How to add link in story on instagram

With more and more users familiarizing themselves with Instagram and businesses using the popular platform for marketing and sales, it’s likely that you’ve wanted to share a link on your profile. So, a frequently asked question is, “How do I share a link on my Instagram story?”

Gone are the days of needing 10,000 followers or a verified account, but the steps have changed. Peep the instructions on how to work that link below.

How To Add a Link to an Instagram Story

  1. Open the Instagram app on your phone.

  2. Click on your icon or “+” at the top to start a story.

  3. Insert the URL and hit “Done.”

  4. Place the link and share your story!

How to add link in story on instagram

Choose the “Link” sticker to get started

 

There are a couple of changes that you can make to your Insta links. If you want to display a word or phrase to draw in your audience, you can alter the sticker text after adding the URL. So, instead of the full website domain, you can display text that’s more personalized, catchy, or relevant—whatever you want!

After you create the desired text and hyperlink, you can change the color of the link sticker. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to personalize the color fully, but there are four variations to choose from by tapping through.

Are There Any Other Limitations?

 

The main limitation to links in Instagram is that you can only add one link to each story, so if you want to share multiple links this way, you also have to share multiple stories.

Aside from this, there are link limitations across the entire platform. Similarly to stories, you can only include one link in your bio section. They also don’t allow clickable links at all in post captions or comments, so any link that you share on your feed is plain text and your audience is required to copy and paste—which is also made near-impossible and might deter people from going to the URL.

If you have multiple links to share, either through stories or posts, there are workarounds! You’ve probably come across posts where the page owner redirects you to their bio via a ‘Link in Bio’ caption—maybe you’ve even seen it on the Smallpdf profile!

There might be some limitations depending on which provider you use, such as how many active links you can have at a time, but it allows you to share multiple clickable links while still only having one link in your bio.

Why Would Instagram Impose Such Restrictions?

 

Instagram likely wants to restrict users from exiting their platform. By doing so, Instagram can maximize the engagement level of their core user base within the app. All forms of engagement: comments, shares, and likes are produced solely on the platform.

For businesses, the insert link function to stories allows brands to establish sales/marketing activities straight from the app itself—solidifying Instagram as a profitable acquisition channel. Shops can post links to their e-commerce, event organizers can share links to sign-up pages, and bloggers can generate traffic to their, well, blogs!

It’s a rather smart move, considering how the app’s popularity has thrived over the last couple of years. You’d be surprised at how much time you spend on Instagram by just glancing through the newsfeed throughout the day. To check this data, open up your profile, and hit the ‘Your activity’ tab.

Making Digital Work Easy

 

Whether you’re still working from home or simply want to move away from physical documentation—we’re right there with you. It’s not always a smooth transition, but digital work shouldn’t impede your productivity. In fact, it should do the exact opposite, which is where we come in.

Smallpdf has 20+ tools to compress, edit, and sign electronic documents in a heartbeat, through the online platform, Smallpdf Desktop App, and Smallpdf Mobile App—particularly useful if you work with social media and spend a lot of time on your phone!

If your daily workload has anything related to PDFs, please check our tool chest out—you’re in for a treat!

Instagram Story links are one of the many ways you can customize your posts. When Story links were first launched, they took the form of a swipe-up feature, and were only available to Instagram accounts with more than 10,000 followers. 

The swipe-up feature is no more (except for sponsored story ads), and has been replaced with a link sticker that is available to all users. 

In this article, we'll go over what Instagram Story link stickers are, how to use them, and what to use them for.

What are Instagram Story link stickers? 

Like other types of stickers on Instagram — such as location, polls, and questions — Instagram Story link stickers are another way to personalize your Story posts. 

Unlike the now-retired swipe-up feature, which was only available for accounts with more than 10,000 followers, the Story link sticker is available to all. 

It can be used to share links to products, YouTube videos, or online articles like this one.

How to add a link to your Instagram Story

1. In the Instagram app home tab, tap the plus sign on your profile icon at the top-left of the screen, or swipe right.

2. Select a photo or video from your phone library, or tap Create to build a post from a blank background.

3. Tap the sticker icon at the top of the screen.

Instagram story create page with sticker icon highlighted with a box and arrow.

The sticker icon has a smiley face on it.Abigail Abesamis Demarest

4. Tap link.

Instagram stickers menu with link icon highlighted with a box and arrow.

Links, location, and mentions are just some of the different sticker types available for Instagram stories.Abigail Abesamis Demarest

5. Paste the URL of the website you want to point your followers to, then tap Done.

Instagram link sticker menu with url field highlighted with a box and arrow.

Paste the url from a browser tab on your mobile device.Abigail Abesamis Demarest

Quick tip: You can customize the sticker text with a call to action, or provide more detail than the default link name. 

Instagram Story create page with link sticker highlighted with a box and arrow.

In this example, the sticker text has been customized to a call to action.Abigail Abesamis Demarest

6. Tap the link to change the font color, drag to move the link, and pinch the link to resize it as desired.

7. Finish creating your Story post as usual, then share it.

Tips to use Instagram Story link stickers

  1. Link to blog posts or online articles. Promote your latest blog post or share an interesting article you recently read.
  2. Link to products. If you're an influencer, an Instagram Story is an ideal place for an affiliate link, especially if you're talking about or wearing the product in your post. If you're a business owner, you can link to a specific product page.
  3. Link to buy tickets. If you're hosting a ticketed event, a direct link to buy tickets with a call to action can be an effective way to boost sales.
  4. Link to book services. Use sticker links to encourage clients to book haircuts, schedule consultations, and more.

Abigail Abesamis Demarest

Abigail Abesamis Demarest is a contributing writer for Insider based in New York. She loves a good glazed donut and nerdy deep dives into the science of food and how it's made. 

Why can't I add links to my Instagram story?

How do I get qualified to add links to Instagram stories? There are currently only two ways to “earn” the option to add links into Instagram stories: Either have 10,000+ followers or have a verified account. Links in Instagram stories were originally only available to users with a huge number of followers.
Swipe right from the main Instagram feed to create/upload your Instagram Story. Tap the Sticker tool from the navigation bar. Tap the Link sticker. Add the website you'd like to link to in the URL field, and tap 'Customise Sticker Text' to give the link a name.