How to Create Your Own Instagram Landing Page (without using LinkTree)

Are you trying to drive traffic to your website? Do you have products or blog posts that deserve extra special attention? Are you trying to figure out how to nudge visitors from Instagram over to your blog? Would you like to have your own Instagram landing page? Then LinkTree may be right for you. Or maybe not, depending on your goals, design preferences, and budget.

The truth is, you don’t need a third-party app to create your own social media landing page. It’s something you can do yourself in about 15 minutes or less. Below I’ll explain why and show you how.

It’s no secret that Instagram is designed to keep users on its platform. With one available link in users’ bios, it’s difficult to create traffic routes to places like a blog, website, or other virtual spot. And third-party apps, like LinkTree, are designed to bridge that gap. Except there are several drawbacks to using them, and those drawbacks are a pretty big deal if you have lofty goals for your online presence.

WHY YOU SHOULDN’T USE LINKTREE AS YOUR INSTAGRAM LANDING PAGE:

I could never quite bring myself to sign up for a third-party app for Instagram. It seemed like just one extra thing to manage. And as I did more research, I found I wasn’t alone. Below are reasons why creating your own personalized Instagram landing page is a great idea.

• Traffic. When people click through your Instagram bio via LinkTree, guess who gets credit for the traffic? If you guessed LinkTree, you’d be correct. Why give a third-party app credit for traffic to your online presence when you could be getting the credit yourself?
• Branding. The free version doesn’t offer much in the way of branding, the profiles from one user to the next look the same, and unless you’re willing to upgrade to the paid version, customizing a look is difficult to do. Not only that, but it’s LinkTree’s URL in your bio rather than your own.
• Fees. You get more creative control with an upgraded plan. But with the options I’ll show you below, you can achieve the same end for free.
• Tech issues. As with any platform, systems can crash or become incompatible with one another. Sending people directly to your virtual home is not only more personalized but also reduces the number of avenues for technology to go wrong.  

By creating your own Instagram landing page, you facilitate a personalized experience for visitors, get credit for the traffic, maintain creative control over the look, save money in the process, and reduce the number of opportunities for technology to get in the way.

So next I’ll show you how to create your own landing page directly on your website. It is easier than you might think and takes just a handful of minutes to complete.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN INSTAGRAM LANDING PAGE:

There are several ways to create a landing page. And quite possibly the most difficult part will be deciding which method to use. Let’s go through a few options so you can pick the one that is right for you.

Most blogging platforms have options to create buttons directly on the page. And if that doesn’t work, there are several other programs that will also do the job.

Create buttons directly in WordPress:

Below are steps to create buttons inside WordPress. And below the written steps are screenshots showing what you will most likely see as you navigate the process.

1. Create a new page in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Give it a name (I used “Test Page” below, but you should give your page a much more creative name – my actual Instagram landing page is “Oh Yeah”).
3. On the page draft, click the + sign to open a new block.
4. Scroll to Layout Elements.
5. Select the Button option.
6. Customize the button from the pop-up options and in the sidebar (The “add Text” option is the name you want on the button and the URL link is where you want the button to take your visitors when they click it).
7. Repeat steps 3-6 for all remaining buttons needed.
8. Drag the buttons you created into the order you want them listed.
9. Publish the page.

Create buttons in PowerPoint:

1. Open a new presentation.
2. Create one blank slide.
3. Resize it to a banner either as a custom size (I chose 8×2 inches) or by using the “banner” template option that will size the slide to 8×1 inches. (You CAN resize your banner after completing step 8 if the banner is still too large for your needs. This may be available right in your WordPress dashboard. Additionally, I have a note below with another option, if needed.).
4. Add a rectangle shape that covers the entire banner slide.
5. Apply a color and any other custom design features you’d like.
6. Add a text box and label the shape with the name you want the button/banner to have.
7. Save FIRST as a PowerPoint file. This allows you to keep a native file that you can edit in the future as needed.
8. Save again as a JPEG (or other desired format). This will be the image you upload to your landing page.
9. Upload the image to your WordPress page through the WordPress image library.
10. Add a custom URL to the image.
11. Repeat steps 1 through 10 for each button.
12. Once all images are uploaded to the landing page, then drag the images into the desired order.
13. Publish the page.

NOTE: If the banner size is too large for your needs, and you can’t adjust it in your WordPress dashboard, then adjust the JPEG or PNG file size using a program like Canva, PicMonkey, or Adobe Preview.

To activate the Adobe Preview screen, simply go to the file where you saved your image (do not upload it yet to your landing page). Double click the image so it pops up on your computer screen. Next, scroll to Tools –> Adjust Image. Set the size to your preference and Save. See the image below for an example. After it is sized to your liking, THEN upload it to your landing page as shown in Step 9.

Create buttons in graphic design software (including Canva and PicMonkey):

The steps for each may vary, but the ultimate goal is to create a shape with a label that can then be uploaded to your website page as an image. Once the image is created, follow steps 9 through 13 listed in the PowerPoint section above.

How to Decide Between the Options:

Creating directly in WordPress is great if you are short on time, need simple buttons (or know CSS well), and don’t need the buttons for any other purpose. You’ll spend about 10-15 minutes creating your page, so it’s a super-quick process.

Creating in PowerPoint, Canva, or PicMonkey is great if you think you’ll ever want to use the button images for another purpose or you have specific design preferences not otherwise available. I created my buttons in PowerPoint because I knew I would need them for marketing classes I teach. If not for that, I would have used the first option. In the end, it still only took me 30 minutes (and that was with several extra steps on my part for educational purposes).

INSTAGRAM LANDING PAGE BEST PRACTICES CHECKLIST:

• Give your landing page a name. The URL in my Instagram bio says spiritedandthensome.com/ohyeah. That’s short and sweet and much more personalized than what I would get from a third-party app. You can name your page anything you’d like.
• When you create the page, make sure it is EXCLUDED from lists of pages on your site. Excluding it from lists of pages means that the only way people will find it is through your Instagram landing page link in your bio. This allows you to track website traffic more effectively. Please note this may not always work. My page still showed up for a while in Google searches, even after I excluded the page. The option to exclude the page is typically listed in the right side bar when you are in page draft mode.
• Add custom URLs to each button you create (regardless of which design method you use). These hyperlinks are how you’ll direct your visitors to where you’d like them to go based on which button they click. These hyperlinks can be from your blog or elsewhere on the internet.
• View your landing page on a mobile device. Since people will be coming to your landing page via Instagram, and therefore on a mobile device, it’s important to make sure your page looks the way you want it to when viewed on a phone.

If you don’t want your blog’s header and menu bars to show up on your landing page, you can use a landing page/squeeze page plugin specifically for the page you are creating.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:

Since processes and programs can change at any moment, and you may be using a program different than what I use, I am including additional resources below. These thought leaders are sharing their experiences and solutions for how to create a customized Instagram landing page. Click through, learn what they have to share, and pick the process that is right for you!

• Shana Bull has a few ideas in her post, Don’t Use LinkTree for Instagram Marketing (Use This Instead)  
• Lane’ J. Richards also has ideas for Why You Shouldn’t Use LinkTree  
• Lindsey Allen provides more insight for Why You Shouldn’t Use Linktr.ee…And What You Should Do Instead  
• Big Cat Creative shows you how to create a landing page in Squarespace with her post, Why You Should Stop Using LinkTree & How to Create Your Own in Squarespace 

And there you have it! A simple, easy, free way to create your own Instagram landing page. It’s entirely possible you will have spent more time reading this blog post than you will when you create your own page! 😊

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