Spending excessive time on Instagram always leaves its mark. Besides the tired eyes from neglecting the 20-20-20 rule, there’s a collection of saved recipes, screenshots of home decor inspiration, and a plethora of tabs for articles, websites, and products. Instagram, beyond being a platform for content and engagement, presents a valuable opportunity to steer traffic towards your website.

Instagram reveals that 90% of its users engage with at least one business account. When individuals follow your account or interact with your content, it signals their interest in your brand, making it crucial to provide easy access to further information. This article will guide you through 12 strategies to effectively drive valuable traffic from Instagram without compromising engagement.

How to Increase Website Traffic from Instagram (Without Sacrificing Engagement)

Let’s explore how to structure your Instagram presence to attract website visitors you can engage and convert:

1. Include a Link in Your Bio
2. Refrain from Explicitly Directing Users to the Link
3. Maintain a Consistent Flow of High-Quality Content
4. Explore Different Instagram Content Formats
5. Personalize Your Links
6. Partner with Influencers
7. Preserve Key Stories in Highlights
8. Regularly Refresh Your Bio Links
9. Expand Your Follower Base Strategically
10. Utilize Instagram Advertising
11. Maximize Tools and Integrations
12. Ensure Your Website is Primed for Visitors

Let’s delve into the specifics!

1. Include a Link in Your Bio

When aiming to drive traffic to your website through your Instagram content, a solid foundation is key, starting with a link in your bio.

In the past, optimizing the limited link space meant using a link in bio service. This involved creating a customized landing page with links directing visitors to desired destinations, such as your website, newsletter signup, or a demo with an exclusive offer.

Numerous tools are available for crafting a link in bio. Popular choices include Linktree, offering a free tier, Later with its own free version, and the option to create one within Squarespace if that’s your website platform. Prioritizing regular updates is crucial.

As of 2023, Instagram accommodates up to five links directly within a bio. While some businesses still prefer link in bio services for link aggregation and branding, others opt to include multiple links and calls to action directly in their bios, simplifying navigation for visitors.

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2. Refrain from Explicitly Directing Users to the Link

While seemingly counterintuitive, this approach aligns with the platform’s algorithm. While having a link in bio is essential for easy website access, explicitly instructing users to click it, whether in captions or videos, can be detrimental. Directly referencing the link in your bio can trigger suppression by Instagram’s algorithm, limiting your content’s reach, engagement, and ultimately, potential traffic.

Source

The rationale behind this is straightforward—Meta aims to retain users within its platform. Successfully driving traffic from Instagram necessitates working in harmony with the platform’s mechanics.

3. Maintain a Consistent Flow of High-Quality Content

Instagram’s algorithm favors accounts that consistently deliver high-quality content. To maximize visibility, cultivating an active and engaging Instagram presence is crucial.

Later conducted an analysis of 19 million Instagram posts and 34,000 Instagram Stories, concluding that ideal posting frequency on Instagram correlates with follower count. Their findings are as follows:

• Nano accounts (0-10K followers): Average three Instagram Stories and two feed posts per week.
• Micro accounts (10K-100K followers): Average four Instagram Stories and three feed posts per week.
• Mid accounts (100K-500K followers): Average 15 Instagram Stories and five feed posts per week.

Use these insights as a guide for planning your posting schedule. Remember, high-quality content doesn’t necessarily demand high production value or entirely novel concepts. Generally, Instagram responds well to videos, behind-the-scenes glimpses, content featuring faces, captions accompanying voiceovers, and concise text. If you’re seeking to elevate your creative game, that leads us to our next tip.

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4. Explore Different Instagram Content Formats

Experimenting with new content styles on Instagram, particularly leveraging interactive features, is a great way to increase engagement and encourage website visits. Here are some formats to explore:

• Polls: Running a poll on Instagram are straightforward. Select the poll sticker for your Story and let your audience engage. The inability to see results without voting inherently promotes interaction.
• Q&A Boxes: Another Story sticker, Q&A boxes facilitate individual submissions from your audience. This feature allows for direct dialogue with followers—discussing your company, clarifying product details, or even addressing intriguing queries. Relevant website links can be incorporated into your responses.
• Giveaways: Giveaways consistently attract and engage audiences, and Instagram is no exception. Giveaway-related content receives 3.5X more likes compared to other posts.
• Instagram Lives: Live sessions provide a direct line to your community, who can participate in real-time chat. These sessions can be saved as grid posts for later viewing.
• Reels: Reels are videos, up to 90 seconds, incorporating music, filters, and text. While not inherently interactive, Reels generate over 2X more impressions than standard posts and Stories.

5. Personalize Your Links

Those familiar with Instagram from a few years back might recall the cumbersome “swipe up” link feature limited to businesses and influencers. In fall of 2021, Instagram introduced link stickers in Stories, accessible to all accounts. This enhanced functionality benefits everyone, including brands.

When incorporating links in your Stories, prioritize customization. This can be as simple as modifying the text to a clear call to action like “Sign Up” or “Read.” Adding graphics or text box overlays to align with your branding is another effective strategy.

For illustrative examples, let’s look at influencer Mary Lauren, who focuses on home design, renovation, and style. The simple yet effective text overlays on her link stickers seamlessly blend with her content’s aesthetics.

For those seeking more creative link customization, consider designing custom graphics. This helpful tutorial can guide you.

6. Partner with Influencers

Collaborating with relevant influencers on the platform offers another excellent avenue to broaden your brand’s Instagram reach. If exorbitant celebrity endorsements, like the $2M per post brands shell out for Kim Kardashian, are beyond your budget, consider partnering with influencers with smaller, dedicated followings. As per Sprout Social, expect to invest roughly $10 per 1,000 followers.

The key is striking a balance between reach and budget. In such cases, aligning with an influencer possessing a smaller, niche audience often proves more strategic. For instance, if you’ve launched a food truck in New Hampshire, collaborating with a focused account like What’s New In NH, with around 45,000 followers, might yield better results than partnering with Sisters Snacking, which boasts nearly 500,000 followers but covers a broader region, primarily concentrated in NYC and Boston.

NH is conspicuously absent from Sisters Snacking’s grid view.

Importantly, ensure that the link promoted in the sponsored content aligns with the influencer’s audience, such as a tailored landing page or a specific product page.

7. Preserve Key Stories in Highlights

Instagram Stories vanish after 24 hours. However, when you’ve invested effort in creating high-quality content, maximizing its lifespan and potential to drive website traffic is crucial. This is where saving important stories to your highlights comes in.

The type of Stories deserving a place in your highlights hinges on your brand. E-commerce companies might prioritize Stories showcasing products with links to respective product pages, while service-based businesses might feature client testimonials, portfolio samples, or booking links.

Photographer Michelle K. Martin’s highlights showcase her work, with the booking highlight directly linking to her booking page.

While you won’t have access to interaction metrics for highlighted stories once the original Story expires, the minor time investment in saving them is worthwhile, enhancing your brand’s profile.

8. Regularly Refresh Your Bio Links

Users exploring your brand’s links in posts and highlights can see their original posting dates. They understand that a broken link to a product from 111 weeks ago doesn’t reflect poorly on your brand—they might be disappointed about out-of-stock items or encounter a 404 error, but they recognize the link’s age.

However, encountering the same issues with your bio link is another story. If your bio includes time-sensitive promotions, discounts, or limited-time offers, regular checks to ensure their validity are non-negotiable.

The Arizona Small Business Association’s bio features a timely poll, which remains relevant.

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9. Expand Your Follower Base Strategically

Several consistent practices can attract more Instagram followers: regular posting, active engagement with your existing audience, brand collaborations, and cross-promotion across other marketing channels.

However, for smaller businesses, more followers don’t always translate to greater reach. The Bazaar Voice’s research reveals that brands with 10,000 followers or fewer experience higher audience reach rates for both posts and stories.

10. Utilize Instagram Advertising

To expand your reach beyond your existing audience, Instagram ads effectively put your brand in front of a broader demographic, driving traffic to your website. Brafton’s findings indicate that click-through rates for Instagram feed ads range between 0.22% and 0.88%. For Stories ads, the average CTR falls between 0.33% and 0.54%.

Budget considerations are paramount. Instagram suggests a minimum daily ad spend of $5, equating to roughly $150 per month. Additionally, Instagram’s cost-per-click for ads directing to a destination URL ranges from $0.50 to $0.95. More information regarding Instagram ad costs can be found here.

11. Maximize Tools and Integrations

For solopreneurs, one-person marketing teams, or even social media managers juggling multiple platforms like TikTok and LinkedIn, maintaining an engaging Instagram presence can be demanding. Fortunately, with clear communication to your audience, AI tools can streamline tasks like managing direct messages and link sharing.

These are just a few of the many tools and integrations available to simplify your workflow. A vast array of social media optimization tools offers content design assistance, scheduling capabilities, and automated analytics.

Remember, maximizing your activity and reach on Instagram is fundamental to driving more traffic to your website.

12. Ensure Your Website is Primed for Visitors

While last on our list, this point is arguably the most crucial. Successfully converting Instagram traffic necessitates a website that makes a stellar first impression. This entails prioritizing website maintenance.

This encompasses technical aspects like ensuring fast page loading speeds, optimized images, and functional forms. Regularly reviewing your website copy and design is equally important. Are your calls to action still compelling or do they feel outdated? Does your color contrast meet ADA accessibility standards?

Integrate regular website checks into your routine. The biggest pitfall is investing time, energy, and resources into driving traffic from Instagram only to lose those leads due to avoidable website errors.

Drive More Traffic from Instagram

Your social media presence should amplify your brand and cultivate a following, but it should also contribute to your bottom line.

To recap, here’s how to effectively drive traffic from Instagram:

1. Include a link in your bio
2. Avoid explicitly directing users to the link
3. Maintain a consistent flow of high-quality content
4. Experiment with different Instagram content formats
5. Personalize your links
6. Partner with influencers
7. Preserve key stories in highlights
8. Regularly refresh your bio links
9. Expand your follower base strategically
10. Utilize Instagram advertising
11. Maximize tools and integrations
12. Ensure your website is primed for visitors

Implementing these Instagram marketing strategies can effectively expand your reach, encourage more users to visit your website, and ultimately, boost customer conversions.