Instagram is one of the most popular social networks these days, particularly among Millennials and Generation Z. A cleverly-assembled Insta can give flight to struggling businesses, and the app is increasingly known for helping to launch the careers of modern celebrities (quite which direction it might launch them in is another article altogether). It’s a fun and powerful tool. There’s just one problem with it: you only get one link in your bio.
If you have over 10,000 followers, of course, you can add a ‘swipe up’ to your stories, but the majority of accounts are far from having assembled such an army of followers. If you want to direct people to your site and beyond, you’re going to have to get creative.
Here’s how to create your own LinkTree page on your website. But first…
What is LinkTree?
It’s pretty straightforward, really. Because Instagram only allows you to include one link in your profile’s bio, it’s tricky to know where and what to link to, particularly if you’re currently trying to post about a new promotion or product and want to direct people to it. Enter LinkTree: a simple website on which you can set up multiple links to wherever you like. Instead of having to link to each one from your Insta bio, which again, is not allowed, you can now link simply to LinkTree. From there, your followers can find everything else you want to steer them towards.
Sounds good right? Oh, heavens no. Here’s why.
Why you shouldn’t use LinkTree
LinkTree comes in two versions: free and paid. Free is good, of course, but it means making sacrifices. On free LinkTree accounts, you’ll find annoying LinkTree branding, plus a very limited scope in terms of design. If you have a specific brand look you’re trying to achieve, this likely won’t be able to match with your LinkTree as the options simply aren’t there.
In addition, the link generated by LinkTree has ‘Linktree’ in it, which is confusing for less clued-up readers. If people don’t feel sure of what a link is or where it leads, they’re far less likely to follow it.
Also Read: 6 reasons why your bounce rate is so high
Then there’s the paid option. LinkTree Pro has a bunch more features, but it costs $6 a month, which is $72 a year. Going over to LinkTree Pro will remove the ads, and gives access to a wide range of images, backgrounds, and colour schemes you can work with. However, it’s an extra expense on top of the hundreds of other little expenses that come with running a business. It’s an unnecessary expense too—because we know a free and equally effective alternative!
What to use instead of LinkTree
It’s dead simple, to be honest: use your own website!
All you need to do is set up a page on your site somewhere on which you can display all the links you want your Insta followers to find easily. You don’t even need this page to be findable from your main website; if you don’t link to it anywhere on your website, it’ll be accessible only through the link you provide in your Instagram bio.
The benefits of setting up your own LinkTree-esque page in this manner are, first and foremost, that it’s totally free. It’s your site, and you don’t need to spend money paying third parties to do things you can pretty easily do yourself.
Secondly, on your own website, what you say goes. Any fonts, colours, images, or quirky layouts you desire can be present. In this way, you can keep the feel of your business consistent from your social media profiles, to the links, to your website. You can add photos too!
Further benefits of setting up your own Instagram links page
The benefits don’t end there. When you use LinkTree, you’re putting a third party between your potential customers and your site. And, because the average internet user has an attention span shorter than a goldfish, you can bet that on that short journey from Instagram to LinkTree to your site, there will be a sizeable drop off; people get distracted easily! It makes sense, therefore, to bring your followers to your site immediately, without a go-between getting in the way.
Also Read: How to get more Facebook reviews for your business
Once a potential customer is on your site, you have far more of a chance of holding their interest, whether this is through witty and compelling copy, dazzling imagery, or the pure, wonderful vibe of your site.
Give your SEO a boost
And that’s not all! When inviting followers straight to your website rather than LinkTree, the stats of your site will rise quickly. Your monthly visits will go up, and if your site is well-made and well-optimised, a lot of your website’s metrics will benefit from this, such as the time people spend on your site and how many pages they view before leaving.
These metrics are important for your site’s search engine optimisation; that is, how high you appear in Google search results when people type in terms related to your business. If your site looks busy and active, Google will naturally give you a boost in where it places you in its results pages.
If you manage to do it right, and your site jumps all the way up to the first page of Google, you can expect far more customers to come through. Before you know it, your views will be snowballing!
Everything to gain, nothing to lose!
So then—not only can you save money, but you can increase those all-important site metrics, and potentially even gain a few extra sales. There are a ton of methods of creating your link page, and if you would like your own page to look similar to LinkTree’s own offering, it’s a matter of creating a few eye-catching ‘buttons’ on-page which will take your followers where they need to go.
Now, if some of this has gone over your head a little bit, but you like the sound of those juicy benefits, we have some good news for you. Suki Marketing can do it all for you! Just give us a call today and we can have a jolly good chat about how we can help.