One of the biggest issues small businesses face is how to effectively link to their website content from Instagram, whether it be a product, blog post, signup form or anything else for that matter. Instagram isn’t the only platform that only allows one link, so this is a major problem. To combat this, services like LinkTree popped up and were widely adopted and initially solved the problem. Like most things in the digital world, things move quickly and if you’re still using a service like this, just stop.
In this post I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t be using and the best alternative for your social media linking needs.
What is LinkTree?
Let’s start off with the basics shall we. LinkTree is a service that allows users to easily optimise Instagram traffic by creating a mobile friendly landing page with easy to navigate links for your audience to click on. It’s an elegant and simple solution with a paid option coming in at $6/month which gives you access to more themes, deeper analytics, email sign-up integration and the removal of the LinkTree logo.
Sounds great doesn’t it.
Here are the top 6 reasons you should stop using LinkTree:
1. You have NO control
You might think you have but really you don’t You are stuck with the free themes or if you splash out and upgrade to the pro version you are stuck with the pro themes and that’s about it.
There are many reasons that you might want to change your social media link page for example, if you have an event you might want to switch out the entire page for registration form for a few days. What about a massive clearance sale or a new product? The list goes on and on.
Oh, and what if, ok not what if, but more like when the app goes down, and it does! You are missing leads, clients, and money! Chances are you won’t even know if that app has gone done.
2. You could be marked as spam
Like most things when they get used to much and unsavoury internet dwellers get a hold of it and everything goes pear shaped. Those unsavoury internet dwellers I’m talking about are spammers. These guys ruin everything.
Instagram has been known to ban or mark these links as spam and in true Instagram fashion they do it without any notice. It’s well known that all LinkTree links on TikTok are automatically marked as spam!
3. What happened to your branding?
While you do get some more branding options with the Pro version you still don’t have complete control to satisfy the branding experts on your marketing team.
Branding is crucial moving forward in this digital age and even the smallest sacrifice can cause considerable damage overtime.
4. Poor Conversions and Bad User Experience
LinkTree pages all look the same, both Free & Paid. The buttons are the same, the layout of the landing page is the same. It’s impossible to draw attention to a specific link without removing all the others.
There are no engaging visuals or any real branding opportunities. I’m not talking about dropping your logo in here. If you think branding is just your logo you better contact me asap.
5. Sharing Traffic
This is getting a bit technical now, so I’ll try and keep it light. Instagram isn’t the only one with algorithms. Google is the king of algorithms and their changes can be even more brutal than you not getting your average likes on a post.
Google is more likely to share your website in its search results if you are getting more traffic. This is a signal that you are an authority in your field. So, using a service like LinkTree, you potentially are losing out on some traffic. Not everyone that visits your LinkTree page will click through to your website.
6. Little to no analytics
With the free version LinkTree only shows how many people have clicked the links but they don’t give you much else. With the Pro version you get a bit more information, but it’s still limited. To make matters worse you don’t own the data so there is no way to use that data for retargeting ads.
The list can go on but let’s get onto the best alternative.
I’m going to assume you have a mobile friendly website. If you don’t then you have bigger problems than putting a converting link into your Instagram profile, so hit me up and we can get this sorted for you.
The best solution for linking your social profiles like Instagram to your website content is to roll your own. Some websites might already come with this built in. I know all our sites we build have this baked into them. If you aren’t lucky enough to have one of our sites, then reach out to your web developer or have a poke around. You are looking for a blank page template this will have all your site styling removed and allow you to create a minimal version that is super-fast and converts.
Want to have a look at ours. It’s constantly changing but you can see it either in the bio link on Instagram or here.
If you need help book a call with me and I’ll help you out.
A quick note on the Canva Bio Link templates
If you’ve been around the social networks watching marketing tips you would have noticed in the last month or two a huge push for these Canva Bio Link website templates. Let’s be super clear. Where it says LinkTree in the above post, you can swap that out with Canva Bio Link Website. At this time, these sites aren’t being marked as spam but really, they offer no benefit and rolling your own solution is still the best option. Sometimes easy isn’t always best.
Conclusion
While LinkTree and other services make is easy for you to create mobile landing pages for your links on social media it ends up causing you more harm than good.
Take the time to explore your website platform and see how you can implement your own solution or reach out to us and we can help you out.