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How to Add a Link to Instagram Story: Complete Beginner Guide

hitpaw editor in chief By Daniel Walker
Last Updated: 2026-02-26 18:46:06

Instagram stories are the best method of driving traffic to your sites, YouTube videos, online stores, and landing pages. Being a content creator, small business owner, and influencer, you can plan to understand how to include a link in your Instagram story to be able to make the viewers click.

Instagram has already adopted the usage of the so-called Link Sticker - the swipe-up concept has been replaced, and the positivity is that everybody can make use of it, regardless of whether they have fans or not. You need not have 10k followers in an attempt to maximize it.

This tutorial will explain how to add a link to your Instagram story in a series of steps, and it will explain how to add links to YouTube and customise your sticker to be more engaging.

Part 1. Before You Start: What You Need to Get Up and Running

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of adding links to your Instagram story, make sure you've got the following in place:

  • Make sure your Instagram app is bang up to date
  • Whether you've got a public or private account, it will work either way - so long as you're using the Story feature.

No more worrying about needing a gazillion followers to get the most out of this feature.

Part 2. Adding a Link to Instagram Story - The Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these steps carefully, and you'll be adding links in no time

Step 1: Get Your Story Started

Open the Story feature on Instagram and turn on the fire.

Press the plus sign on the top-right side or swipe to the right out of your feed.

Record a photo or a video, or grab a picture or one from your gallery.

Step 2: Get to the Sticker Menu

Tap the square smiley face sticker icon on the top of the screen - the one with the appearance of a sticker menu.

how to add a link to Instagram story

Step 3: Add a Link Sticker

how to add a link to Instagram story

Scroll down and tap Link. It is the attribute that you have been Googling:

How to add a link to an Instagram story.

Step 4: typing the URL to be shared.

how to add a link to Instagram story

Insert the link to the website you would like to share - it might be a blog post, a product page, an event registration, or a YouTube video.

Hit done when you've pasted the link in.

Step 5: Make it Clicky

You can edit the sticker text to make it more clickable - ditch the boring old URL and replace it with something more tempting:

  • Watch Now
  • Shop Here
  • Read More
  • New Video

This part makes a big difference to how much engagement you get

Step 6: Position That Sticker

Drag the sticker anywhere on your story - near a call-to-action, beside an arrow, or put it right at the bottom centre for easy tapping.

Step 7: Hit Publish

Tap Your Story to publish - and you've successfully learned how to add a link to a story on Instagram.

Part 3. Adding a YouTube Link to an Instagram Story

Lots of people ask us "how to add a YouTube link to an Instagram story" - but the steps are identical:

  1. Copy your YouTube video URL
  2. Open Instagram Story
  3. Add Link sticker
  4. Paste the YouTube link
  5. Customise text (so it says something like "Watch My New Video")
  6. And don't forget to make that sticker look nice and clean by shortening the link.

Part 4: Tips to Increase Clicks on Instagram Story Links

Just knowing how to add a link to an Instagram story isn't enough - you need eyeballs

Best Practices to make your link sticker pop:

  • Don't just slap the sticker there - throw some arrows pointing at it to get people's attention.
  • You can make it clear where to tap by adding a simple "Tap Here" text.
  • Use a contrasty background to make the sticker stand out.
  • Don't be a rookie and stick that sticker right up against the edge of the screen - leave some breathing room.
  • And to get people's attention in the first place, toss in an animated GIF every now and then.

Part 5: Common problems & fixes - so you can actually get your link working

Can't even find the link sticker?

It's probably because you need to update your Instagram app.

Your link is there, but still not clickable?

Double-check that you're pasting the whole URL (including that https:// business).

Having a shockingly low click-through rate?

Your call-to-action might just be too weak, that's all.

Part 6: Make your Instagram Story Worth Looking at with HitPaw FotorPea AI Canvas

Now that you know how to add a link to your Instagram story, let's talk about making it look good. This is where HitPaw FotorPea AI Canvas comes in - an otherwise dull text-only story is transformed.

Instead of boring old plain text, you can do some real magic with:

  • Eye-catching captions
  • Custom call-to-action graphics
  • Highlighted link prompts that don't just say "click here."
  • Some really cool stylized typography to make your story stand out

Why do you want to use HitPaw FotorPea for your Instagram stories?

  • Their AI-powered text design is seriously on point
  • You can use any font you want, in any layout
  • Background removal is a breeze, and export is in high-res
  • Social media aspect ratio supportThis is perfect for giving you that extra little boost in click-through rates

Step-by-step: add a caption to your Instagram story using the AI Canvas

Step 1: Open up AI Canvas

Launch HitPaw FotorPea and head to AI Canvas mode.

how to add a link to Instagram story

Step 2: Get your story image ready

Import that Instagram photo or background you want to use.

Step 3: Add some AI magic with AI Caption

Use their text suggestion feature - give it some prompts like:

  • "Make a bold call-to-action that says 'Watch Now' in a modern style."
  • "Design some aesthetic Instagram story text that really encourages link clicks."

Step 4: Give your text some oomph

Adjust the font style, color, size, shadow, and glow effects to really make it stand out.

Just make sure it's pointing at your link sticker.

how to add a link to Instagram story

Step 5: Save it all and upload to Instagram

Save your design and then add your link sticker in the usual way.

Now your story's got both clickable links and a design that actually gets people's attention.

Conclusion

It is not hard to learn how to add a link to an Instagram story by using the feature of a Link Sticker. It only requires a few taps, whether you are sharing a YouTube link, a website, or a blog. However, to be truthful, it is not a simple half-battle to add a link. This can actually be achieved by using tools such as HitPaw FotorPea Canvas, which is an AI tool to help people actually follow up on that link.

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