Jan 16, 2017 / General Advice & Pro Tips

Extend Your Blog’s Reach with Instagram

Instagram has hundreds of millions of users — here are ways they can find and follow your blog.

Are you using Instagram to grow your following and drive traffic to your blog? As of late 2017, Instagram had 500 million daily active users, which makes it a great place to find new readers and connect with like-minded bloggers and fellow social sharers. We’ve shared some tips before to get you started, so once you’ve got the basics down, here are ideas for how to use Instagram to extend the reach of your blog:

Make your Instagram feed reflect your life.

Here are some WordPress.com bloggers I follow who share their content on Instagram too:

Sharing the real you is a great way to cultivate a following of interested, engaged readers. Personally, I love sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes looks, so Instagram feeds that show real life are my favorites.

sarahblackstock-instagram-bulletjournalI love bullet journaling, and I share little glimpses of this process on my Instagram feed (see: #BulletJournal). Once I’ve got enough content to say more about it, I’ll turn it into a full blog post (or maybe a series of them) on sarah.blog.

Share the snapshots that make up your day, like that DIY project you’re in the middle of (and aren’t quite ready to blog about yet), or a look at the mess you just made in the kitchen with the cookies that went horribly wrong (#KitchenFail). Once you finish that project or get the recipe right, blog it and share the triumphant photo on your Instagram feed with a link to the post with all the details.

Rather than filling your whole feed with blog promo or perfectly styled shots, be sure to include you, too.

Extend your blog content’s reach.

Beyond filling your Instagram account with glimpses of your daily life, share photos adapted from individual posts.

  • Did you blog your recent vacation? Grab one of your best images from the trip and Instagram it along with a caption promoting your full blog post for viewers who click over to your site.

Curious about Canva? See their tutorials to get started. We’ve shared some helpful tips here, too.

  • If your post is more wordy, why not grab a quote and make a graphic? I use Canva.com to create the WordPress.com Instagram quote images and also like the Word Swag app for quotes on my personal feed.
  • Are you featuring an image-heavy post that is light on words? Make a collage with PicMonkey.com or Instagram’s Layout app.
  • Do you review books or share makeup tips? Share a nicely styled image related to your blog post and use it (along with some relevant hashtags) to get more eyes on your post.

Unsure how to use hashtags? We’ve shared tips on choosing hashtags here.

wordpressdotcom-instagram-bookhashtags

No matter what you blog about, there’s a way to convert your content into something Instagram-worthy to help extend its reach.

Keep the link in your profile current.

When you’re sharing blog content on your Instagram account, it’s important to make it easy for people to get to the post. Since Instagram doesn’t allow clickable links in the caption or comments, update the link in your profile to take viewers straight to the blog post you’ve featured most recently.

Or go a step further, and create an Instagram landing page. Publish a new page called Instagram, so the URL is YourSiteAddress.com/Instagram. One perk of this fully customized page is that you can decide exactly how you welcome people to your site. Consider including a quick hello, link to your top posts or the content you’re most proud of, and display your most recent posts so they can find what may have brought them over from your Instagram profile in the first place.

Looking for more tips? Lorena Salinas at Cravings Journal uses Link in Profile, which helps drive traffic from Instagram.

The key to either method of linking in your Instagram profile is to to keep it current and make it as easy as possible for people to follow your content from your feed to your blog.

Remember to be yourself.

No matter how you choose to adapt your content and share your life on Instagram, the best way to connect with potential readers and new social media friends is by being yourself. Share the images you would want to see on someone else’s feed, and be sure not to promote your content so often you’d want to unfollow yourself.

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  1. I have a Instagram for my blog, and it’s working out great. My feed may be aesthetic, but it is not matching at all. I just like to post pictures when I can, and the pictures that I find that I love. I find that it’s the meaning behind the photo, although it can be the photo too, haha!
    If you’d like to check out my Instagram for my blog, just click this link.. https://www.instagram.com/thebookishdinosaur/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Well dear, we all have that kind of problems at some point in our life.. You need to start focusing on thing that could go right not on wrong ones.. If you don’t want to be judge you just have to say nothing and do nothing in your life.. But in the end there will be someone that will judge you and thats yourself.. Believe me you don’t want that.. Everywhere is bad criticism and you will find good one too.. I promise! If your facing bad criticism you have to use it to make yourself better not weak. Accept and learn but don’t hold on to it! You have to speak yourself , you have to be you! Only you will be unhappy if you trying to be something else or nothing at all just because of others.. you know that saying ; does who matters don’t mind and does who mind don’t matter? remember that #dreambig

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you! You’re absolutely right. There is not one single person who was liked by everyone. I have to focus on my intentions and hope I get through to those that need it. I’m going to continue moving forward!

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  5. Thank you for this post!! In have two questions! 1. Do I have to be an expert on photography??? I tend to prefer more realistic captions!! 2. Do you know anything of those instagram accounts promising more install followers??
    Thank you again!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Well ! i am no one to give you an official reply, but according to me

      1. You don’t need to be an expert in photography, anything well captured, clearly visible (well focused) photo will do the magic for you.

      2. Those are spams , don’t fall into their trap, it doesn’t work like that.
      *On the contrary their are some legit ones too, who provide you followers but they charge you a huge amount of money.

      Be Safe Be Alert™
      #JRKbrothers
      http://www.jrkbrothers.wordpress.com

      Liked by 2 people

    2. I agree with Joe. 🙂

      1.) No way! The more you share, the better you’ll get, plus Instagram is all about sharing little moments in your day. Try to use natural lighting when you can. Find a few accounts you really like and figure out what they’re doing that appeals to you.

      2) Ignore those. The best way to grow your following is by posting consistently, using relevant hashtags, and interacting with other Instagram users (by following them, liking photos, and leaving comments). It takes time, but will grow over time and you’ll end up with followers who really like what you’re sharing.

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Thanks very much for this Sarah, I’ve just published an ebook and am going to have to get into the promotion thing which isn’t my bag. Someone suggested Instagram to me but I know nothing about it, and suddenly Hey-Presto! there was your post with just the information I need. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  15. I really like those suggestions, especially the one about building a Instagram landing page. Before reading this article, I checked my dashboard and realised I don’t have the option of sharing instantly via Instagram. Anyway, reading this article was so helpful. Now I feel more equipped to create actionable goals for building my audience this year! Thanks again!

    Liked by 2 people

  16. Loved the article but I tried Instagram for a day. Couldn’t handle it. I love blogging because I like writing. Not sure how to promote anything though without the social media. And can’t handle social media, it seriously depresses me, and is too addictive for my weak will. Anybody have success blogging without social media presence? Would love tips on that:)

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Thanks for the info it was very helpful. I work in the telecommunications industry and i am wondering what kind of pictures i should put up on our instagram page. Would you have any suggestions?

    Like

  20. Nice about the wordpress. I am thinking about that my blog will be without instagram and maybe I just connect it with my “personal” blog – it is not personal like personal but I put there my photos which can have some value and some of those photos will be for sure on my “photo” blog. Sometimes I feel like we are oversocial network-sized but on other hand all these things helps and everybody can follow or post just what they consider as a unique, useful etc. Anyone of you have any kind of schizofrenia about SN? 😀 🙂

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  23. I really learn more today. Your article really inspires me.
    But what of those using multiple blogs on wordpress.com which focus on different topics.
    To be sincere….. I have 3 blogs: thegreatvalue.wordpress.com
    channelofvirtue.wordpress.com
    and bodjetstarcomedyhouse.wordpress.com
    I am not trying to spam but want to have your opinion or review on these sites. I am currently using only channelofvirtue…… On my instagram bio @bodjetstar
    Once again thanks for your response in advance

    Like