Easy Ways to Post a Link on Instagram

Even though, nowadays, Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms, it is still missing one essential feature – links. A few months after the platform was launched, Instagram decided to establish a no-link policy. Why so? Many Instagram users started referring to other sources in their posts, which filled the app with spam and made it impossible to use the platform organically. Therefore, Instagram disabled all links in posts and comments.

Posting links on Instagram

Links vsURLs

Many people think that links and URLs are the same thing. But the two are actually very different:

www.instagram.com is a URL — a few symbol that define a web address.

www.instagram.com is a link — a “clickable” URL that can take you to another page when you click it.

If you put a URL in your post caption or comment, Instagram will never turn it into a clickable link.

How to post a link on Instagram? 

We’ve already established that you can’t put links in your Instagram posts. But there are several easy ways around this:

Put a URL in your Instagram caption

If you need to post a photo or video on Instagram and include a link in its caption, you can simply use a URL address. But keep in mind that it will be just a raw, unclickable URL. Other users would have to copy and paste the URL in their web browser to visit the page.

To make URLs in Instagram posts and comments easier to copy, we recommend using URL shortening services that create concise URLs. 

Put the link in your Instagram bio

Instagram allows you to post links in your account. The issue is that you can only use one link and put it in your bio. 

To post a link in your bio, you should:

• Click the “Edit Profile” button in your Instagram profile
• Paste your link into the “Website” field

So, this is easy. But what if you want to post several links? Fortunately, there is a great way to combine all the links in one, which we will discuss in the next section. 

Add several links to your Instagram bio

Many third-party apps can combine all your links on one page accessible via one link. Here are a couple of them:

1. Linktree. This free service creates a “multi-referral” link. When someone clicks on the link, they will see a page with many links. 
2. LinkInBio. By clicking on this link, the user will open a new page that looks like your Instagram feed. The only difference is that all the posts in this version of the feed will have links in captions (of course, if the account owner set them up to show up there).
3. Link My Photos. This service offers pretty much the same features as LinkInBio. It has a free plan that allows customers to post up to three photos or a paid plan with a monthly subscription that has more features.

Pay for an Instagram Ad

Instagram ads provide a very convenient way to include links on your page. They guarantee excellent visibility, and even allow you to create a carousel with several posts or collections. However, keep in mind that ad blockers can block sponsored posts, and people who hate ads will ignore the content. Also, you need to have a Business account to post ads, which are often quite expensive. 

Put a link in your Instagram Story

You can add a “swipe-up link” to your story so that users will swipe upwards and visit the page you’ve linked in the story. You need to have over 10 000 followers to use this feature.

Tag your products in the post

If you have a business account approved for shopping, you can tag your products in your posts. When adding a tag, you need to sync your product catalog with Facebook. This way Instagram willshow real-time pricing and availability data in the product tag. 

Frequently asked questions about links on Instagram

Can you put web links in Instagram posts?

No. You can only put a non-clickable URLs in your captions and comments.

How to post a link to an Instagram story?

Open the Instagram story editor and find a link icon at the top of the screen. Click on it and paste the necessary URL. 

Why can’t I post a link in my Story?

If you don’t have over 10, 000 followers on Instagram, you won’t be able to put a swipe-up link in your story.