Instagram is a flourishing social platform with lots to offer. Beautiful content, strong hashtag opportunities, and a thriving user base of over a billion make it perfect for expanding your reach and engagement.
But why is Instagram so essential for your WordPress site? And how can you launch your own Instagram strategy in 2022? Read on to find out how.
With Facebook’s influence on the way out, Instagram is the perfect addition to your WordPress site. Read why Facebook’s News Feed is no longer as effective as it once was here.
What are the benefits of adding Instagram to your WordPress?
It offers you more scope for ecommerce
A multichannel sales strategy is essential for online stores in 2020. A variety of ways to sell products to customers helps you increase sales by going to where your customers are active most — Instagram is one of those channels.
Instagram is a popular and fast-growing platform with more than a billion users visiting it every day. Establishing a sales channel on the platform gives you access to those prospective customers, giving your revenue streams a shot in the arm as a result.
It places great emphasis on visual content
Instagram is all about high-quality visuals — that much is true. WordPress, on the other hand, while a powerful CMS, doesn’t quite offer the same creativity that Instagram has in store.
That’s not to say WordPress offers nothing in the way of visuals. But Instagram gives you much more scope to display these visuals — perfect if you sell products such as apparel or jewelry.
It’s easy to integrate your WordPress and your Instagram
Above all, it’s remarkably easy to integrate your WordPress with your Instagram. There is a variety of cross-platform features that let you cascade content from one onto the other with ease.
You don’t even need any technical expertise to expedite this either. Useful plugins and apps like If This Then That (ITTT) automate the process so your WordPress and Instagram can work together in harmony.
There are various ways to create an Instagram posts. Like if you chose a service online for Instagram posts. Some providers provides you ready to use templates and there are also some Instagram post generator services.
How can you effectively create an Instagram channel for WordPress?
Set an objective for your Instagram
Start by setting an objective for your Instagram channel. Do you want to use it as a traffic referral tool? Or do you need it for an extra sales channel? The objective you set will depend on the type of WordPress website you manage and what stage your venture is at.
Once you’ve set your objective, this will inform the rest of your Instagram strategy. It will determine whether you need to invest in paid ads (for traffic referral), for instance, or focus on Instagram’s ecommerce features.
Look to plugins to streamline your Instagram integration
As mentioned before, plugins are excellent for making the addition of an Instagram channel to your WordPress simple. These let you display your Instagram content on your WordPress fluidly, without the need for complex coding.
There are lots of plugins available for this, but some of the best are:
- Instagram Feed
- Grace
- Instagram Journal
- Feed Them Social
Many of these offer extra features, such as product tagging or multi-account displays. It’s worth opting for a free trial where possible to make sure it’s the right product for you and your Instagram objectives.
Fine-tune your profile for better results
Before you can start posting fresh content and driving people to your WordPress (or vice versa), make sure your Instagram profile is up to scratch.
There are myriad elements that go into the perfect Instagram bio, but you should start by including a URL link to your WordPress site on your profile. This encourages cross-platform traffic, as it is the first place your followers will go when finding your website via your Instagram.
Your bio itself should accurately communicate what your brand does: who you are, the service or product you offer, who your typical customer is, etc. Keep it clear and concise to grab your followers immediately.
Use the same logo for your Instagram as for your WordPress too. This ensures you have coherent branding across each channel, making you instantly recognizable to your audience.
Craft stellar content that takes advantage of the visual platform
Whether you use Instagram to drive traffic or for sales, it’s crucial that you only provide attractive, high-quality visual content.
This doesn’t necessarily need to be photos or videos either. Graphics or text overlay images work equally well on the platform, ideal if you run a website that offers more service-based products rather than clothes or art.
But as Instagram is a visual platform, it’s important to provide content that takes advantage of this. For ecommerce brands that sell physical products, photos of those products should be aesthetically-pleasing and of good quality — most smartphones have a decent camera these days so you don’t need to break the bank to achieve this.
But for more service-based enterprises, consider creating infographics that deliver value instead. Express ideas and information through graphics to offer information in an aesthetic style.
Create a strong hashtag strategy that gets you a diverse blend of traffic.
No Instagram channel is complete without a solid hashtag strategy behind it. They are what link every piece of content on the platform, enabling users to find the topics, accounts, images, and videos that matter to them.
But what does a solid hashtag strategy look like? In a word: diversity.
In this context, diversity means a blend of both general and specific hashtags. A general hashtag, for instance, might be #webdesign. A specific hashtag, on the other hand, would be more targeted, such as #wordpresswebdesign. This gets you a mix of general traffic and more focused traffic that is more likely to engage with your content and convert (whatever that conversion might be).
WordPress and Instagram are a match made in heaven. Follow the tips above and create an effective Instagram channel that aids and augments your WordPress site well into 2022 and beyond.