One of the prominent features of the social network Instagram is the publication of stories, which are short videos lasting no more than 15 seconds or the display of photos. Despite their short duration, such stories can attract attention to your channel or page. Links to external sources can be attached to publications, which is especially beneficial for advertisers or business accounts, advanced users, and bloggers. In this article, we will explain how to use links, what the concept of swipe means, and how to swipe in Instagram stories.
What is a swipe on Instagram?
The social network Instagram presents a new and convenient way to interact with subscribers and potential consumers of services or goods. Stories are short videos or photos that last no more than 15 seconds and can be attached with links to external internet resources or other channels.
This tool is particularly attractive for business profiles that engage in active commercial and advertising activities, as well as for users interested in promoting their creativity or channel on Instagram and other platforms.
To follow a link to an external website in a story, you need to swipe your finger. What is a swipe? This term is decoded in simple language as a finger movement on the touch screen of a mobile device.
How does it work on Instagram? After viewing an ad block or story, the consumer becomes interested and then swipes up on the screen, automatically transferring to the specified resource. The swipe is displayed on the publication at the bottom of the screen as a small arrow and the caption “See More”.
Advantages of swiping
A similar way of transitioning to other resources in a social network has recently emerged and gained wide popularity among users. Let’s consider the main advantages of the feature:
- Maximizes the capabilities of Instagram stories, turning it from a regular social network into a platform for business development and commercial activity.
- Significantly increases traffic and conversion, profit and popularity of the external resource to which the link leads, with the help of a swipe.
- If the transition leads to a video on the IGTV channel, it instantly opens after moving your finger up the screen.
- If you have an educational channel, a swipe allows students to immediately access educational materials and portals, which saves time.
- Attracts new subscribers. Short videos and news will only tease readers and make them go to the main information on your channel or external source.
- A unique way to display and present links.
Among the disadvantages, only one can be highlighted – the standard swipe design does not stand out much, and users may simply not notice the invitation to the site. Therefore, it is worth considering additional link design with a call to action.
Who has access to the function?
It should be noted that this tool is not available to all Instagram users. The feature is available to the following categories:
- Users who have been verified and have more than 10,000 followers on their page.
- Business account owners who engage in commercial and advertising activities on the Instagram platform.
All other users (if they do not have 10,000 viewers) cannot post links to external resources in their stories, so this feature is suitable for businesses or bloggers who promote their channel on Instagram or other services.
Step-by-step guide to adding swipe functionality
Swipe is added by default after attaching a link to an external source in an Instagram story. Therefore, all you need to do is insert the necessary address in the corresponding field when editing and publishing the news. This function is available for all modern mobile devices and operating systems. We will discuss the features of the procedure for Android and IOS phones in detail.
For Android
To start, you need to log in to your Instagram page. Follow the instructions:
- In the main menu of the service, find the button to add a new story. It is located on the top panel and looks like your avatar with a plus sign. You can also swipe right on the screen to open the post creation menu.
- Take a video or photo on your mobile device camera, or upload ready-made material from your phone’s memory.
- Choose the display mode – normal mode, reverse shooting, boomerang, or others.
- Select the appropriate filter.
- In the editor’s top panel, find the icon in the form of a paperclip and click on it.
- The link addition menu will open. In the empty field, enter the exact address of your website or external source. Share the publication.
- If necessary, add captions, graphics.
Done. Now there will be an arrow under your story prompting to swipe up.
For iPhone
The process of attaching a link and performing a swipe is identical on all operating systems. Therefore, Apple mobile device users can use the instructions presented earlier in our article. After all, the application interface is as similar as possible and the main functional capabilities do not differ.
It should be noted that after reading the story, many users simply won’t notice the arrow at the bottom of the screen and will ignore the link. Therefore, it is worth configuring the recording and taking care of the visual display of the swipe, following these simple tips:
- During publication, try to highlight the swipe arrow, insert text with a call to action or graphic elements.
- In the Instagram editor, you will find many templates and stickers. To do this, enter “Swipe” in the search and a full list of available colorful stickers will be displayed on the screen.
Remember that the design of stories depends on the interest of users and the clickability of the swipe link.
We add a link when there are less than 10,000 subscribers
You don’t need to have 10,000 followers to use the swipe up feature. Recently, this option became available to any user who created their own channel and added at least one video to IGTV. Here’s how to do a swipe up:
- Go to your social media page.
- Open the add post tab or swipe right on the screen.
- Take a photo or video in real-time mode or upload ready-made material from your smartphone memory.
- Do the necessary editing, add filters, stickers, or graphic elements.
- Click on the paperclip button on the top editor panel.
- Select the option to attach an IGTV link.
- Then you will be in the IGTV menu, choose the video you want to publish. Confirm the attachment.
- Add a call to action (for example, swipe up!) or stickers to draw attention to the link.
Done. After the user swipes up, the desired video from your IGTV channel will start playing instantly.
Difficulties and problems
The procedure for adding a swipe is very simple and does not cause difficulties. However, if you notice that there is no paperclip icon while editing a publication, it means that you do not have access to this function. In this case, you need to contact technical support and try to solve the issue with professionals.
The article discusses how to make a swipe in Instagram stories. This feature has expanded the capabilities of the social network and turned it into a platform for conducting commercial and advertising activities, as well as promoting your own page.