Why Using Linktree or any 3rd party link in bio is a Missed Opportunity for Organic Traffic.
Summary: Learn why Linktrees and other 3rd party links in bio are a missed opportunity for organic traffic and how creating a custom splash or landing page hosted on your website can improve your online presence, increase inbound inquiries, and improve analytics and tracking capabilities. Introduction: Are you frustrated by the limitations of Instagram, such as the lack of followers, verification, or the “Swipe Up” function? While Linktree and other 3rd party links in bio seem like an easy solution to optimize your social media presence, they are a missed opportunity for organic traffic to your website. In this article, we explore the benefits of creating a custom splash or landing page hosted on your domain instead of relying on Linktree or other 3rd party links in bios.
The limitations of Linktree and other 3rd party links in bio
Linktree swept Instagram by storm when it arrived in 2016 from a team of Melbourne brothers, Alex and Anthony Zaccaria, and their co-founder Nick Humphreys.
Their motivation was to overcome the frustration experienced when sharing information with followers on the Instagram app.
“We got really sick of having to change the Instagram bio link,” Alex Zaccaria told StartupSmart’s Stephanie Palmer-Derrien in 2019.
They weren’t alone.
Are you one of the many Instagram users frustrated by the lack of followers, verification, or the “Swipe Up” function in your Instagram stories? Have you been using Linktree to optimize your social media presence by listing your content, URLs, and social profiles in a menu for your followers to engage with? If so, you may be surprised to learn that using Linktree is a missed opportunity for organic traffic to your domain, which can help algorithms and boost your ranking in search results.
Linktree allow users to push more than one link at a time, but using them means giving up domain traffic and marketing for the Linktree platform instead of your own brand/domain. In addition to missing out on credit for the traffic, some users have received notifications that their profiles contain a link that is not allowed, leading to account bans.
Linktree adds an extra step to your user’s journey
I always recommend social media marketing to support SEO. It’s a great way of linking back to your content and getting it read. This then sends a social signal to Google that your content is high quality and of value to your audience. Giving your content a higher search result on Google.
SEO (and all marketing) is focused on your ideal customer’s journey, from realising they have a problem they need fixing to working out what it is; figuring out who they need to search for to finding a solution and coming across your website/social media.
Social media is about getting you in front of those customers at various stages of their journey but with one intention in mind, to get them back to your website so they see what you have to offer and choose to buy from you.
The problem with Linktree is that it interferes with your user’s journey from social media post to your website, which is the last thing you want to happen.
Instead of going from social media post and to your website, they’re taken to a third party landing page full of links. There a few things may happen:
- They find the right link for the content they were interested in
- They get distracted and click on a completely different link
- They feel bombarded with all of the links and go back to Instagram instead
In case you were wondering, most people feel bombarded when there are too many links.
It’s called “decision paralysis”, where there are so many links to choose from most people don’t know which one to go for, so they don’t click any of them.
Linktree makes it harder to evaluate your Instagram marketing for SEO
Social media serves as a valuable tool for SEO because it provides insights into what content truly resonates with your audience.
Understanding the preferences of your ideal customers can be challenging, as they might not be fully aware of what they seek or the exact nature of their problems.
By actively posting on social media and observing which posts receive the most engagement and shares, you can gain a profound understanding of your target audience’s interests and preferences.
Furthermore, when a link to your website’s content is clicked on, it becomes evident which pieces are worth promoting, as they strike a chord with your audience. This valuable feedback allows you to create more content centered around those specific topics, catering to your audience’s preferences and ensuring continued engagement.
In summary, social media not only enhances your SEO efforts but also serves as a powerful platform for comprehending your audience’s needs, enabling you to craft content that genuinely appeals to them.
Linktree’s analytical capabilities are limited, as it only provides basic data, such as the number of link clicks and total lifetime views. However, it lacks crucial information that can significantly impact your marketing strategy:
- Missing Timestamps for Link Clicks: Linktree fails to inform you when a specific link was clicked on. As a result, you are unable to match the link clicks with the corresponding Instagram post(s) you published that day. This valuable insight would help you identify which posts are performing well and contributing to the success of your marketing efforts.
- Visitor Drop-Out Data: Without the ability to track when visitors reach Linktree but fail to proceed further, you’re left in the dark about the potential traffic lost. This means that even if an Instagram post resonates exceptionally well with your audience, you won’t know how many visitors dropped out after being redirected to Linktree instead of your intended blog post or content.
- Inaccurate Traffic Source Attribution: Even if you resort to using Google Analytics to track social media posts for SEO, Linktree appears as referral traffic rather than social media traffic. Consequently, you won’t have a clear understanding of how much traffic originates from Instagram, which is vital for gauging the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts.
To optimize your social media marketing strategy effectively, it’s essential to have comprehensive and accurate data at your disposal. Linktree’s limitations can hinder your ability to make informed decisions and maximize the impact of your online presence. Consider exploring alternative solutions that provide a more robust set of analytics to better understand and enhance your audience’s engagement and overall user experience.
Free Linktree benefits
- Unlimited links – you can do this on your own website
- View click volumes – you can see this via Google Analytics
- Pick from a selection of linktree themes – again, solved by the build-your-own solution
Paid-only Linktree benefits
- See a day-by-day breakdown of link traffic – again, very easy to see in Google Analytics
- Give access to your team to manage links – for small brands, it’s probably the same person managing the website that is managing LinkTree, so if anything the website solution cuts down the number of usernames and passwords, thus increasing security biyatch
- Complete customisation of your Linktree colours and button styles – solved in the website solution
- Change the title of your Linktree – I can’t believe this is even a selling point
- Time your links to go live with scheduled posts – a lot of website builders can do this too, but I guess maybe, maybe this is a benefit if you really don’t have the time and absolutely need to do both of these tasks at the same time
- Retarget your Linktree visitors with Facebook Pixel – You should be doing this on your site already, you do not need Linktree to do this
You should stop using linktree right now and start using your own splash or landing page instead.
The benefits of a custom splash or landing page
Rather than relying on Linktree, users can create their own splash or landing page hosted on their website. Not only can they customize the page to align with their brand image, but they can also capture organic traffic and improve their SEO. With millions of Linktree users, it’s challenging to create an original page that stands out, and the limited number of templates and color schemes further reduces the uniqueness.
Creating a custom page hosted on your website can also improve contact information and reduce the number of clicks required to reach you. On Linktree, visitors must click through to your contact page, while on your website, you can share direct contact information and reduce clicks in the user experience.
Taking control of your online presence
Hosting a splash or landing page on your domain allows you to track visitors in much greater detail than Linktree, including heat maps that track visitor cursor movement, visitor country of origin, and device and browser information. In addition, having a custom, branded splash or landing page can count the visitors and add to your website’s visitor tally, which can also be added to your custom Facebook audience, increasing your inbound inquiries.
A custom splash or landing page hosted on your website acts as your virtual business card, consistently introducing your brand to friends and strangers on the Internet and captures that traffic to credit your own domain, which search engines use as part of their algorithm to determine where to rank you in results for your keywords. If you don’t have a website yet, setting up a domain and hosting is easy and affordable and you can do a website you fully own yourself or you can hire a designer to create it, and a consultation with an expert can help guide you through the process.
“Your website is the center of your digital presence. It’s where people go to learn more about you, to engage with you, to buy from you, to read your content, or to recommend you to a friend.” – Andy Crestodina
Conclusion
In conclusion, using Linktree is a missed opportunity for organic traffic and a limitation to your brand’s online presence. Creating a custom splash or landing page hosted on your website provides greater control over your online identity, increases inbound inquiries, and improves analytics and tracking capabilities. So, it’s time to ditch the Linktree and take control of your online presence.
Take control of your online presence today! Create a custom splash or landing page hosted on your website and start boosting your organic traffic. Or message us to find out more.
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F.A.Q.
Q1. What is Linktree?
A1. It’s is a platform that allows Instagram users to push more than one link at a time by listing their content, URLs, and social profiles in a menu for their followers to engage with.
Q2. Who created Linktree?
A2. It was created in 2016 by a team of Melbourne brothers, Alex and Anthony Zaccaria, and their co-founder Nick Humphreys.
Q3. What are the limitations of using Linktree?
A3. Using Linktree means giving up domain traffic and marketing for the Linktree platform instead of your own brand/domain. Additionally, some users have received notifications that their profiles contain a link that is not allowed, leading to account bans.
Q4. What is a custom splash or landing page?
A4. A custom splash or landing page is a webpage that is hosted on a user’s own website and can be customized to align with their brand image.
Q5. What are the benefits of creating a custom splash or landing page?
A5. Creating a custom splash or landing page hosted on your website allows for greater control over your online identity, increases inbound inquiries, and improves analytics and tracking capabilities. Additionally, it provides an opportunity to capture organic traffic and improve SEO.
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