9 Best Tactics For Adding A Link In An Instagram Post (2025)

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Author Henry Duy
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Adding a link in an Instagram post is essential to drive traffic to your website or shop. However, Instagram doesn’t allow clickable links in captions or comments. So, how can you direct people to the destination page from Instagram? This article provides the best tactics to achieve this in 2025. The good news is that most of them are free to use. Let’s learn what they are.

9 Best Tactics For Adding A Link In An Instagram Post (2025)
9 Best Tactics For Adding A Link In An Instagram Post (2025)

Crack The Code: Why Is My Link Not Clickable On Instagram Posts?

Instagram is a photo-sharing social media platform. It doesn’t allow clickable links in comments or captions. Instead, links added there will be shown as plain text. 

Instagram often limits links to avoid being overrun with spammy links, which can worsen the user experience. Besides, this policy helps Instagram retain its visual-focused nature.

There are some possible reasons why your link on Instagram is not clickable:

  • Links in the wrong areas.
  • Cache errors.
  • Using an Instagram personal account instead of a business account.
  • Links blocked due to explicit content, illegal goods, etc.
  • Broken links.
Reasons why Instagram links are not clickable
Reasons why Instagram links are not clickable

Adding A Link On Instagram: Where Can You Achieve It?

If you are looking for guides on how to add clickable links in Instagram comments or captions of organic posts, unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t allow this at the moment. However, there are some workarounds to achieve it.

Below are some areas where you are possibly adding a link in an Instagram post. 

  • Your Bio
  • Feed Posts
  • Stories
  • Reels
  • Profile page
  • Ads
  • Direct Messages

I will go into detail about how to add links to each place now as well as additional tips for this.

Adding A Link In An Instagram Post: 7 Tactics To Bypass

As I have said, Instagram doesn’t allow clickable links in post captions or comments. However, there are some tactics to bypass this problem. 

How to add a link to Instagram bio

The simplest way to add a clickable link on Instagram is to place it in your Instagram bio and tell people to check your bio to find the link. You can see many brands and influencers are using this tactic. Typically there will be a call to action in their posts that reads Link in bio

To add links to your Instagram bio, follow these steps:

How to add a link to Instagram bio
How to add a link to Instagram bio
  1. Open your Instagram app and go to your profile. 
  2. Tap Edit Profile.
  3. Tap Links > Add external links.
  4. Enter the URL and the Title for the link. 
  5. Tap Done or the blue check icon to save this change. 
  6. Tap the checkmark in the right corner of the screen to save the changes.

With this tactic, you can add up to 5 clickable links for free. 

How to add a link to an Instagram post 2025

Here are some suggestions for adding a link in an Instagram post for organic content.

Use a URL shortener

Make your link more memorable with the help of URL shortener services like Bitly. Your URL will become shorter and easier to remember and retype manually. 

URL shorteners are highly beneficial for Instagrammers because the platform doesn’t allow clickable links and text copying on feed posts.

Now I will instruct you on how to add Bitly links to Instagram posts.

How to add Bitly links to Instagram posts
How to add Bitly links to Instagram posts
  1. Access Bitly.com and log in to the website.
  2. Under Make It Short, select Go To Links.
  3. Copy the link in the destination, then click Create Your Link.
  4. Copy the shortened link and paste it into your post caption. 

Some of the best URL shorteners you can use in 2025: 

  • Bitly
  • Rebrandly
  • Short URL
  • BL.INK
  • Dub
  • Sniply.io
  • Polr
  • TinyURL
  • Ow.ly
  • Short.io
  • is.gd
  • T.LY

Use Instagram product tags

If you are running an online shop, you can host your products in Meta’s Commerce Manager or partner platforms like BigCommerce, Magento, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, WooCommerce, etc.

Then, add clickable product tags in your Instagram feed posts to send people to your shop.

According to an Instagram 2020 survey, 44% of Instagram users use shopping features like product tags and the Shop tab on the platform to shop every week.

Here is how to add product tags to Instagram posts:

  1. Create a feed post with images displaying your products.
  2. Tap Tag Products
  3. On the image, tap on the product you want to add a product tag.
  4. Search for the product in your catalog.
  5. Tap Done.

How to post links on Instagram stories

Adding a link in an Instagram Stories post is one of the simplest methods to drive traffic from Instagram to your website. 

You can add only one clickable link in each story. They are added as stickers and the sticker text can be customized to replace the URL.

Links on stories only stay visible for 24 hours on Instagram, but you can save them in your highlights permanently. 

Here is how to put a link on an Instagram story:

How to post links on Instagram stories
How to post links on Instagram stories
  1. Create a new Instagram story.
  2. Tap the Stickers button, it‘s the square-shaped smiley face on the top of the screen.
  3. Select Link.
  4. Enter the URL of your website or destination page and customize the sticker text if necessary. 
  5. Select Done.
  6. Tap Your Story to show it to viewers.

When someone taps on the sticker, they will be directed from the Instagram site or app to visit the website that you’ve linked to. 

Add a link to Instagram reels

Add a link to Instagram reels
Add a link to Instagram reels

Similar to adding a link in an Instagram post, you can use product tags for Instagram Reels to send viewers directly to your online shop.

Here is how to add a link to Instagram reels:

  1. Upload a reel.
  2. Tap Tag Product.
  3. Add a product or a collection from your catalog.
  4. Tap Done.

Add a link to an Instagram profile via the action button

Another useful way to add a link on Instagram is by leveraging the action button feature that is exclusive to Instagram business accounts. 

You can choose from the available CTA buttons such as Order food, Book now, Reserve, Learn more, Apply now, Get Quote, Sign up, etc.

Action buttons are directed to third-party platforms where consumers can make purchases. 

To add an action button, follow these steps:

How to add an action button
How to add an action button
  1. Go to your Instagram profile page.
  2. Select Edit profile > Action buttons.
  3. Select a suitable action button. 
  4. Select a 3rd-party partner if required and follow Instagram instructions to add the action button to your profile.

When others view your profile page, they will see the action button next to the Message button. 

Add links in paid ads

Add links in paid ads
Add links in paid ads

You can consider paid ads if you are badly in need of adding a link in an Instagram post. You can boost existing posts or create new ads and include a linked CTA button at the bottom. 

Embrace paid ads as a powerful tool to reach potential customers who don’t follow you yet. 

Share links in Instagram direct messages

Share links in Instagram direct messages
Share links in Instagram direct messages

Finally, you can add clickable links on Instagram via direct messages. This is the easiest way to send links on Instagram and it’s not limited in the number of links you can send.

To share links in Instagram direct messages, you just need to paste the link in any DM conversation and tap Send

To make the most of links in direct messages, you can set up Frequently asked questions and automated responses on Instagram Chats, and add a link to your website in your responses. Customers can click on it to learn more about your products or services.

>>> Read more: Guide To Adding Multiple Photos To An Instagram Story: 3 Easy Ways

2 Additional Tips For Sharing URLs On Instagram

Now that you know where and how to add links on Instagram, let’s continue with additional tips to direct users to your website effectively. 

Use a link-in-bio tool

Use a link-in-bio tool
Use a link-in-bio tool

Instagram limits the number of clickable links you can share. For example, you can only add one link to a story, and the bio allows a maximum of five links.

If one or five links just aren’t good enough, consider using a link-in-bio tool. These tools let you create a personalized and customized landing page with many more links.

Below, I’ve curated some popular link-in-bio tools to house all of your links on a landing page:

  • Linktree
  • Flodesk
  • Tap Bio
  • Lnk.Bio
  • ShortStack
  • Shorby
  • Taplink
  • Linkin.bio by Later
  • Campsite.bio
  • Instapage
  • Bio.fm

Use QR codes on Instagram posts

Use QR codes on Instagram posts
Use QR codes on Instagram posts

Another trick for adding a link in an Instagram post is using scannable QR codes. 

QR codes eliminate the hassle of manual typing on mobile devices. Users can simply screenshot the QR code and scan it to open a link that may send them to promotions or product landing pages.

You can use any QR Code Generator to create a QR code for free. Simply search free QR code generator on your browser and click on the top search results. Then, paste your URL to create QR codes.

You can add these codes to your images or videos, post them on Instagram, and instruct people to scan the QR code in the caption.

Previous post: How To See Recently Added Friends On Instagram: 5 Easy Steps (2025)

Conclusion

Adding a link in an Instagram post can be a bit tricky, but it’s achievable. By applying my tactics, you can bypass this issue and drive Instagram users to your page effectively. 

For those wanting to boost links to websites or landing pages with Instagram ads, agency ad accounts can be your powerful solution. They can assist you in launching stable Instagram ads, reducing the risk of account suspensions, optimizing ad metrics, and driving maximum ROI.

  • Henry Duy

    Henry Duy is the CEO and Founder of GDT Agency, and is a highly accomplished expert in Digital Marketing in the Philipines, Vietnam and the international market.

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