You know when you see an account that directs you to its ‘link in bio’ and you find a third-party solution via Linktree or another provider? Yeah, well those days could be under threat thanks to Instagram’s latest change.

Native solution

That’s because the platform is rolling out a feature that lets users add up to five links to their Instagram bios, which can then direct followers to content such as a website, profiles on other social media platforms and online business profiles.

Should you choose to make use of this new feature, your Instagram profile will now display how many links you have available. When users tap on your links section, an overview of them will appear.

Instagram says it’s making the change so that users can add a little more personality to their profile. According to Mark Zuckerberg’s broadcast channel, it was one of the most requested features Instagram has had – and with that in mind, it seems odd that it’s taken them so long to implement a simple change.

One reason for Insta’s hesitancy could be that it didn’t want to direct traffic away from itself and towards rival social media profiles – however, attitudes have clearly changed and early testing of the feature shows that users can link out to TikTok or YouTube without any issue.

Good for brands

The change allows marketers to direct traffic to their websites, stores and other online platforms without paying for a third-party platform such as Linktree. It could also help marketers to increase engagement with the brands they represent, and eventually, conversions.

Of course, all of these things can still be done via ‘link in bio’ platforms, but now it’s free. 

But what is a ‘link in bio’?

For those unfamiliar, the ‘link in bio’ is a URL in social media platforms that takes users to a separate page. That could be the landing page of a product a brand is promoting, a different social media platform or your website.

It’s important because Instagram doesn’t allow links in individual posts – thus the only way to direct followers to an external site on Instagram was through an Instagram profile.

Nowadays links can be added to Stories or send in a direct message, but the ‘link in bio’ remains a valuable tool.

What should go there?

Having a bio link can help generate interest, clicks and leads in your brand as well as drive conversion by pushing potential customers down the marketing funnel. If you’re running Instagram adverts, it’s especially important to include some sort of bio link.

Additionally, having a link will help people who are interested in learning more about your brand to have an easy way to do that.

If you are running a sale or discount campaign, then your link should reflect that. Likewise, if your objective is to grow your email marketing list, then your link should direct users to a place they can sign-up.

What are popular tools businesses use currently?

While Linktree is a popular tool, it isn’t the only one. Products such as Beacons allows users to monetise and engage with followers and lets marketers build a landing page that links to your existing channels. 

Shor is another landing page tool that allows users to shorten URLs and hosts a live chat link creator.

Linktree is the first ‘link in bio’ tool and is available for free with some basic analytics such as total clicks and click-through rates. It also offers the ability to share content, sell products and receive payment. More features are available via paid versions.

Lnk.Bio uses Instagram’s API to offer links and a custom profile URL and offers marketers the chance to set up multiple links.

Finally, Leadpages offers marketers the chance to set up a landing page that houses links to promotions, among other necessary information.

What to include in your link in bio

As you can only include a limited number of links in your bio, you’ll want to make them stand out. For short-term campaigns or promotions, make sure to swap out your link for the most relevant one.

As Instagram now allows you to hold five in your bio, you could reserve one or two to permanently direct users to your website or other social media pages, while the rest could be used for seasonal or limited-time campaigns.

How links have changed

If you don’t think that people will click on your link, then maybe this will change your mind.

Linktree has 30m users and experienced a monthly average of 19.7m monetised link clicks. Thanks to restrictions on public life easing up, the number of travel-related links increased by 55% in 2022, while live entertainment links went up a huge 75%.

The gaming industry continued its growth, with a 6% link increase while TikTok enjoyed a mammoth 117% growth in monthly link creations – a number bettered only by BeReal, with a 1232% increase.

Meanwhile, the top five growth categories were: influencer/creator, business professional, gaming/esports, music and creative.