Instagram Stories are having a lot of success, and little by little they receive various improvements. Now we are going to see how to put links in Instagram Stories , that take your followers to the website of your choice. Instagram has always restricted the use of external links, but with Stories it takes a slightly more open attitude.
In the first big update of Instagram Stories came the option to incorporate links in these collections of photos and short videos that disappear after 24 hours. However, the links in the Stories could only be put by verified accounts, something that has already changed.
How much do you earn for uploading a photo to Instagram?
The links in the Stories are available to all users, without the need for them to be verified . Of course, they must migrate to an Instagram Business or creator account (the change is free) and have at least 10,000 followers before they can put links.
“Standard” links on Instagram Stories
If we have 10,000 followers and we have turned our personal Instagram into a professional from the settings, adding links is very easy. To put links in Instagram Stories do the following:
- Enter your Instagram profile and create a Story , to test you can take a simple photo, or record a video.
- At the top, and as the image looks, the “two clips” icon should appear , which is the one that allows you to put a URL in your story.
- By clicking on it, we can put the link that interests us:
- A very good idea is to notify viewers of the link, and even encourage them to visit it . In a video we can do it live (the most effective), it is also possible to add texts or an animated GIF (with the word “swipe” in the GIFs search engine we will get appropriate arrows).
- Now we will give the button “Send” and then “Share” in the first option that appears, called “Your story”:
- People who see the Story will find a “See more” button to access the link, they can also swipe from the bottom of the screen to enter:
Few people have this type of links on Instagram Stories , as the requirements are demanding. Instagram was, in principle, a photo-oriented social network, so the links were secondary.
Now, we have explained how to gain followers on Instagram , so that reaching the desired 10,000 “followers” is a little easier and it takes less time to reach that figure.
Storiesig: how to view Instagram Stories without an account
“Link” sticker in Stories (in beta)
Instagram is conducting a series of tests (beta) to allow anyone to put links in the Stories , or at least many more users than now, since it does not require reaching 10,000 followers.
The traditional “swipe up” system will no longer be used in the Stories, but a sticker will be placed that leads to the chosen web page when touched. That is, it works like the other stickers dedicated to music, surveys, GIFs and others.
At the moment, not all users have the “Link” sticker , if we are not lucky we must wait for it to appear, or even Instagram could decide that it does not want to continue with this experiment.
The steps to use it are as follows:
- We press the button for the stickers (a square with a smiling face) after taking a photo or video with the Stories camera:
- Now we look for the sticker that indicates “Link” or “Link” to choose it:
- It will ask us for the web address where we want to send users , which will appear in the Story and can be clicked directly:
Swipe up, what is it and how important is it on Instagram?
The term “swipe up” means “swipe up” , and refers to the gesture to see the links in the Instagram Stories. The app usually translates it as “see more”, but swipe up is also used a lot among users, either in text or verbally in videos.
It is of great importance to insist on the swipe up so that the links are visited , otherwise they can go unnoticed in the Stories, which are normally viewed without paying too much attention.
It is what in marketing is called “call to action” or “call to action” , a clear and direct message for our audience to act as we wish, in this case they visit the web that we have attached.
It is useless to put links if nobody enters them later, that is why Stories that start very aggressively are common , like: “Attention, swipe up on the link to find out everything!”, And similar variants.
How to adjust an image for Instagram and Instagram Stories
As we have mentioned, in Instagram GIFs there are many related animations, be it animated text, up arrows, cursors or similar , with designs for all tastes. In any case, it is best to insist out loud on a video to ensure the success of the link that we are going to put.
Use the “link in bio” trick
Instagram lets all users add an external link in the bio (biography), the header of the profile where we indicate the information. It is quite common to see Stories with texts such as “Link in bio” or “Link in biography” that encourage viewers to enter.
One way to facilitate access is to mention your own account , so that when you click, the profile with the link will appear. We can reinforce it with arrows, GIFs, stickers or other elements that make the links more visible:
It is an alternative to put links in the Stories quite useful, since it reduces the number of steps for the user, and that makes them more effective.
Take advantage of IGTV to put external links
Another solution for those who do not have 10,000 followers is based on IGTV from Instagram , the online video service. It is not a perfect alternative, but at least by putting the link it can be clicked directly. These are the steps to follow:
- First we will record a video of at least one minute , the content is free, although a good idea is to indicate to the viewer that the link is available in the Story.
- Now you have to upload this clip to IGTV in a normal way, we have already explained how to upload a video to IGTV for those who are not experts on the platform.
- The last step before publishing is key, because in the description we have to introduce the link for the Stories , and in the title a text like “Touch here” or “Click to enter” that guides the user.
- Now we must upload a Story to Instagram , although it is advisable to wait a few minutes for IGTV to process the new content. If so, we will have an icon to link :
- Next we will choose the IGTV video that we have created , if it does not appear we will have to wait a few more minutes:
- We will publish the Story, where there will be a “See more” button . When you slide up, you can touch the text and the link will appear , allowing you to enter the web directly when you select it:
Link to Instagram Ads
It is not anyone’s preferred option, but sometimes the solution will be to pay for Instagram advertising , which allows us to include a link in the Stories, or a button to send us a message to the profile.
In addition, this guarantees us visibility (a minimum number of views) among the public that we choose for the ad.
By focusing on photography, Instagram did not initially need to provide access to external websites. As it grew and became popular, Instagram maintained the restrictions on links (only allowed in the biography of the profiles) because that favors its advertising business.
If we want to promote a Story on Instagram (which we have to publish before), follow these steps:
- We need a professional account (creator or Business), we will go to the profile and click on “Promote” to start the process:
- We have to click on “Choose a publication” to select the Story to promote, where it will let us put the link we want.
- On the next screen we select “Stories” in the lower area, and we can see all the Stories of the account, in chronological order:
- The following screens allow us to choose the ad objective, in this case it will be “More visits to the website” , and also to which users it will be shown, which we can leave it to automatic if we do not have much experience with digital advertising:
- Within the option of “More visits on the website” there is an “Edit” button , which not only allows us to put links to any page , but also that the button to enter from the Stories shows different texts:
- Now it remains to indicate the budget of the campaign , including its duration, and confirm that everything is correct, adding a means of payment (card or PayPal) if we do not have it associated with Instagram. We will be able to visualize how the Story will be, then we must click on “Create promotion” .
You already know how to link Instagram Stories with various methods . It is not as simple as we would like, since the photography social network limits the links in a premeditated way to control the content and force us to pay for the ads, but there are some possibilities.
