3 Reasons why Linktree is not the best option for your business
What is Linktree?
Linktree is a freemium Instagram social media plug-in that generates a landing page with your links for your audience to click on.
It was created to get around Instagram's one weblink per profile restriction.
Because links aren't clickable on Instagram posts, many entrepreneurs use Linktree in their bio to include links to their blog posts.
When a visitor clicks on a linktr.ee link, they are presented with a list of links to choose from, such as recent blogs, service pages, lead magnet landing pages, and so on.
Why is Linktree bad for SEO? It appears to be a great idea, and it can certainly get people reading your content, so why is it bad for SEO?
Especially since it appears to be so well-liked?
Linktree add a step to your customer experience
To boost your SEO, I always recommend social media marketing. It's a great way to get people to read your content by linking back to it. This then sends a social signal to Google indicating that your content is of high quality and valuable to your target audience. Giving your content a higher ranking in Google search results.
SEO (and all marketing) is focused on your ideal customer's journey, from realizing they have a problem that needs to be fixed to determining what it is; determining who they need to search for to finding a solution and discovering your website/social media.
Instead of going directly to your website from a social media post, they are directed to a third-party landing page with a slew of links. Several things could occur:
They discover the correct link for the content they seek, but they become distracted and click on a completely different link.
They are overwhelmed by all of the links and instead return to Instagram.
In case you were wondering, most people become overwhelmed when there are too many links.
It's known as "decision paralysis," and it occurs when there are so many links to choose from that most people don't know which one to click, so they don't click any of them.
Most just find it annoying to click on a link and then be presented with a slew of new links to choose from when all they wanted to do was read the blog mentioned in the Instagram post you liked!
Your branding gets lost in translation
Branding is critical for reinforcing your values as a business owner and communicating the appropriate message to your target customers. It helps you build rapport with potential customers and ensures that you and they are on the same page in terms of shared vision and goals.
Linktree's free version has very few branding options, with only a few colors and fonts available. Even with the paid version, it is difficult to match it to your own brand.
This is counterproductive to your marketing efforts.
It's a stumbling block when that branding is lost, especially in the middle of a purchasing journey. This is something new and different for them, and it may cause them to have reservations. Why does this seem to stand out from everything else I've seen?
The marketing role is not to create doubts, but to dispel them.
Having Linktree can make evaluating your Instagram marketing for SEO harder
One advantage of using social media for SEO is that it informs you about which content resonates with your target audience.
It can be difficult to figure out what kind of content your ideal customers want to see. They may not even know what they're looking for or what the issue is!
Posting on social media and monitoring which posts perform best, receive the most interactions, and are shared is an excellent way to learn about your target audience and determine what they want.
When someone clicks on a link to your website's content, you know which piece of content is worth promoting because it resonates with your target audience. You're also aware that you need to create more content on the subject.
Linktree only provides basic analytic data, such as the number of times a link has been clicked and the total lifetime views. It fails to inform you of:
You can't compare a link click to the Instagram post(s) you published that day to see what worked well this time.
When a visitor arrives at Linktree but leaves – an Instagram post may have been successful, but you have no idea how much traffic you lost because they arrived at Linktree rather than the anticipated blog post/content.
Linktree appears as referral traffic rather than social media traffic if you use Google Analytics to track your social media posts for SEO purposes. So you have no idea how much traffic Instagram has brought you.
Is There an Alternative to Linktree for SEO?
Yes, indeed, have your own website!
If you like the concept and operation of Linktree, why not create your own link page on your website?
You won't be sending traffic to a third party instead of your own website, and your brand message will remain intact.
You'll also be able to make it easier for your visitors to find the link they're looking for at a glance, such as by:
Put a brief description next to each link so they can quickly find the one they're looking for.
Separate the page into sections such as blog posts, lead magnet landing pages, topics, and so on.
Use images instead of text links, such as a blog post graphic with the title.
While this option does necessitate some maintenance and design skills, the benefits of directing valuable Instagram traffic to your website outweigh the costs.
And if that seems like a lot of work, it is. Put a link to your website in your bio, and don't worry if your post's links aren't hyperlinks. These days, it's as easy as going to your bio, clicking on Linktree, and finding the right link to copy and paste from a phone.