Highlight

  • All accounts irrespective of 10K follower count can now add links to Instagram Stories, Profile, Posts, and IGTV video captions.
  • With the New Link Sticker Feature, it is possible to add Links on Instagram.

The Facebook-owned Instagram app has grown exponentially since its launch in 2010. Today, it has over a billion users and is considered as one of the most popular video and photo sharing apps in the world.

Well, not just a social network platform, Instagram has also provided all new platforms for professionals and entrepreneurs around the world to drive awareness and engagement with their audiences. So, for millions, it is now a platform for their business as well.

Q: How Many Business Accounts Are There On Instagram?

A: More than 200 million business profiles using Instagram worldwide. They are on Instagram platform to promote their business. Basically, they are marketing and promoting their company and products without any extra cost in their budget.

The reason being simple that it has time and again added a number of things that users have benefited from! For example, you know you can add a GIF to your Instagram story, make a giant photo grid and can also do a live Q&A with your followers.

Also, Read: 370+ Compilation of Best Instagram Captions for Photos and Videos to Up Your Game in 2022

However, one of the essential things used to be missing from Instagram was the option to add links. 

In this regard, though, adding links to their promotional videos or stories can help the viewers of the entrepreneurs to directly visit the website or see their products. But, despite the fact that Instagram also helps its users to prosper their business; this facility wasn’t available till recently.

Yes! And, even now, it requires users to have at least 10K followers on Instagram, only then they get the option to share the link via the ‘Swipe up Feature.’ Sharing links using this feature on Instagram is a lot easier and can be done in many ways.

Conversely, not all Instagram users are influencers or have a huge follower base or verified accounts so for those who aren’t in the 10K Followers Club; there’s still no such option available.

However, this does not mean that you cannot share or add a link to your Instagram story, post or IGTV video. There are several ways to get around it, but the process requires a bit of maneuvering. 

To be precise, sharing links on Instagram is still tricky for the latter case because, copying a URL and directly inserting it as a hyperlinked URL in an Instagram post, story, or IGTV video caption used to be impossible and even though links can be copied, they are not clickable.

With that said, today we’re here to enlighten you all about the procedure of how to add links in Instagram posts, Instagram stories, IGTV video captions and Instagram profile with or without having 10K follower count.

So, let’s get started—


How to Add a Link to Your Instagram Story?

Here are a few options you can consider for adding links on your Instagram Story—

First of all, as already mentioned, you should know that Instagram does not allow every user to share links to their Instagram story. Instead, it only allows those users who have more than 10K followers. 

Additionally, it is worth mentioning that before 2017, the only place to share a link on Instagram was in your bio. However, after that thankfully Instagram made it possible for those privileged users who are quite famous on the platform to add links on their Instagram Stories via Swipe up feature.

Q: What is the Instagram Swipe Up Feature?

A: The Instagram Swipe Up feature allows brands and Instagram users to add a URL directly to their Instagram Story that they share and audience/followers who view that story can simply ‘Swipe up’ the same to open the (added) link for details.

As this feature is limited to verified accounts or business accounts that have crossed 10K followers on Instagram so, if you’re lucky enough to have access to this feature then, here’s how you can use this magical feature to add a link to your Instagram story to share the same—

Note:If you’re not in the 10K Followers Club, we’ve also got you covered in the section underneath to help you still use this feature. So, make sure to continue reading!
  • Step 1: Open your Instagram app if you are using android or iOS otherwise visit instagram.com using your web browser of your choice.
  • Step 2: Then, press the ‘Camera’ button located in the top-left corner of the Instagram home tab. 
  • Step 3: This opens the camera of your respective device using which you can either capture your story or choose to upload your older one’s photos or videos from your Gallery.
  • Step 4: Following that, what you need to do is press the ‘Chain Link Icon’ present at the top of the screen. 
  • Step 5: Now, simply ‘Enter/Paste the Link’ that you want to share with your Instagram Story. 
  • Step 6: Upon doing so, just press ‘Done’ to finally share your story to Instagram.

Once your story is posted on Instagram, anyone who watches it will be able to ‘Swipe up’ to see and open the link that has been added by you.

In case, you do not have more than 10K followers, don’t get disappointed as there’s a way out where the follower count does not matter.

To be precise, if you want to share a link with your Instagram story without having 10K followers, then in this regard what you should know is that you first have to pay for this feature called “Swipe-up” and then, you have to create a paid story Ad which has an option to add a link. 

So, once you’ve paid for the swipe up feature, you can create a paid story Ad via following these given steps—

  • Step 1: To begin, post the story on Instagram which you want to promote on social media.
  • Step 2: Then, press your profile picture to access the posted story.
  • Step 3: In doing so, a new page will open and on the newly opened page, you’ll see the three horizontal lines in the bottom-right corner. Once you’re able to locate it, just tap that option.
  • Step 4: Now, look for the ‘Promote’ option in the opened option menu and tap on the same. This enables you to edit your post and add a link to it.
  • Step 5: Following that, you need to tap on the ‘Edit’ option underneath your post to simply delete the previous link and replace it with the new one which you wanted to add at the first moment.
  • Step 6: Upon doing so, you’ve to press the ‘Done’ button and need to fill in other details for your Ad. In addition, you may also have to make a payment for this.
  • Step 7: In the end, just tap on the ‘Create Promotion’ option to finally create a new promotional story ad on Instagram.

These “story-ads” come with a daily or monthly basis limit depending on your budget, duration and usage. Basically, you can purchase the Instagram story ad for one day at $1 or for a month at $1000.

So, at this right moment, this is the paid option that you can opt to add your promotional story in case you’ve less than 10K followers.

If you’re looking for a free option then, let us tell you that Instagram now lets users easily add links to their Stories with link stickers.

Yes! As per this major new update of Instagram, all accounts can now add links to Instagram stories irrespective of having 10K followers count. 

Basically, this New Link Sticker feature that we’ve just mentioned has recently replaced the swipe-up link option in Stories and is now available for everyone using the Instagram app.

So, if you have a Business or Creator account on Instagram then, regardless of how many followers you have, you can put links on your shared Instagram stories by using Instagram’s new clickable link sticker. 

To learn how to do so, follow the instructions given below—

  • Step 1: Firstly, get access to your Instagram account.
  • Step 2: Then, tap on your ‘Profile Photo’ and hold the same to add a story that you want to add on Instagram. 
  • Step 2: For that, you can either take a photo or directly upload it from your phone gallery.
  • Step 3: Upon doing so, what you need to do is tap on the ‘Top Sticker icon.’
  • Step 4: Now, in the sticker menu, you can simply browse for the ‘Link Sticker’ and select the same.
  • Step 5: Once you’ve selected the link sticker, just ‘Add the link’ and tap on ‘Done.’
  • Step 6: In the end, you need to place it on your Instagram story as other stickers and if you want you can also tap to change color also. That’s it.

In doing so, the link will appear as a sticker on your story and whoever views your story can tap on it, to navigate to the link URL.

How to Add an IGTV Link on Your Instagram Story?

Apart from this, the other way to add a link on your Instagram story is by posting an IGTV video, alias Instagram TV. However, in regard to this, it is worth mentioning that, to share an IGTV link to your Stories, you need to have at least one video posted on IGTV. To do so, you can follow these steps—

  • Step 1: Begin by opening the Instagram app or instagram.com from your browser.
  • Step 2: Then, login with your username and password to access your Instagram account.
  • Step 3: Once logged in, press the Instagram camera option which is available at the top left of the screen if you are using a browser and at the middle of the screen in case of Instagram app.
  • Step 4: Initially the camera of the device will open, so you can capture the video directly or may choose any from the previously saved videos.
  • Step 5: Once you’ve done that, move on to hit the ‘Link icon’ which is present at the top of the screen. 
  • Step 6: Following that, hit the ‘+IGTV video option as well.
  • Step 5: Now, simply select your promotional video which you wanted to link with the IGTV story.
  • Step 6: Upon doing so, you need to press ‘Preview’ first and then, press the ‘Done’ button to successfully add the link to your IGTV video.

Now, viewers will be able to swipe up to access the added IGTV link on your Instagram story for 24 hours that is up to the time your story is active.

How to Share a YouTube Link on Your Instagram Story?

In addition, let’s mention that you can also share a YouTube video URL on Instagram. However, there is currently no direct way of doing it. This simply means you’ll have to only copy the video link and share it on your Instagram story. To do so, these are the steps to be followed— 

  • Step 1: Firstly open up the YouTube app on your device. 
  • Step 2: Then, Play the Video that you would like to share.
  • Step 3: Next, copy the Video URL and once you’ve done that, close YouTube and go to the Instagram app.
  • Step 4: There, on the Instagram home tab, just swipe right or tap on ‘Your Story icon’ which is present in the top-left corner of the screen.
  • Step 5: As you do so, your device’s camera will open and once the camera window opens, you can either— take a photo, record a video or upload a visual from your camera roll.
  • Step 6: Upon doing so, you need to tap on the ‘Chain Link icon’ which is located at the top of the Instagram screen.
  • Step 7: Following that, tap the ‘Web Link’ option and there, you can paste the link that you’ve copied from YouTube in the starting.
  • Step 7: Once you’ve done that, press the ‘Checkmark icon’ available in the top-right corner.
  • Step 8: Next, what you can do is, you can ‘Edit’ your Story post in case you want as there’s no compulsion.
  • Step 9: Now, when your Story post with added YouTube link is ready, you finally need to tap the ‘Send’ button to share it as your new Instagram Story.

You all would agree that when you are scrolling through your Instagram feed or while reading captions, it happens that you are asked to go to ‘Link in Bio’ for more detailed information.

Q: What does “Link in bio” mean? & How can you find out a link in Someone’s Instagram Bio?

A: Link in bio refers to the clickable URL (it can be a landing page, product page, about us section, etc.) that Instagram allow users to put at the end of their profile’s bio and when you click on the link, it will straightaway take you outside of Instagram to a website one’s promoting!

Although this is the simplest way to add a link to your Instagram profile, unlike every other social network, Instagram doesn’t make it clear how to put a link in your bio on the platform. Therefore, we’ve below outlined how to put a clickable link in your Instagram bio to promote your website, blog, social profiles, or other web-based content among your followers. 

Read This Also: Compilation of 850+ Coolest, Funny, Best, and Unique Instagram Usernames Ideas to Go With!

So, have a look how you can do it—

  • Step 1: Launch Instagram app on your respective device and log in to your account with your ‘Username and Password.’
  • Step 2: Once you’re logged in and get access to your Instagram account, you need to simply tap on the ‘Edit Profile’ option.
  • Step 3: Then, navigate to the ‘empty Website field’ and in that, paste your desired link.
  • Step 3: Upon doing so, just ‘Save’ the made changes.

How to Add a Link to Your Instagram Post?

Besides adding links to your Instagram stories and putting a website URL to your bio, what next lined up in the list where you might want to add a link is ‘Instagram posts.’ So, let’s learn about the ways of how you can add a link to your Instagram posts—

How to Add a Call-to-Action Link to an Instagram Post? 

The one way available to add a link to an Instagram post is by paying to promote the same. So, once you decide to promote a post, you’ll get the option to add a clear call-to-action link which you can use to easily direct your Instagram followers to any desired site of your choice.  

To be precise, if you want to drive traffic from your Instagram posts then, it’s important to add a clear call-to-action and for that, you need to promote your posts using these instructions—

  • Step 1: Firstly open Instagram
  • Step 2: Then, press the ‘Person icon’ located in the bottom-right corner of the screen to access your Instagram profile. 
  • Step 3: Next, you can simply locate and press the ‘Post’ that you want to promote. 
  • Step 4: Following that, just tap on ‘Promote.’ 
  • Step 5: Now, what you need to do is press the ‘Edit’ option which is present underneath ‘Your Website’ option to ‘Delete the link’ to your website and to ‘Add the new link’ that you want.
  • Step 6: Once you’ve done that, hit the ‘Done’ button. 
  • Step 7: In addition to that, you need to fill in the rest of the details as asked.
  • Step 8: When you’re done, just tap on ‘Create Promotion.’

How to Create an Instagram Promoted Ad to Share on Instagram Post?

Not to mention, you can also an Instagram Promoted Ad to post on Instagram via following these given steps—

  • Step 1: To create an Instagram Ad, first of all open Instagram app and simply post the content that you want to promote.
  • Step 2: Once you’ve posted your content, you need to press your ‘Instagram Profile Picture’ to access the same.
  • Step 3: Then, tap on the ‘Three horizontal dots’ which is located in the bottom-right corner of the screen. 
  • Step 4: Following that, you’ve to select the ‘Promote’ option from the menu that appears. 
  • Step 5: Next, what you need to do is press the ‘Edit’ button which is available underneath ‘Your Website’ option. 
  • Step 6: Now, just ‘Delete’ the link to your website and in place of that, ‘Add’ the new link that you want.  
  • Step 7: Upon doing so, tap on the ‘Done’ button and in continuation; fill out the rest of the details for your promoted Instagram Ad. 
  • Step 8: When everything is done, just press the ‘Create Promotion’ button to finally create an Instagram promoted Ad from your Instagram account.

Well, quite similar to Story Ads, Promoted Posts also cost you anywhere from $1 for a day to $1,000 for a month. So, based on your Budget and Duration tab, you get to choose what you pay! 

How Can You Add a Link to a Post Natively?

Though, you can add a link to a caption on a post and there is no restriction to what you write or add in the caption. But, when you add a link to a caption, no one will be able to click it. To be precise, that link will not become active instead, the user has to copy and paste the same to their browser to access that link. So, despite that you can add a link to a post, but it’s a hassle. 

Thus, in order to avoid this hassle what you can do is add a link to your bio and mention that link in your caption like Link in bio.”

So, if you like this suggestion then, here are the steps you need to use to update your Instagram bio link—

  • Step 1: Open your Instagram app on your respective device. Or else, go to instagram.com via browser of your choice.
  • Step 2: Then, simply login to your Instagram account.
  • Step 3: Once you get access to your account, tap on the ‘Profile icon’ which is present at the right bottom corner of the screen.
  • Step 4: In doing so, you’ll be able to access your Instagram profile. There, you need to press the ‘Edit Profile’ option which is available underneath your profile picture.
  • Step 5: Now, if you’ve added any link before then ‘Delete’ that link and in place of that, add the new link to your bio.
  • Step 5: In the end, just tap on the ‘Done’ button to complete the process of adding a link to your bio.
Note:It is worth noting that your Instagram bio link can be updated as many times and as often as you want.

In 2018, IGTV rolled out and since then, it has become the only place to post long-duration videos. However, what you little or not know about Instagram TV is that you can also add clickable links to the description box of an IGTV video. 

So, if you are an IGTV creator then, here are the instructions you need to use to add a link to an IGTV video within the Instagram app—

  • Step 1: On your Instagram account home tab, press the ‘Magnifying glass icon’ available at the bottom of the screen. 
  • Step 2: Then, press the ‘IGTV’ button which is located in the top-left corner of the screen. 
  • Step 3: Next, what you’ve to do is tap the ‘+ sign icon’ from the top-right corner of the screen. 
  • Step 4:  Following that, you simply need to find and select a video from your device of at least 1 minute long. 
  • Step 5: Once selected, press ‘Next.’ 
  • Step 6: In continuation, choose your ‘Cover’ and again press ‘Next.’ 
  • Step 7: Now, simply fill out the ‘Title’ as well as ‘Add your Link’ to the Description box.
  • Step 8: Upon doing that, just press the ‘Post’ button to successfully add a link to an IGTV video within the Instagram app. 

Lastly, the only way left to share links on Instagram is to set up Instagram action buttons on your Instagram profile. 

Instagram action buttons will show next to your ‘Contact and Message’ tabs. And, whether you know or not, this feature is luckily available to all business profiles. 

So, if you own a business profile on Instagram then, you can simply select various CTA (call to action) copies like; Call, Text, Start Order, Buy Tickets, Reserve, Directions, Book, and email buttons. Or else, you can add other CTAs like; Order Food, Gift Cards, and Donate options, etc.

After you add them to your Instagram profile, anyone who visits your profile can click on the CTA button to get directed to a third-party app (that you’ve integrated) to complete the purchase. 

Bottom Line

That’s all! We hope this tutorial has helped you learn different ways to add and share links on Instagram. However, out of all the listed ways, no matter what way you choose, it will surely drive you some traffic and improve your conversion rates. 

Next, consider reading: The Ultimate Guide to use Instagram on iPhone

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