Most entrepreneurs would agree that social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X (former Twitter) & TikTok are one of the biggest drivers of traffic to their website or online shop.
Social media platforms are fantastic for growing brand awareness in terms of the traditional sales funnel, but when it's time to move leads or prospects towards consideration & conversion stages (i.e., making the sale), you will have to lead them to your website, shop, catalog, look-book, or menu.
Or perhaps you might have to move them from one social platform to another. And what about blog posts, customer reviews, collaboration posts, podcasts, virtual workshops, etc.?
Your link in bio is the key to your kingdom on Instagram. It is the one place on Instagram that allows you to have a clickable link.
In this article, we discuss what does link in bio mean, what are the benefits of using it, how to put a link in an Instagram bio & what tips you can use for placing links in your bio effectively.
Table Of Content:
- What Is Link In Bio?
- Benefits Of Instagram Link In Bio For Your Brand
- Types Of Links To Add In Your Instagram Bio
- How To Put A Link In Instagram Bio?
- Link In Bio Tools
- Tips For Creating & Using The Instagram Link In Bio Feature
- Why Is The Instagram Link In Bio Not Working?
- But There's One Disadvantage Of Using Link in Bio
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What Is Link In Bio?
Most social media platforms provide opportunities for users to inform about their business. For instance, you can provide information about your business or company in the "About" section on Facebook. Similar opportunities exist on LinkedIn & X (former Twitter).
However, Instagram remained the only social platform without a direct link in bio for the longest time. The reason for this lies in the nature of the Instagram architecture, as it does not permit adding clickable links anywhere within its interface.
Image Source: Instagram
The situation changed fast enough & now hyperlinks can be inserted in the Instagram bio. "The link in bio" indicates clickable URLs appearing in your Instagram profile description. This link provides essential information about your business & your products.
Usually, people include the links to their corporate website or business page & contacts to get in touch with their company. People also add a link in bio that contains a collection of other links.
Benefits Of Instagram Link In Bio For Your Brand
As a savvy entrepreneur, your online presence is diversified across a few social platforms.
You might have several things going on at the same time, like a seasonal sale, a fresh blog post, the arrival of an exciting new product, or a project you are working on. Stoking all these fires can be incredibly time-consuming. It's hard to harness the collective impact of all content across different profiles.
Image Source: Instagram
But with a Link in Bio, you don't have to worry about giving detailed instructions to your followers on how to find your content or adding different links on different social channels. You only need one link for all of your platforms; it's a universal link that will redirect any of your followers to exactly where they would like to go.
Here are some more benefits of using a link in bio:
- You can lead your audience to the bottom of the sales funnel
- You can drive traffic to your website
- You can easily redirect users to the right page
Types Of Links To Add In Your Instagram Bio
Some of the most common types of links that appear in popular Instagram bio are:
- Merchandise/Self Promotion: These links are created by people who have created cool merchandise that they would like to promote, such as branded t-shirts or books.
- Company Website: This link is added in the link in bio when a brand or company wants to link directly to their website or online store.
Image Source: Instagram
- Other Social Media Links: Such types of links are intended to cross-promote one's other social media platforms, like their X (former Twitter) account or YouTube channel.
- Affiliate Links: These links allow users to get a commission from purchases made at online stores like Flipkart and Amazon.
- Sponsorships & Partnerships: Advertising links from sponsors that pay an amount for a spot in an account's bio.
- Bio Links: Contains a link that leads to a page with many other links. Adding such a link in bio has become an increasingly common practice. This is a good workaround for the lack of a way to place more than 5 links in the Instagram bio.
Image Source: Instagram
Some people even add the following:
- The newest blog post
- A new YouTube video
- An email list
- A lead intake form
- A link to schedule a discovery call
- An online portfolio
- A demo reel
You can use the link in bio to promote literally anything that fits inside Instagram's community guidelines. These are just a few examples. Some people even place their PayPal or Venmo accounts into their bios to make it easy for their audience to find their payment details.
How To Put A Link In Instagram Bio?
It's very easy to add or update the link in bio on Instagram. You can use Instagram's mobile app to do so.
Here's how to put a link in Instagram bio using the Instagram mobile app:
Step 1: Open the Instagram app on your mobile device. Login to your account if you are not logged in already.
Step 2: Tap your profile photo icon on the lower right-hand corner of your screen to go to your profile page. Tap on "Edit Profile."
Step 3: Tap "Add Link"
Step 3: Tap "Add external link."
Step 4: Enter the URL & Title
Step 5: Tap the tick icon in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen to save your changes.
And that's it – now, even you have a link in your Instagram bio!
Link In Bio Tools
When you want to share links to multiple pages in your bio, it's better to use a link in bio tool. These tools allow you to create a custom landing page that houses all the links you want to share. You simply need to add the URL of this landing page in your Instagram bio for your followers to access all links you want. Here are the top 4 link in bio tools that you can use:
1. BrewLink in Bio
Statusbrew's "Link in Bio" tool, known as BrewLink in Bio, helps improve the Instagram experience for both brands and their audiences. It is a clickable grid that mirrors your Instagram feed and includes a unique link to each post. It will increase your Instagram's ROI by directing your audience from your feed to external links such as websites, product pages, blogs, or other online destinations.
Statusbrew also contains an Instagram publishing workflow for creating posts and managing associated links within a centralized platform. Links can be added to your Instagram posts directly from the Compose window, which updates in real time as soon as a post goes live.
2. Linktree
Linktree is an excellent option for anyone who wants an affordable link in bio solution. Its free version comes with pretty robust features, allowing you to add unlimited links & customize them with images & icons. If you want to unlock even more customization features like removing the Linktree logo & replacing it with your own, you should opt for the Pro plan.
Image Source: Instagram
3. Lnk.Bio
Lnk.Bio is also a great option as it allows you to add unlimited links even with the free plan. Its paid plans let you create custom URLs that fit with your branding & even schedule link updates.
Image Source: Instagram
4. Feedlink
Feedlink is a powerful link in bio tool from EmbedSocial. It comes with mobile-optimized landing pages that look great on any device. It also allows you to keep an eye on your performance by tracking the click stats for every link.
To get a 360-degree view of your performance, you should combine these stats with reports from Instagram Insights. Similar to Linktree, Feedlink also offers a free version that's suitable for small accounts. Additional features are available with its paid plans.
Image Source: EmbedSocial
Tips For Creating & Using The Instagram Link In Bio Feature
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Test your link on both the mobile & desktop app: This will ensure that the link works on every version of the app & opens to the correct website.
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Periodically update the content present in the links: New content allows new & recurring followers to see all types of products or services you provide. Adding new content regularly to your link in bio will also increase engagement if your posts remind your followers of the content available in the link.
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Remind followers of the link in your bio regular through your posts: This will benefit people who promote their products in their Instagram posts as your followers can also learn that a highlighted product will be available for purchase through your link in bio.
Image Source: Instagram
- Use linkable profiles or hashtags in your bio: Instagram allows users to include tag Instagram profiles or Instagram hashtags in the text of their bios. This may be useful for brands having multiple Instagram accounts or having specialized hashtags tailored to their brand or a campaign.
Image Source: Instagram
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Consider shortening long links with a URL shortening tool: Many times, users mistake long links for spam. Shortening the links can clarify that your links are trustworthy & minimize the space the link occupies.
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Edit & update your link as often as you want: Instagram doesn't limit the number of times you add or remove links from your link in bio. Edit your link as often as you can & include as much fresh content as you can.
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Disable pop-ups on your landing page: Your link in bio is designed to get your followers to take a specific action. It might be signing up for your newsletter or taking another step in your sales funnel. You might have succeeded in that, but a pop-up will make you look unprofessional. Pop-ups provide a bad user experience & come across as annoying, especially on a mobile device where the screen real estate is limited.
Why Is The Instagram Link In Bio Not Working?
Even after adding a link in bio, if it's not working, then it's because you are not using it the right way. It might be due to the following reasons:
- You have not updated your Instagram app
- You are not adding the link in the right section
- The URL is invalid, that fails to load or might even land your users on error 404
- There's a typo in the URL
- An Instagram bug caused your link in bio to not work
- Instagram has blocked your link in bio
But There's Also Disadvantages Of Using Link in Bio
As of April 2023, Instagram has removed the restriction of having just a single link in your bio. Now, creator and business accounts can include up to five links directly in their Instagram bio. This also eliminates the need for third-party apps if you don't want to share more than 5 links in your bio.
When someone checks out your profile, they will first see your primary URL displayed and an indication of additional links you have included. Clicking on the URL creates a pop-up window showing all your listed URLs.
However, there are 2 major limitations to this new feature, including:
- Only the first link is visible in your bio, with a note on how many more you have. Visitors still need to tap to see all your links, which means there's still an extra step involved in directing traffic to your website.
- You are limited to five links. For those needing to direct followers to many external sites, like eCommerce pages, you will have to update which links are displayed frequently.
TL;DR
Your Instagram link in bio is absolutely crucial for sharing links. Brands utilizing their link in bio correctly are able to drive traffic to their website, monetize their Instagram audience, & promote their latest merch or products.
Inserting your website or store URL in the Instagram link in bio is great. However, if you wish to get the most out of that one link, a link-sharing tool will help you do more, such as sharing more than 5 links, showcasing videos, & cross-promoting different social media.
Get ready to transition your followers into customers using the Instagram link in bio.
Direct your Instagram audience outside your feed by adding a BrewLink in your bio. Try it now with a 14-day FREE trial - no strings attached!
Statusbrew is an all in one social media management tool that supports Facebook, Instagram, X (former Twitter), Linkedin, YouTube, and even Google My Business.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Here are some commonly asked questions about the Instagram link in bio:
Can you see who clicks the link in your Instagram bio?
No, Instagram doesn't reveal individual viewers for link clicks in your bio.
Can I put more than one link in bio?
Yes. You can use link-in-bio services to create a landing page with multiple links in your bio. As of April 18, 2023, Instagram users can add up to five links to their bios.
Can I add link-in-bio on a private account?
No. Link-in-bio services require public accounts for functionality.
Why do people put link in bio?
People use link-in-bio to direct followers to websites, store pages, other social media, or any relevant online destinations.
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