How to Drive Website Traffic with Instagram: 5 Easy Steps to Follow

In this digital world, most marketers use social media as a tool to grow their business. They strongly believe that properly leveraging social media can also help drive more traffic to their website. Continue reading for some easy steps that will show you how to use Instagram to increase website traffic.

Add a Website Link to Your Bio

If you are looking to drive website traffic from Instagram, the first step is to add the link to your website to your Instagram bio. Your bio is the first thing that most users look at when they view your page. Instagram allows you to add your website link in three places, your bio, your stories, and in advertisements. To add a link to the bio, go to “Edit Profile” and enter the link to your website in the “Website” text box. When people read your bio, they can easily click the link and visit your website.

Include a call-to-action that when clicked, could offer value to your users such as a free eBook or a downloadable guide. Make sure to shorten your URLs because long URLs look clunky in your bio. This can be done using URL shortening tools like Bit.ly which can also help track your click-through rate (CTR).

Instagram also allows you to promote multiple links. There are tools available which provide options to add additional links after adding your main link. This is an awesome way to increase page views for multiple pages of your website.

Include a URL in Videos

People love watching videos. In fact, videos have higher engagement rates than content posted in regular feeds. Instagram videos not only spruce up your regular Instagram feed but can also help drive your followers to your website.

IGTV is a new feature of Instagram which allows you to upload videos for your page. These videos can be as long as 60 minutes. The ratio of the percentage of IGTV viewers to the overall percentage of Instagram users is dramatically increasing.  Including the link of your website in the description of an IGTV video can increase traffic to your website.

Collaborate with Influencers

Influencers are people who have a large social media following and are viewed by the Instagram community as experts in a specific niche. They can promote products or brands, which can add power to your traffic generation process. It is important to identify the right Influencers to capture the attention of potential followers for your profile, which could become visitors to your website.

Influencers can also be helpful in generating content for your site. People value the opinions of the Influencers they follow and trust them for their product advice and reviews. You should also encourage Influencers include effective calls to action to direct their followers to your website. Instagram videos and free downloadables are perfect calls to action where you can add a link to your website.

Add Links to Your Instagram Stories

Another feature that Instagram has launched is Stories.  Users post creative and interesting ones in order to grab Instagram story views. All you need to do to generate more website traffic is:

  • Create an Instagram story
  • Add your website link to the story
  • Include call-to-actions that highlight the benefits of visiting your site
  • Encourage users to swipe up to view the link and visit your website

You can also request that your users send a direct message to you through stories. Ask them to send the link back to you which is a simple link sharing and traffic driving method.

Direct Users to Your Bio Link in Post Comments

You cannot expect everyone that views your bio will click on the link to your website. You need to have an efficient link system included in the bio to make it happen. Posting additional content is one way you can encourage users to click the link. To accomplish this, you can include captions in graphics that make them understand that there is something unique and special about your bio and your website. Through your Instagram posts you can show viewers that you have something valuable to offer.

Bonus Tips to Grow Website Traffic with Instagram

Hosting giveaways and contests are a guaranteed way to drive more website traffic from Instagram.  Requiring users click the link in the bio to read the entire set of contest guidelines posted on your site. Let them know that the winners will be announced on a specific date so that users will keep visiting your site to check out the results of the giveaway.

Though Instagram can be viewed on the desktop, most users prefer using the platform on their mobile phones. You need to remember this while linking to content as well. Make sure that the content you link out loads flawlessly in mobile phones. Never link to pages that will provide a poor mobile experience.

Conclusion

Treating your page like a community, encouraging discussion and comments, can help you reach your goals through Instagram. Liking, sharing, and reposting other users’ content can also help you grow your followers. Any strategies that you implement to build your Instagram community will ultimately increase website traffic. This could be achieved with ease when you research and identify the strategies and methods that suit you best. Incorporating these ideas while using Instagram can improve brand awareness and drastically increase website traffic.

Author Bio

Mary Kyle is a content developer and marketing manager who works at Snaphappen. She has written more trending articles on social media and has a handful of experience in delivering engaging content.