Linktree and other similar services work as a tool to house important and relevant links you want to share with your followers. It started as a plug-in for Instagram, but most recently it is gaining usage across other social media platforms including Tik Tok.
The LinkTree plug-in is a ready-to-use tool specifically designed for an application like Instagram that doesn’t require coding or other technical skills to implement.
Linktree was designed to get around the one link per profile restriction on Instagram bios and other social media platforms. As links aren’t clickable on Instagram posts, many entrepreneurs choose to use Linktree in their bio as a launchpad for their latest video, article, recipe, tour, store, website, social post, etc. Linktree is to meant to create an easy one-click button to drive traffic to intended and targeted areas of your website.
Love Linktree?
It would seem at first glance, what is not to love about LinkTree.
Over 5 million social media accounts use it.
Users have flocked to it for its promise to easily drive visitors to their site in one click .
Many users have stated that it only takes minutes to complete and put in place.
It has a free version.
Praise for its simplicity and free or low-cost point for the paid plan can be found.
Or Leave It?
Roadblocks and cause to pause.
STATS
With the free version, you are able to see how many people have clicked your links. If you’re interested in learning when the link was clicked you are out of luck. It won’t help you track when the visitor reaches Linktree but doesn’t continue to your site. This type of missing data could help to determine that the Instagram post may have really been on point, but there is no way to know how much site traffic was lost when they were routed to Linktree instead of the content they had hoped for.
COST
In order for most social media users to get the most from LinkTree, they often find they have to upgrade to the paid version. Paying for the service may not seem like a large out-of-pocket expense, but these little costs add up very quickly for many small starting entrepreneurs. You have to pay for additional features. The paid version offers some additional capabilities such as the removal of the LinkTree logo/brand, some additional stats, and minimal customization.
LIMIT CUSTOMIZATION
For businesses to stand out, it is important that they have the ability to customize things that are connected or linked to their site to create a cohesive aesthetic. LinkTree provides limited customization with few options. You can add an image to represent your business along with a few color selections, but you may not be able to entirely match your business brand. Even with the paid version customization is limited.
IT HURTS YOUR PERSONAL BRAND
For many entrepreneurs and small business start-ups, tremendous thought and strategy have gone into brand colors, fonts, and the logo. These are the fundamental pieces that represent the image part of the brand of your business. These items help to shape the client’s experience with your brand.
However, with LinkTree, each time the LinkTree is clicked in the bio, the visitor will see the LinkTree logo; not your very strategically crafted logo. The one link allowed in the bio is a URL to LinkTree with your slug. Often site visitors experience a disconnect from your brand and this statistically could keep them from taking the next click to your site. Branding is always important.
IT’S AN EXTERNAL SITE:
Clicking on the LinkTree link in the bio will take viewers to a webpage hosted on LinkTree with various tabs linked to other pages. It sends site traffic to their site first and foremost; not yours. Users have to click at least twice to get to what you hope is their intended destination. The question becomes will people stay interested long enough to want to click two times? The goal of social media should be to drive and push traffic to your site. If you’re using LinkTree, you are adding one more hurdle before they can get to your site.
Other issues can arise from relying on an outside external site to drive your traffic. Even their verbiage states, "(e) We can cancel or suspend your plan". In 2018, all of LinkTree was temporarily marked as spam on Instagram. Although it was resolved and has not occurred since, it proves that by using outside sites, you are entirely at the mercy of the external host. They can change their functionality or increase prices and you are left to deal with it or solve the issue yourself.
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.”― Chinese proverb
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Why not directly connect viewers from your social media directly to your site. The more visitors you get directly to your site, the better; even helping with your SEO!
Consider this: if you are using LinkTree or a similar service, they will always be the middle man between your audience and your content. As the middle man, they act as a traffic director who may be pointing toward your site but also offer various other routes. The good news is it is possible to take the middle man out. Be your own traffic director! Plant your own digital tree that drives traffic to the various branches of your online brand and takes them directly to your site.
Having your website URL in your bio allows potential clients to get familiar with it and remember it, which increases the odds that they'll voluntarily visit it in the future.
Create a landing page on your website!
When you are ready to take this next step, let us create your landing page for your website.
K. Cradley & Co are not the registered trademark owners of Linktree and it is referred to as a product that can be utilized by individuals and companies in social marketing.