Using Squarespace for Instagram instead of Linktr.ee
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You can only have one link on your Instagram bio, so you need to make it count, especially as a small business owner with lots of great things to link to! I see lots of Girl Bosses on Instagram using Linktr.ee landing pages, where you can display as many links as you like. If you have a Squarespace website, you can save the step and easily make your own landing page. I’ll show you how!
First, let’s talk about Linktr.ee...
Linktr.ee took the Instagram world by storm when it was released a couple of years ago. Everyone wanted a free tool that would allow you to have multiple links in your Instagram bio! I mean, it does save a lot of time from having to update the link anytime you want to link to something else! Here’s a sneak peak of the Linktr.ee account I created:
Pros of Linktr.ee
It is easy to set up, only taking a few minutes to add your links or change them when needed
It automatically pulls through your Instagram profile picture and account name
It includes some basic info about how many times a link has been clicked
If you have a paid Pro account, you can add a newsletter sign up form to the page
Cons of Linktr.ee
You have very limited options for design on a free account, and what is there isn’t all that attractive! You so have an option of customizing your branding if you have a Pro account though
You’re website URL isn’t displayed anywhere, so people have no easy way to know what it is or become familiar with it. You want to expose your business name as much as possible so people remember it, and your Instagram bio link should do that!
It’s an extra unnecessary step to get to your viewer onto your website
You can’t include any bio about who you are or what you do
All the best features below are only available if you have a Pro account
The Pro account costs $6 per month, which adds up when you can do it yourself for free
Linktr.ee has been known to crash, and when it does, you link goes down too
All in all, Linktr.ee is a great service for what it does, and it solves a big issue of only being able to include one link in your Instagram bio. But it has its limitations, and you really don’t need to have the extra system to worry about when you can set up a landing page on your website instead!
Why you should create an Instagram landing page on your website instead
Well we’ve already touched on the pros and cons of using Linktr.ee, so it only seems fair to do the same for creating a landing page on your website. And for comparison, here is my Instagram landing page that I created in Squarespace:
Pros of using an Instagram landing page on your Website
You have full control of the page and can set it up to look any way you like! It will also be on brand with the rest of your website since the styles will match automatically!
You can include a bit of a bio section mentioning who you are and what you do, so it ties your Instagram account and website together even more
It’s free! You don’t have to pay any extra each month to have a Pro account
Your website URL is on display in your Instagram bio, helping to create familiarity for your viewers. Added bonus here, you can customize the end of the link to anything you like, so you can have some fun and add some brand personality. Some examples I’ve seen:
www.yourwebsite.com/instagram
www.yourwebsite.com/clickme
www.yourwebsite.com/getconnected
www.yourwebsite.com/welcome
You’re viewer goes directly to your website, without stopping anywhere on the way!
You don’t have to upgrade to include an email opt in section
It’s super easy to set up if you know how to create a page in Squarespace. Even if you don’t, I’m going to show you how!
Cons of using an Instagram landing page on your Website
...
Yep, that’s right! I haven’t come across any cons for using a landing page on your website instead of Linktr.ee, and trust me, I looked!
Some ideas you could use for your Instagram landing page
Before we get started building our Instagram landing page, let’s come up with some ideas of what we want to include on it.
You can get creative here, but try to remember not to overdo it. 1-5 items on this page is generally enough, otherwise people will get overwhelmed and click away rather than ended up where we want them to go.
Here are some ideas to get your started:
You Instagram handle, bio and profile pic
A sign up form for your freebie so you can grow your email list
Links to some of the main pages on your website, such as your About page or your Services page
A link to your most recent or most popular blog post
A link to whatever you are currently trying to promote
Just remember that you want to list these in order of importance for your business, since people are most likely to click on the items towards the top
How to create an Instagram landing page on your Website
Squarespace makes things nice and easy to create a mobile optimized Instagram landing page! It will only take about 10-15 minutes to put this page together, and the time is so worth it to have a beautiful, on brand link in your Instagram profile!
So, let’s get to it and create your Instagram landing page! This is done by creating an unlinked page in Squarespace with the steps below:
From your website dashboard, click on pages
Scroll to the Not Linked section and click the + to create a new page
Select Page
Add your fun page title and click the Start Editing button. Make sure you remember what it is so you can easily save it on Instagram when it’s done!
And now the really fun part: Customize your page!
Use the sideways teardrop on the left to add new blocks to your page to create a layout you like
Use buttons for each of your links, text boxes if you want to add any text, the image block if you want to add a profile picture, a social block if you want social media icons... The sky is the limit!
Once you have finished creating your page, click Save
Now, head over to Instagram and click on your profile at the bottom right of your screen and click Edit Profile at the top
Add the link to your new page where it says Website and click Done at the top right
Pro Tip: Make sure you check how your page looks on mobile view since that’s how everyone will be looking at it
Pro Tip: I’m a Squarespace expert, so these steps show how you create an Instagram landing page on Squarespace. If you use a different platform like WordPress or Wix, you’ll need to adjust them to suit the platform you’re on
Adding custom code to your Instagram landing page
If you’re a bit OCD like me, and like things to look nice and lined up, then I have something you may like!
See how the buttons on my Instagram landing page above are all the same width? I’ve used a little bit of custom code to do that, and you can do it too!
Check out this post where I share 5 of my favourite pieces of code to use in Squarespace, which you can copy and paste to use on your own website. You’ll see:
How to remove underlines from links
How to prevent words from hyphenating on smaller screens
How to set a fixed width for buttons
How to remove the header and footer from a page (I also use this on my own Instagram landing page)
How to customise the heading text on Summary blocks
That’s it! You now have your very own Instagram landing page set up, and you can control it all from your website quickly and easily!
I’d love to see what you have created, so please share your Instagram landing page in the comments below!
