March 29, 2024

Can I Add a Link in My Instagram Post?

Instagram is a hugely popular social networking site these days, with more than a billion monthly users and more than a half a billion people using it on a daily basis.

Because of its popularity and reach, many people would like to put links to URLs in their Instagram posts, whether to their personal blog, their business site, or just to web pages that they like. However, Instagram has steadfastly pursued a no-clickable-link policy: you can put any text you want in an Instagram post, but the service will not make the text display as a clickable link.

Users are allowed one and only one clickable link, and that link has to be in their profile page. Users can (and do) share links by cutting and pasting text links in captions and comments, but there is no direct linking allowed.

Why Doesn’t Instagram Allow Links?

As frustrating as it is, Instagram has a very good reason for limiting linking. Once upon a time, users could include links in captions and comments. However, this function was heavily abused with link spamming in comments and frequent hacking and misusing of profiles. Instagram has since taken a firm stance against excessive self-promotion.

Is There a Workaround?

Yes and no. If you are an individual with a casual blog and no interest in spending money to get your link out there, you’ll need to settle for having your blog link on your profile.

If you’re concerned that your followers won’t know about the link unless they visit your profile page, include a call to action in your caption that directs them to your page to find your blog link. Obviously, this isn’t ideal because it requires a couple of steps from the follower, but it’s better than nothing.

You could also try to make it easier on your followers to copy and paste your link from your caption by making it a shortened URL. Sites like bitly. com or the Google URL shortener will turn long URLs into quick and easy links. (Note that Goo. gl will be discontinued in March of 2019. ) Yes, your follower will still need to take the initiative, but a shorter link will look easier and more inviting.

The only true workaround is to spend some money with Instagram. If you can afford it and are willing to pay, you can promote your Instagram post as an advertisement. Paid advertisements can include working links.

What About Companies that Promise More?

Some companies like Linkin. bio and Link My Photos promise to get working links into posts or to fashion Instagram profile pages that can support multiple links. However these services cost money and are typically marketed to companies that want the capability to support regular self-promotion without always purchasing Instagram ads.

Fine, How Do I Advertise?

If you are interested in creating a linked advertisement, go to Instagram’s advertising page here. You can create single photo ads, carousel ads that scroll through large photos or multiple photos, or video ads. Click on the ad you want, and you’ll be directed to Facebook’s ad manager where you can pay for and schedule your ad.

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