- Hey guys, my name is Christian Taylor.
Welcome back to Craylor Made where I like to talk about
all things online branding and marketing.
So if you're trying to grow your brand's presence
on Instagram,
chances are you've tried
or at least seen services like Linktree.
Linktree is a free solution that allows you to have one link
in your Instagram bio,
and when people tap that link,
they're given a list of other links to tap.
If you're on a content centered business,
like a YouTube channel, or blog,
or even a store with a bunch of products,
a system like Linktree is a must.
When someone is scrolling down your Instagram page
and you're promoting your latest product, video or article,
there's no way to have a link to that in the post.
All you can say is, "Hey, go to the link in my bio
"to see this post".
And if you're posting three, four or five times a week,
even once or twice a day with new content,
there's a chance that people may see older posts,
and they go to the link in your bio,
and if it's always linked to your newest post,
they're gonna be confused.
So this is where a system like Linktree comes into play.
Maybe they see a post that's two days old,
expecting a certain blog post.
They go to the link in your bio,
and they see okay, this is not the newest blog post,
but I can tap the fourth link down,
and that's what I was looking for.
So I used Linktree for a few months
because it seemed like a no brainer.
It's free and simple to use,
but it wasn't good enough for me,
and even the pro version left me unsatisfied
and wanting more.
I'm gonna break down what I like about Linktree,
what I don't like about Linktree
and the solution I've finally settled on
after a lot of searching.
So first, let's evaluate the free version of Linktree.
It's as basic as a link system can get.
You can create unlimited links on your Linktree,
few basic stats like clicks on specific links,
and the lifetime views of your Linktree page itself,
and you can pick from a few generic Linktree themes.
If your only goal is to display a few links for users
to pick from when they click the link in your Instagram bio,
the free version of Linktree can definitely fulfill this.
My issue with Linktree is that the free version
is incredibly boring.
I figured the solution was to cough up $6 a month
for the pro version,
but nope.
My single biggest issue with Linktree is the inability
to add pictures
and rich content to engage users.
People don't like to read.
When I see Linktree pages,
I immediately think, "Ha, I'm staring at a bunch
"of bland text that all looks the same.
"Which link am I supposed to click?".
As a content creator I've become accustomed
to drawing people in with visuals,
slick video thumbnails to get viewers to click,
subtle animations that draw your attention
to a specific element on the page.
I thought that Linktree Pro was the answer.
I figured they would have thought this stuff out,
and by paying $6 a month,
I would unlock access to these types of features.
Well, unfortunately the thumbnails advertised
in the pro version of Linktree,
are just tiny, non-customizable squares
that go on the right side of the button.
Sure, you could do some neat things with this,
like uploading icons that have the same background color
as the button and blend in,
but it's definitely not what I was needing.
And it's definitely not worth $6 per month.
The only advantage to Linktree Pro is the ability
to prioritize links by adding a subtle animation
to get users to click the latest link.
To give credit where credit is due,
this is one of the methods I like to use
on UIs and websites,
and I'm glad that Linktree offers this in the pro option.
But at the end of the day Linktree is heavily lacking
in both the free and pro versions.
If I'm gonna pay $6 a month for something,
I need it to work and I need it to work well
and have results.
And I really wasn't seeing results
or a high click-through rate with Linktree.
So I continued to search for the best solution for me.
There are tons of Linktree alternatives,
Linkin.bio, bio.fm, campsite.bio,
and Shorby to name a few.
Many of these alternatives are basically a carbon copy
of your Instagram profile.
And I think that's just goofy.
No one wants to tap a link in your Instagram bio,
just to be presented with a page
that looks like your Instagram profile.
It makes no sense.
And I don't think it's clear that users are supposed
to select a particular post to be sent
to the link associated with that post.
This is a more flawed system than Linktree,
and I wouldn't advise using these systems at all.
The only Linktree alternatives I really liked
were bio.fm and Shorby.
Now bio.fm has some cool features,
you can add YouTube videos with links
and buttons and different aspects
and blocks to your page.
I ultimately decided that although it's free,
and in my opinion, better than Linktree,
I still was looking for something a bit more
and something that was more custom to my needs.
And I kinda felt the same way with Shorby.
It's slick, has a lot of customization,
and it has the rich visual aspects
that I miss with Linktree,
but Shorby costs $9 a month,
more than I'm willing to pay for this type of platform.
So in the end, I decided that the best option for me
would be to create a custom landing page
on my existing WordPress website
and optimize it for mobile devices.
That's exactly what I did,
and it was a good move.
I realized that not everyone is tech-savvy enough
to do this,
or maybe you don't wanna put in the time
into creating a custom solution,
but I was able to create the perfect option for me
and make the page exactly how I wanted it to appear.
So, if you're just looking for a simple way to link
to several different places,
then you could try the free version of Linktree.
There's no harm in that,
but I think generally speaking, bio.fm is going
to be the best free solution out there.
That's a happy medium.
It's free, but it does let you customize
more than Linktree does,
and I think for most people, it's going to be fine.
But if you want a completely custom solution like I did,
and you just have a particular vision in your head
of what you want the page to look like,
it might be worth toying around with WordPress
to see if you can create an Instagram bio landing page
that you like.
WORDPRESS.ORG is a free platform,
and you can find a decent free WordPress theme
that uses Elementor, which is a drag and drop plugin
that's also free that makes it really easy to build a page,
and you can get WordPress hosting from Hostinger
for about $25 per year.
This means that for $35 per year,
including your domain name,
you can have a completely custom landing page
where you can do what ever you want to do.
The trade off here is that you'll spend a decent amount
of time getting it all set up
and editing the page won't be as easy
or convenient as Linktree or bio.fm or Shorby.
So that's why if you're just looking for a super basic way
to add multiple links to your Instagram bio,
I'd stick with the free version of Linktree or bio.fm.
But if you're wanting the rich visuals
and customization that I was seeking,
I would recommend creating a landing page through WordPress
or Squarespace or Shorby if you don't mind coughing up
for the cost of Squarespace or Shorby
because those are easy to use platforms
but they're expensive.
Of course WordPress is affordable,
but it's going to be more work for you.
So which Instagram link solution did you use?
I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments down below,
and if you liked this video,
do be sure to hit that Subscribe button and click the bell,
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With that said, I will catch you guys next time.