So many bloggers discuss what “direct traffic” means when analyzing their Google Analytics. And it can mean anyone coming to your site from an email, from a direct link, a short-link, or when social media opens a new window on your phone. And the one social media network that always does this is Instagram. But how can you track instagram traffic on your blog? It’s easy even without being able to use links within comments on the platform! Find out how!
How do I see if traffic to my blog is coming from Instagram?
EASY! The first thing you need a template that allows you to have a non-static page. Most allow this, especially if you are using the genesis framework. Almost all themes have a way to customize a blog page, especially if you use a blog and static page.
STEP 1 First you need to go into your blog and create a new page. I personally named mine “Instagram”, but feel free to make it something that makes sense to you. Make sure that you also Label it as a URL that is both easy and straightforward. My URL is simply “IG” because it keeps the permalink simple, but I know that it is tracking instagram traffic when I am looking in Google Analytics.
STEP 2 Go into the right side of the page editor and under “Page Attribute” you need to select “blog”. This means that when anyone comes to this page, it is populated with all of your most recent posts. So then when you tell someone on Instagram that the link is in the profile for a recent post, it takes them to your blog feed.
STEP 3 Double check to see that the page is operating like it should. In the picture below you will see at the very top of the photo I have circled where it says Instagram. This is because that’s what page I am on. However, you can also see that below is my blog sorted by most recent post.
STEP 5 Go into your instagram account and add your Instagram link tracking URL.
STEP 6 Do another simple check to see that your clickable link is working on your profile.
STEP 7 Make sure that when you put a new photo on instagram and want to track who is really clicking, to use the phrase “Link in profile”, “Clickable Link in Profile” or “#LinkInProfile”
And finally you are done! This is just a really easy way to be able to track instagram traffic to your blog in google analytics. It’s a clean way to do it and it still uses your own blog or website URL and permalink rather than a short link.
Any questions? Let me know!
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