If you're active on instagram, you most likely want to have an Instagram feed on your website. Although there are numerous ways to achieve this, I highly recommend using what I call a Fake Instagram Feed.
So what exactly is a ‘Fake' Instagram feed? It's a section on your website that looks exactly like an instagram feed, but it's actually just images that link to your IG account. Here's a few examples of what this looks like:
Here are the top 3 reasons I recommend this method over any other.
1. A Fake Instagram Feed will not break
After designing websites on WordPress for 10 years, I've tried multiple plugins and 3rd party services like Snapwidget and Lightwidget. I realized that there is something that all of these have in common- they are unreliable and can break without you even knowing about it! I've received many emails from clients who were upset b/c their feeds were broken, and they honestly didn't even know how long they had been broken. By using a fake IG feed, you can rest assured knowing that your IG feed will never break or disappear.
2. A Fake Instagram Feed will not slow down your website load time
Many of the plugins and apps for IG feeds can drastically slow down your website load time. I've seen some of them add an extra 1-2 seconds to load times- and I can promise you that website visitors typically don't have time to wait around. The average user spends less than 15 seconds on your website, so you'll want to be sure that those seconds are spent seeing your content and not waiting on an IG feed to load.
3. A Fake Instagram Feed will always look gorgeous
Since the Fake IG feed is a curation of images that you choose- your feed will always look great and fit in perfectly with your website design. You can select images that best represent your brand instead of displaying images for sales, promos, and giveaways.
To set up a Fake IG Feed on your website, simply add your favorite images from IG onto your website and link them to your IG page. Make sure to add them in a square format so it still looks like it's pulling from IG. Easy peasy!
Here's a video walkthrough if you'd like to see how it's done!
I hope this helps you if you've been undecided about the best way to add an Instagram Feed to your website. If you have any questions about this method, feel free to reach out at hello@heather-jones.com.
Need a website for your small business?
