You’ve probably seen it many times – you are reading an interesting Instagram caption that ends with “check out the link in bio to read more.” But do you know what this means to a business and how you could take advantage of it?
This post will dive into the marketing opportunities that Instagram’s “Link in bio” page presents for a brand and how to easily create one in just five steps using the Elementor page builder and the Spotlight plugin!
Let’s get started!
You Only Have ONE Link Permitted on Instagram
First things first, if you’re running a brand on Instagram, you should know that this “link in bio” is essential for driving people to your site from Instagram.
However, Instagram does not allow its users to link to other websites on their posts. The only place where you can put a link on Instagram is in the description at the top of your profile called the “bio.”
We know this can feel restricting when you want to highlight multiple essential products, posts, and pages. Fortunately, creating the kind of landing page we will see in this tutorial is easier than you think, thanks to tools that help you put together all these relevant links and share them via a single URL.
One of our favorite tools is Spotlight, an Instagram feed plugin that lets you create self-hosted link in bio solutions for your website. This tool will lead you to create a custom landing page with all the links you want to share.
Before learning how to create a link in bio Instagram page using Spotlight, let’s take a quick look at why this page is fundamental to your marketing strategy.
Why Your Instagram ‘Link in bio’ Page is Essential to Your Marketing Strategy
More often than not, if you click on the link in someone’s bio on Instagram, you will go to a landing page that looks very similar to Instagram; only each Instagram post is a direct link to a particular post on the main website. In short, the link in bio page gathers filtered relevant information a brand wants you to see and click.
For example, let’s click on the link on The New York Times Instagram profile:
Whatever image you click on will take you to featured news, article, or video. Their goal with this page is to bring their Instagram followers to their site.
Now, let’s use Spotlight to create a seamless and visually appealing landing page!
Creating a ‘Link in Bio’ Instagram Page Using Elementor and Spotlight PRO
This tutorial will teach you to create a link in bio page with Spotlight PRO, and we will use Spotlight’s widget on Elementor to publish this page on our website. Then, we will insert the link in our Instagram’s bio.
You will notice how easy it is to create this page and how minimalist and beautiful the result is. It is simpler than creating a landing page using Elementor or other tools.
Step 1: Install Spotlight PRO and Elementor in WordPress
Spotlight comes in 2 options: Free and PRO. To install the plugin, start by going to your WordPress dashboard sidebar. Look for Plugins -> Add New. Search for Spotlight Social Photo Feeds, hit Install, and Activate.
For this tutorial, we will be using the PRO version of the plugin, which opens up an array of features that are not available on the free version. If you want to level up your Instagram feeds, take a look at the different PRO options and get the one that adjusts to your needs.
On the other hand, in case you haven’t installed Elementor yet, go back to the WordPress dashboard, click Plugins -> Add New. In the Search field, enter Elementor and choose Elementor website builder to install. After installation, click Activate.
Step 2: Create a Page with Elementor
Within WordPress go to Pages -> Add New and click on the Edit with Elementor button. In just a few seconds, you will be ready to start building your page where you will then add your Spotlight’s Instagram feed.
Step 3: Add a Spotlight Widget
Go to the page you have selected to be your Instagram landing page and search for the “Spotlight Instagram feed” widget. You need to choose the one with the Instagram logo. The other one is for the standard WordPress widget. Drag it onto your page.
The Elementor sidebar will now show you a Create Your Feed button. Click on it to get started.
The Spotlight Instagram Feed editor will pop up on your screen. From here, you can connect your Instagram account/s and design your feed to perfectly fit into the page.
Step 4. Pick the “Link in bio” Template
To make the design experience faster and easier for you, just select from the pre-made templates, specifically the “Link in bio” template.
You will get a minimalist Instagram-like feed template designed with mobile-first in mind as Instagram followers are more likely to be visiting this page from their phones.
Step 5. Connect Your Account
After selecting the “Link in bio” template, the next step is to choose whether you’re connecting a Personal or Business Instagram account. Then, authorize Spotlight to access your Instagram account, and in a matter of seconds, your feed will appear in Spotlight’s live interactive preview.
Step 6: Start Promoting Your Site on Instagram Posts
This is our feed after selecting the “Link in bio” template:
Now, let’s click on the Promote tab in Spotlight’s menu to start linking each Instagram post to one of our site’s pages. This same technique applies when linking to posts, custom post types, WooCommerce products, or any custom URL.
Start by selecting the post you want to add a link to. Once you’ve selected a post, the promotion type default will be set to Link.
Select the type of link you want to add. You can choose from various options: Custom URLs, blog posts, pages, WooCommerce product pages, templates, or any other custom post type.
In this case, we’ve selected to promote a “Page.”
Type in the page’s name or click on the drop-down menu. In this case, our page name is “Spring Collection.”
When you’re done selecting the type of link, click on Promote next post. Your link will be automatically stored when switching between posts, and you can save it at any time from the top right.
If you have selected to promote a product, Spotlight will search through all your products and find the matching item. Look at the example below where we linked one of our Instagram posts to a WooCommerce product. Read an in-depth tutorial on how to promote products.
Note that a link icon will appear on those posts linked, but it will not appear on the Instagram feed displayed on your website.
Pro Tip: Remember, you can mix different link types. Nobody knows your brand and business more than you, so make sure you take advantage of all the links you select. You can also change, remove or add any new links at any time.
Furthermore, learn how to set your Global and Automated Promotions to save time linking your Instagram posts. Spotlight created these tools to help you save time when creating multiple feeds to be used across your website:
- Global Promotions. Using this feature, you can assign a specific link to an Instagram post and stop repeating the same steps each time you want to link that Instagram post in a feed.
- Automated Promotions. With this feature, you can set posts with a specific hashtag in their description to automatically link to a particular post, page, URL or product.
After using all the unique features and possibilities of the plugin, let’s continue to embed the feed.
Step 7: Save and Embed
The final step is simply to click on the Save and Embed button and your Instagram feed will be automatically displayed on your Elementor page.
Moreover, you can also add another Elementor widget, such as a text or a CTA widget. Remember, the more visits you get, the closer you are to conversion, but if you also have excellent copy on your landing page, the chances will be greater.
Note: If you are designing your feed in the WordPress dashboard. Once you’re ready, save it and click on the Embed tab to get Spotlight’s options to embed your feed anywhere on your website. You can do so using four methods:
- Shortcode
- Elementor Widget
- WordPress Block
- WordPress Widget
Whatever the method you choose to save and embed your feed, once you have finished, let’s publish the page! This is our final result:
Step 8: Add Your ‘Link in bio’ URL to Your Instagram Bio
Once you have published your landing page on your site with Elementor, you can copy and paste your shiny new “link in bio” URL into your Instagram bio!
Go to Instagram and select Edit Profile, paste the link, tap the checkmark to save changes, and you are all set.
You now have a link on your Instagram with all the content to help you achieve your Instagram marketing goals.
A Real Life Use Case
Elementor themselves have followed these exact steps to move away from the hosted bio link service they were using and create their own.
They now have a self-hosted and completely custom link in bio page that is built entirely with Elementor itself and a Spotlight Instagram feed. Each Instagram post links to the related blog post or landing page and they’re also able to use the top part of the page to direct their Instagram followers to exactly where they’d like them to go.
The Bottom Line
Instagram already exceeds 1 billion users per month. Creating an excellent link in bio page on this social network is a golden opportunity with such a large audience.
A link in bio Instagram page will help you increase traffic to your website or eCommerce site. It is also vital to gain readership on your blog posts. Moreover, it will increase conversions thanks to increased traffic and improve the user experience.
Spotlight’s PRO plugin helps you create a specially tailored Instagram page with all the essential information to share with your audience and potential clients.
It is an intuitive tool to create modern feeds very quickly. One of its main advantages is the speed with which you can design the feed and choose the types of links to promote new products, articles, collections, or news. It’s definitely much easier than using different tools!
