Customer photos from social media don’t have to—and shouldn’t—just stay on the platforms they originate from. They’re much more powerful when they’re shared on your site. Adding a free Instagram feed to your website is one of the best ways to extend the value of your social ROI and maximize its benefits. These feeds are essentially Instagram galleries, similar to RSS feeds, that you can place on your site. Some can automatically update with all new posts, while others allow you to moderate what you share. Many of these come in the form of Instagram widgets, and are quick and easy to install—including Pixlee’s own Instagram widgets for websites.

Here's a closer look at why placing Instagram feeds on websites is so beneficial, and how to actually install these Instagram widgets onto your site.

‍Benefits of Placing Instagram Feeds on Your Site

‍Instagram feeds (or “Instafeeds") can provide so many benefits to your brand. The most obvious of which is to help you expand the reach of your social posts, increasing their visibility and thus their impact. Expanding the value of posts on social can help you to build and foster a stronger social community-- which is essential towards creating an authentic brand that users inherently trust and love to engage with.

When browsers see an Instagram feed on your website, they will have an easier time clicking-through to your Instagram account to follow you-- gaining you more on-platform followers and giving you the ability to reach and connect with additional users.

Because Instagram can be a powerful selling tool (in particular, real customer photos that were shared about you on Instagram can help you to increase sales), placing Instagram feeds on your site can help you drive up online conversions. While social proof is one of the most powerful marketing tools, even showcasing a strong and consistent Instagram business presence can lend to your brand credibility and authenticity.

When choosing an Instagram feed for your site, always choose one that lets users click on the individual images to view the entire post, such as the above example from Emerald Hair (which uses Pixlee's Free Social Feed.) This makes the feed more engaging and dynamic, and ifyou are sharing real customer photos-- it will allow the browser to see that these are real people posting about your brand.

How to Add Feeds to Your Site with Widgets

‍Adding Instagram feeds to websites is actually a lot easier than you’d think. Some come as plugins or widgets that are easy to install. For Pixlee’s Social Feed, you’ll be asked to log in to your Instagram account and authorize it. Once you do, you’ll be given a unique script of code that you’ll copy and then paste onto your site.

You can place this code into the pages you want the feed to be displayed on. I used the Insert Headers and Footers plugin for WordPress to easily paste code where it’s needed. I copied the code for Pixlee’s Instagram display widget into the footer of my site, so it will show up on the bottom of every page and post, though you can also install the code to a specific page or pages instead of all of them.

That’s it; that’s all it takes to install a feed onto your site. Pixlee’s Instagram widget is designed so that you can “set it and forget it,” meaning that it will automatically update the feed with all your new Instagram images.

Final ThoughtsAdding an Instagram feed to your website is one of the easiest ways to see more results from your social media marketing. It boosts the visibility and reach of your posts, giving them the potential to reach more people. It can also help you to tell your brand story more authentically on your site, and showcase some real customer photos if you have them. Well-placed Instagram feeds can help you get more results on both Instagram and your site through more engagement, followers, and sales. Try out Pixlee’s free Social Feed below, it's easily worth the two minutes (or less) it takes to install it.