In this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll learn how to add Instagram to WordPress to gain not just more followers but also improve your blog’s UX. As there are numerous benefits from integrating Instagram with your blog and site, let’s just cover the basics for a sec.
Instagram stats
Once exclusive only to iPhone users, Instagram grew to around 1 billion monthly active users today!
That alone is reason enough for you to:
- Be on Instagram
- Add it to your WordPress blog or site
Other than that, there are quite a few promising stats to win you over to join the Instagram tribe:
- 70% of users look up a brand on Instagram
- 60% of users learn about new products through Instagram
- Instagram images get an average of 23% more engagement than those on Facebook
- More than 200 million users visit a business profile at least once a day
All this (and more) clearly state that Instagram is a huge drive towards business success. And here’s how.
What are the benefits of adding Instagram to WordPress?
Whatever business you’re in, chances are – your target audience uses Instagram. Hence, you and your business need to be there, too. It’s a great promotional tool and – done right – can improve your visibility, engagement, not to mention your business goals and sales. How?
To have an account on Instagram means better reach, more visibility, and a chance to connect with your audience in a more beautiful way. Not to mention, you’ll get a chance to reach users you’re not targeting through your blog or site. Images matter and the right image on Instagram can make your blog/business thrive. And it really doesn’t have to be difficult to set all up there – no matter the niche you’re from!
Set up a content marketing strategy around topics you cover and write about, find appropriate images (either yours or from a reliable free resource), mix it up with relevant quotes or sayings and there you go! It already looks (more than) halfway done! The final step would be to connect your Instagram account to your WordPress blog and drive more engagement with your brand.
Now, there are quite a few WordPress themes on the market that come with already integrated Instagram. Happy to say, several of our themes have that feature as well. Johannes (as well as a few more), for instance, which is designed to follow the trends of today’s modern web and WordPress 5+. If you’re on the lookout for a new theme, Johannes might do the trick or any other from our Themes portfolio.
But, if you don’t have that type of a theme and still need Instagram on your blog, there are several ways to add it.
Two ways to add Instagram to WordPress
Like we mentioned earlier, there are, basically, two primary ways to add Instagram to your blog or site, and we’ll guide you through each one.
Embed Instagram Posts to WordPress
The simplest way is to head over to Instagram, choose the post you want to add to your post, copy the link, and paste it to the editor. It will automatically transform into an Instagram post.
The other way of manual adding a post is to choose the Embed option, copy the code, and paste it into the text feature of the editor. Once you return to the visual feature, it will appear the way you want it to. This way, you can also embed Instagram posts within a sidebar (or anywhere else), by using Custom HTML widget.
And, if you’re using Gutenberg Editor, simply search for an Instagram block, add URL of a post you want to embed, and it will appear in your post.
Now, these are all ways to add Instagram posts, and can’t be used to integrate accounts or feeds or content by hashtags/users and such. That is where this other way steps in 😊
Add Instagram to WordPress with plugins
Talk about the beauty of WordPress and its customization, right? There are so many great (and free!) plugins that help you add Instagram to WordPress, and we’re recommending the best of the best! Just read through and choose the one that best fits your needs.
Enjoy Social Media Feed Plugin
Enjoy is a freemium WordPress plugin that enables you to manage Instagram posts and videos in your pages, posts, and sidebars with – well, ease. It works in shortcodes so, once you install it, with just a line of code, you’ll have your Instagram content in no time and no fuss. You can choose to showcase content by hashtag or Instagram account, carousel or grid view mode, and more.
There’s also a premium version that comes with more customizable features, such as:
- More shortcodes
- Polaroid view
- Album view
- Badge view
- Moderation panel
and more.
Feed Them Social
Feed Them Social is also a freemium WordPress plugin that helps you manage all the major Social Media feeds, including Instagram. Simple to setup and use, it enables you to:
Once you install it, select a Social Network to get your Access Token before generating a shortcode button, then copy and paste it wherever you want it to display. You can customize it to display
- User Feed
- Hashtag Feed
- Location Feed
- Number of pics
- Number of columns
and more.
Premium version comes with additional options such as:
- Load more button
- Display photos and videos in a Popup
- More images and videos to show in a feed.
The price starts at $50 for a single site.
Meks Easy Photo feed Widget
Not /just/ because it’s ours, this WordPress Instagram plugin is one of the easiest to use and manage! Completely free and made to go along every type of WordPress blog and site, it helps you display beautiful Instagram feeds within a few clicks!
To use it, simply activate it upon installation, go to the Widget area and manage the details and options. You can choose to display feeds, hashtags or combination, configure the number of columns, specify the spacing between images and all those fine-tuning stuff to make that Instagram content pop!
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed
Formerly known as Instagram Feed, Smash Balloon is a freemium WordPress plugin that you use to display Instagram posts from your accounts. It comes with a simple set up, uses the built-in shortcode options for customization, can display medium or full-size photos as well as thumbnail and more. Another great way to keep your blog or site looking fresh and more engaging. Once you install it, activate it with InstagramAccess Token and Instagram User ID to configure settings.
Pro version comes with more features, such as:
- Hashtag feeds
- Display captions for photos and videos
- Block posts by specific users
- Carousel feature
and more.
The price starts at $49/year for one site.
Social Feed Gallery
Another useful freemium WordPress Instagram plugin. Social Feed Gallery offers two different layouts to display your feeds, as well as it lets you create hashtag feeds. It comes with a one-click setup, which automatically generates and saves your Instagram account token.
Pro features come with features like:
- Multiple Instagram User Accounts
- More gallery layouts
- Display image captions
- Load more button and more.
The price for the Pro version starts at $10 for one site license.
Social Slider Widget
Social Slider Widget is a free responsive Instagram plugin that shows 12 latest images either from an account or hashtag. Once you install and activate it, simply go over to Widgets area and drag \’Social Slider Widget\’ to your sidebar. Then just customize the settings, like username, image layouts and such, and you’re done!
WPZOOM Social Feed Widget
Social Feed Widget by WPZOOM is a simple widget for WordPress to display your latest Instagram shots. You can choose between 4 different layouts:
- Full-width widget area
- 3 columns
- 2 columns
- 1 column view, as seen on their demo page.
To use it, upon installation and activation, you’ll find it under Settings > Instagram Widget page, where you need to connect it to your Instagram account. Once you do that, head over to the Widget area to add it wherever on the site you want.
Bonus tip
We couldn’t finish this guide without mentioning the IFTTT way as well. In case you didn’t know, IFTTT is a great online tool that helps you automate all sorts of processes, including adding Instagram posts and feeds to your WordPress blogs and sites. To use it, register an account and connect it with your Instagram account, then choose between many Applets (actions):
- Instagram #tag to WordPress category as a photo post
- Post your Instagram photos to WordPress
- Instagram video to a WordPress blog and more.
And if you’re not finding what you need, you can easily create an Applet to fit your needs.
Wrapping up
We hope this guide helps you in deciding to both use Instagram for your business AND connect it to your blog or site. And if you have any questions regarding Instagram and WordPress, feel free to ask them in the comments section below!