag by using your own website.
This helps drive traffic to your website (the ultimate digital marketing goal) instead of third-party services.
Here’s how:
- Create a page on your website with a logical name, like InstaLinks, to use as a list of your recent links
- Change the link in your bio to your Instalinks page URL
- On posts, refer people to your InstaLinks page using the hashtag #LinkInBio
It’s that simple!
You can choose what works best for your audience, but we recommend cycling the old links out on a monthly basis. Check out April Stroink, Money Coach for an example of an Instalinks page.
Need a hand creating your very own and learning how to keep it up to date? Get in touch.
