Earlier this year, Instagram made the dreams of a select few come true when they added the ability to add links to Instagram stories. Unfortunately, the hopes of the many were dashed when it was revealed that only those users with at least 10,000 followers would be granted access to the tool. Don’t worry! We’ve got an easy solution for how to share links on Instagram with the swipe up feature!
As a quick aside, are you following us on Instagram? You should be! Go ahead, do that and come right back.
Why can’t I add links to my Instagram stories?
Will Instagram eventually roll out this feature to all users? We can only hope, but given that you still can’t make links within captions and comments clickable, I’m not holding my breath.
All of that said, there is still an easy way to get around the fact that you currently can have only one active link on your Instagram account – the link in your profile. I’ve seen people change out their links regularly based on whatever they’re promoting or sharing and this is fine, but not a perfect system. If you’re talking about one thing in your stories and another in your feed, you’re left with choosing one of these links.
We’ve started using Linktree and before I say anything else, I’ll tell you that this isn’t compensated in any way and as far as I can tell Linktree doesn’t have a referral program.
Linktree creates a simple, attractive landing page with links and descriptions and that’s it. Sure, you could send people to your blog and hope they click on the right place, but this gives people only the links you want them to have.
Yep, I like to walk on the wild side and let my battery get super low. Also, my phone chugs through battery life like I do with my morning iced coffee, so this happens pretty early in the day.
As of right now, the basic Linktree account is free and they have a Pro option for $6 a month. We’re using the free version, and while I can see that there is some appeal in the Pro version (like scheduling when links go live,) we’re happy with the basic features for now.
How to Share Links on Instagram
To create your free Linktree account, start by visiting Linktree here. Link your Instagram account to your free Linktree account, choose your color scheme from a few options, and then start adding links.
Side note: Have you seen anyone include a disclosure in their IG stories when they’re posting affiliate links? I haven’t seen a single one and honestly, I have no patience for that. Yeah, I know that a disclosure is ugly on your story. Oh well! You can easily add an affiliate disclosure on your Linktree links AND YOU SHOULD.
Back to Linktree. Once you’ve created your account, you can add an unlimited number of links. I would suggest limiting your list to avoid overwhelming anyone who clicks over to your Linktree page.
Grab your personalized Linktree link and drop it into your Instagram profile.
I know there are other tools that allow you to do this, but this one is the most mobile friendly, in my opinion. It’s also the prettiest.
So, go forth and create a Linktree account.
