I promised a post on using Instagram to drive blog traffic at the start of this month. Upon reflection, I realised I don’t feel I know Instagram well enough to give advice on this topic, so I called in an expert.
Who better than social media queen Becky from Cuddle Fairy.
Before you read Becky’s post, I would just like to quickly say sorry I have been non-existent these last few days. I haven’t been jetting off on holiday, my router broke on Saturday and I just got my new one on Tuesday. It’s good to be back.
Now with no further ado, here is Becky’s Instagram post:
Instagram As A Way To Drive Blog Traffic by Becky from Cuddle Fairy
Instagram is my second favorite social media network for my blog, after Twitter. I enjoy taking photos for Instagram & I also enjoy scrolling through everyone else’s photos. But, Instagram can be much more than pretty photos.
Instagram can be a way to drive traffic to your blog & promote your personal brand.
Before I get started, for those of you who don’t know me – my blog is a parenting & lifestyle blog called Cuddle Fairy. I just celebrated my one-year blog birthday. Cuddle Fairy has over 4,540 followers on Instagram. So here we go.
These are five ways that Instagram can drive traffic to your blog:
1. Promote Your Personal Brand
As a blogger, having your name out there is huge. The more exposure there is for your blog the better. Instagram is a great way to promote your personal brand. You can showcase what your blog is all about. If you are a food blogger – share photos of your meals, travel bloggers can share their travels & so on.
As a parenting & lifestyle blogger, my Instagram feed is pretty varied. There is a mix of travel, food, fashion & the Irish landscapes. It’s my personal opinion that you don’t need your Instagram feed to be overly specific although a lot of posts out there recommend it. I’ve successfully grown a following with posting a variety of photos.
When people see your photo in their feed, it reminds them that you are there. It’s great to stay fresh in people’s minds. What you put on any social media network should represent your personal brand so keep that in mind when you choose photos to post.
2. Connect With Followers
If someone leaves a comment on your photo, it’s a great opportunity for you to reply & connect with that person. It will encourage further engagement & help build your following.
3. Your Instagram Profile Is An Advert For Your Blog
Make a killer Instagram profile that includes a sentence that sums up your blog. Then you can give people the ability to find you elsewhere. I have my Twitter handle, email & blog link.
Look at the profile like a little advertising space – what do you want people to feel when they see your profile? If it’s interesting, they might click over to check out your blog.
You can change the clickable link depending on what’s happening on your blog. If you advertise a blog post, you can change the link to bring the reader directly to the new post.
4. Advertise Blog Posts On Instagram
Bloggers are split on this point – some bloggers advertise every blog post on Instagram. Others don’t advertise any blog posts on Instagram. Then there are others again that advertise occasionally.
I fall into the third group. If I have a beautiful photo that goes with a blog post, I will state in the description that there’s a new post on Cuddle Fairy & that there’s a clickable link in my bio. If I don’t have a beautiful photo then I don’t normally advertise that post.
It comes down to how you use your own Instagram account. I think it’s helpful to mention your blog from time to time to remind people & because people may be interested in reading your new post.
5. Instagram Landing Page
So you have a great profile & interesting content. People are coming to your blog via Instagram, but how will you ever know?
You can create a page on your blog that you only link to from your Instagram account. That way, any clicks to that page have come via Instagram. This is on my to-do list as I think it’d be very beneficial.
One of my favourite bloggers, Aby, from You Baby Me Mummy has a stunning Instagram feed & a lovely Instagram Landing Page. If anyone clicks over to You Baby Me Mummy from Instagram, they receive a nice welcome message & Aby can keep track of how many clicks she gets from Instagram.
Instagram isn’t the same as Facebook or Twitter in the way that you can’t share clickable links to your post. But, Instagram is a wonderful way to connect with your followers & promote your personal brand & blog posts. The more your name is out there, the better & the more you engage with your followers, the more your following will grow. So use Instagram to it’ full potential.
I hope you found this helpful.
Thanks so much to Debbie for having me over. For more on how I grew my Instagram & what apps I use, check out How to Grow your Instagram Followers.
Make sure to pop over and say hello to Becky, and don’t forget to leave her some lovely comments below 🙂
Thanks so much huni, it is lovely to be included and I am so glad you love my feed. x
You are very welcome! x
Thanks so much for having me, Debbie! Definitely wouldn’t consider myself an Instagram expert but I do really enjoy the network! x
Anytime Becky! You are the queen of social media and I am going to refer to you as that even if you are being modest lol x
A great guest post Debbie, invaluable advice from Becky. The landing page idea from Aby sounds like something for me to do in the future too, if I can, I don’t seem to be able to devote enough time to social media as it is, lol.
Thank you 🙂 I loved the advice too and the landing page does sound like a great idea!
Thanks for this, it’s really interesting and helpful to an insta-resister like me!
I’m kind of an insta-resister too (love that term by the way!) I use it but it’s not my favourite network, although I admit it’s growing on me!
I also agree with Becky about variety working in a feed. It might not work as quickly as a real niche, but if your blog is a mix, then why not shot what you like not just one thing. Personally I prefer a mix.
One thing I don’t do is promote my blog on it – or it’s very rare. I might just mention a new post, but the whole changing the clickable link is a pain on my phone. I won’t follow anyone’s account which is just blog post promotion – I come to IG for photos, not for images of blog posts.
I like a mix too, I would get bored just posting one thing all the time.
I do use my Instagram for my blog images, but I also add normal photos too. I don’t change the link every time, my link just goes to my main blog post page so unless it’s a really old IG post the blog post will be visible.
IG to me is a nice little time waster, but I have a hard time figuring it as a traffic referrer. Maybe its the nature of my writing or just ego, but I can’t see how a picture is going to make more people read what I have to say. Maybe I’m just not getting IG yet. I’m not a bit twitter guy either
I know what you mean, I use images on my blog but I prefer the words to tell the story. I must admit though I do love Twitter!
Lovely post thank you to both of you. I’ll also go and check out you baby me mummy now. I have to say I love Instagram but only just starting blog so not really sure about linking the two do great to get pointers
Thanks again 🙏🏻
Hope these tips help 🙂 And good luck with your new blog