If you’re an Instagram junkie like myself, I have some good news for you! If you haven’t heard yet, YOU can now link to your Instagram stories!! Woo! If you don’t know why this is important or how it can help you, keep reading!

For the longest time, Instagram only allowed accounts with 10,000 or more followers to be able to link to their stories. Ugh.. how unfair?! But now we can all add a link to our stories!

Whether you want to add a link that directs your audience to your website, to educational resources, a new product that has changed your life, etc -you now have the power to do so!

There’s a few things to keep in mind before your love for the new link feature in stories gets too carried away!

1. Use Links in Stories Only Every Once in a While: The chances of someone clicking on every single link you post is going to be rare (just being honest)! Using the link feature for more important content is how you’ll be most successful! Begging people to subscribe for your email list three times a day is not how to go about it!

2. Links Can Increase Your Website Traffic: Maybe you gained a follower through word of mouth or a reshared post, whatever the case is, it’s great they follow you on social media! However, make sure they end up on your website too! You want people to know who you are and to give them a reason to support your business. Push them towards your website, and encourage them to stay up to date on everything you’re doing!

3. Have a Call-To-Action Associated With the Link: While your audience is still getting used to seeing a link in your stories, make sure you have some sort of call-to-action near the link so they know they’re supposed to click it! Vanity stickers and finger GIFs are brilliant!

4. Keep Your Audience in the Instagram App: Yes, we want to direct our audience to other resources sometimes, but keeping your audience in Instagram is key to increase your engagement! So yes, every once in a while direct your audience to an outside link, but try adding more interactive things to your stories that keep your audience in Instagram like polls and question boxes!

This new Instagram feature is so exciting! It gives everyone the opportunity to grow. For success on the gram, follow these tips when posting links to your stories! Instagram just moved up in my book, what about you?