One of several features missing from Instagram is the ability to add clickable links to an Instagram post or share links in captions. However, there are ways to bypass this problem so that you can add links to Instagram posts.

We're going to show you different ways that you can add links to Instagram posts as well as alternatives to links in posts.

The simplest (and most basic) way of adding a link to your Instagram is to display it in the bio of your profile. To do this, go to your Instagram profile and tap Edit Profile. Tap Links, then tap Add external link and fill out the URL and optional title field.

Any link placed here will be hyperlinked. This means that people can tap the link and go straight to the website. When you make an Instagram post, you can use the post's caption to tell people to visit your profile for the relevant link. This is often done by adding "Link in bio".

You can add up to five links in your bio using this method. If you want to have more than that, you will need to use a third-party site.

2. Use a URL Shortener in the Post Caption

bitly home page

Some links can be long and difficult to remember, which is one problem that URL shorteners help to combat. You can use a URL shortener service, like Bitly, to create a more memorable link.

You can then put this short link in the captions of your Instagram post, with the hope that your followers will make the effort to fill out the memorable link in their browser (since links in captions aren't hyperlinked).

If you decide to use Bitly, you can shorten a link on the homepage without signing up. It will generate a link with the seven end characters being random.

You can sign up for a free account to edit what those seven characters are. Once logged in, click Create, paste your long URL, then use the Customize back-half field to make an easier-to-remember string. You might need to get creative, as other people will have snagged common words.

linktree example page

Rather than linking out to a different page every time, you could use a link landing page service. These are personalized pages with a series of links and thumbnails. There are lots of social profile link sites to choose from; some examples of such services are Campsite and Linktree. When you sign up to these services, you get a personalized link which you can then insert into your Instagram profile.

On these pages, you can list anything that you want. You can customize the profile picture, bio, theme, and more so that it can have similar branding to your Instagram page. It's advisable to add photo thumbnails to the links, as this can help your Instagram followers know which is the relevant link from the post they were viewing. Linktree will sometimes automatically add a thumbnail for you depending on the link.

These sites are helpful especially if you want more than five links on your Instagram page.

These services do have paid plans, but you might find that the free offering is enough for your needs. It's a good way to make your Instagram look more professional.

metricool website

Another take on a link landing page is to use a service that lets you style them exactly like your Instagram page. This way, your followers will leave your actual Instagram page, then land on another page that looks just like it—except with the key difference of being able to click the links in the posts.

An example of a service that can do this is Metricool. It's a robust social media platform with tons of features, one of which is the ability to associate links with your individual Instagram posts. To take advantage of this feature, however, you will have to upgrade to a paid account.

Once you’ve logged into Metricool and connected your Instagram account, click the Planning button in the menu and click Instagram Link. Here you can fully test drive how the feature works.

You’ll see a feed of your Instagram images. Click the red hyperlink button to add a link to that image. At the top of the page, you'll find the Metricool URL that you’ll want to insert in your Instagram bio, and direct people to it on the photo-sharing app.

Metricool will display your nine most recent images by default, but you can select additional photos from your feed, or remove photos that are there that you don’t want to display by clicking the trash can on the image. The final product is a responsive site that looks practically identical to your Instagram feed, with a grid of images that link to wherever you like.

While you might not be able to add a link to a permanent Instagram post, you can use Instagram Stories to share links. The link will show as a rectangular button for your viewers to tap.

To add a link to your Instagram Story, follow these steps:

  1. Create an Instagram Story.
  2. Tap the sticker icon at the top.
  3. Select the Link sticker.
  4. Add the URL.
  5. Type in text you want to appear on the link sticker
  6. Tap Done.
  7. Reposition the sticker on your Instagram Story. Tap it to change the design.

You can easily change the color and display text on the link sticker. And by looking at the Insights tab on your story, you can even see how many users tapped it!

6. Pay for a Sponsored Instagram Post

This will not be for everybody, since many people try to remove annoying Instagram ads. But if you have an Instagram business profile then you can pay for a sponsored post with a link on the main feed or within Stories. This will even appear to people who don't follow you but who fall within the target audience that you specify.

Importantly, you can share an actual hyperlink within the post—no short URLs or copy and pasting required. You may have seen examples of these in your own feed. They are marked as sponsored and feature a linked call to action (like "Learn more") at the bottom of the post.

More information about this can be found on the Instagram ads page.

wordpress cubic demo site

For complete control, you could create a site that you host, entirely separate from Instagram. If you'd rather not spend any money on this, you could also opt for blogging platforms like WordPress that allow you to create a site for free. Whichever platform or host that you choose, you'll want to use a grid theme to make it look much like your Instagram feed.

If you're going to use WordPress.com, you could consider a theme like Cubic. Alternatively, if you already have a self-hosted WordPress website, you could create an additional page and insert a WordPress gallery.

Increase Your Instagram Engagement Levels

Hopefully one day Instagram will make it easier for everyone to share links within their posts. Until then, these are the best methods to add links to Instagram posts.

While all of these tools help you get a little more out of Instagram, you should also consider how to increase your engagement on Instagram so that you have enough followers to visit the link in the first place.