Low website traffic? Five tips to drive traffic using IG!

March 29, 2022

Many brands will run their own online stores nowadays. However, running an online store is the same as running a physical store. Someone has to enter the store first, and then there can be follow-up actions. To run an online store well, you must first analyze your website traffic.

Website traffic means the number of visits to your website, which is equal to the "flow of people" of a physical store. The higher the traffic, the more people visit your website. Since traffic is so important, what are the ways to increase traffic to attract more people to consume? It is believe that many brands have been using various social media, including Instagram. In fact, as long as you make good use of different functions in Instagram, you can effectively drive your website traffic!

1. Make good use of Link in Bio

Many brands will put the link of their online store on the Instagram profile page (link in bio), so that other users can directly click on the link to enter other related websites when browsing their Instagram. However, Instagram users can only place one link in their profile. For brands, besides their own online store, they have other social media platforms or product introductions. The limit of one link is simply not enough. To maximize the use of the function, brands can use some multi-link services to place a multi-link one-page link on their bio to solve this problem.

There are many different websites that offer multi-link services. It only takes a few steps to create your multi-link one-page link. Samsung had earlier invited Mirror to be the brand ambassador. They placed a multi-link one-page link in their profile, which included links to the products used by each Mirror members and other products. Users can directly click on the images inside to be directed to related product links, which is very convenient.

[Samsung has added links to the images. Users will be directed to the product's page when they click on the image. ]

[3amproduction has also used a multi-link one-page link. Users can directly enter the online store or obtain the contact information of the store owner through the link in the profile. ]

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2. Take advantage of Instagram Story's functional stickers

Different functional stickers can be added to Instagram Stories, such as polls, countdown and quiz stickers, etc. You can even add links directly to them! Previously, Instagram Stories had no link stickers. Users can only used the "Swipe up" function, which allowed brand accounts with at least 10,000 followers to set links in their stories. Users simply need to swipe up the page and they will be directed to the setted page. However, the "Swipe up" function has been cancelled earlier, and the link sticker has been launched instead. Brand accounts with fewer followers can also add links to Stories, attracting more users to browse the links!

In addition, when cooperating with influencers, if your goal is to increase the traffic of the website and attract people to visit the website for product details, you can also ask them to add link stickers to their story. With the help of their popularity, your website traffic will be increased too.

[When OOHA posted a story, a link sticker was added to the Story, allowing users to directly click on the sticker to enter the online store. ]

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Besides link stickers, other stickers can also help increase website traffic. Mamamarket often adds countdown stickers to their Stories when launching new products, adding a sense of urgency. Since their products are often out of stock, many fans will even turn on notifications in order to enter the online store for the first time after the countdown is completed.

[ Mamamarket will add a countdown sticker to the Story in order to increase the sense of urgency. ]

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3. Save your stories in Highlights

Instagram Stories generally will disappear within 24 hours, but if you place your Story in Highlights, other users can still view your Story in Highlights after 24 hours. The purpose of Story Highlight is to act as the showroom of Stories, allowing users to keep the past Stories on the profile page. When users browse a brand’s Instagram, they will definitely see the Highlight part of the profile. Therefore many brands will make use of the Highlight function, to categorize their Stories that have been linked before. New followers can view the content or products they would like to know more easily.

Watsons uses the Story Highlight to categorize its past stories by product type, such as skin care, makeup and health products. When new followers of Watsons browses its Instagram and wants to see what cosmetics are recommended, they can go through the "Makeup" category in Highlight, and directly click the link of the product they are interested in, to learn more about the product. Watsons have also designed different covers for each category to make the layout look more consistent and beautiful.

[Watsons uses Story Highlight to store products in categories. ]

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[New followers can directly view the category they want to know about, and click the link to enter the product page. ]

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On the other hand, many clothing online stores will turn Story Highlight into the shop window of the online store. They will post model's outfit with different height to Stories and store those Stories in different Highlights. Two Collection, an Instagram clothing online store, also refers to this practice. They will let models of different sizes wear the products in the store, put their photos on Stories, and then store all the Stories in different Highlights. New followers can get a general idea of what the product looks like on their body by checking the Highlights of model who are similar to their body shape. This can help them buy more suitable products.

[Two Collection, an online clothing store, categorizes Stories according to the models with different body shape. ]

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[New followers can get a general idea of what the product looks like on their body by checking the Highlights of models who are similar to their body shape. ]

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4. include call-to-action in Caption

Links cannot be added to Instagram posts. If you want users to view a specific page, you can add call-to-action (CTA) in the Caption. CTA (Call-To-Action) refers to the text that call and appeal users to take some actions. When users see a product they are interested in, they usually simply understand the product through Caption, and then consider whether they need to learn more or take action. At this time, the CTA in Caption plays a very important role, push them, and let them take the initiative to click the link in the introduction to learn more and increase website traffic.

Serco Store is a popular fashion online store. Their Caption is detailed and fascinating. The most important thing is the CTA at the end of the Caption, which indicates that the website will have a more complete introduction and try-on reports of different heights. They have also attached the link to their online store to attract fans to click on.

[Serco Store will add CTA at the end of the Caption to attract users to browse the online store to learn more. ]

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5. Go viral with Reels

Earlier we mentioned that Instagram has launched Instagram Reels (continuous short videos) in order to enter the short video market, and Reels may become the main method of influencer marketing. Hong Kong users can finally use the Reels function at the beginning of this year. Like ordinary posts, Reels will appear on the user's personal page and dynamic news. They will also appear on the Reels page, allowing users to continuously watch Reels from different users. The users you reach out to are not limited to the followers who have followed you. Reels even occupies two-thirds of the screen area in Explore. According to a survey, the interaction rate of Instagram Reels is 22% higher than general video content. It is believed that more and more brands will use Reels to increase exposure and traffic!

Although Reels was launched in Hong Kong for a short time, many brands have already used Reels as a promotion channel! CLIO and Grandmama Store both have used Reels to promote their brands. The content can be makeup tutorials or dressing demonstrations. Through Reels, they can reach more potential customers. If they can make use of CTA, they will definitely attract more people to click on their websites and drive traffic!

[ CLIO has posted Reels of Makeup Instructions to let more people know about their products. ]

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[Grandmama Store uses Reels to share daily dressing demonstrations. ]

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As long as the above five Instagram tips are effectively used, it is believed that your website traffic will be greatly drived!

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