Hi. I haven’t written in a very loooooong time. Whew. My time off wasn’t planned but was the result of a really hectic and full month. September was very chaotic and to add to the craziness, The Chattery hosted two major events. So, even though my writing hiatus wasn’t planned, it was necessary. Now, I’m here writing another blog post (finally) and I’m excited to get back into the writing mix. But let me warn you: I can’t promise that I’ll be back on a consistent schedule but I’ll promise you I’ll try.

On my first post after taking a short break, you’d think I would return with a recipe. Instead, I’m writing about something related to running my site. I figure this could help someone else going through the same thing I am when it comes to blog traffic.

OK so let’s chat.

When it comes to sharing new posts on social media, specifically Instagram, it’s not always the easiest. Since I have less than 10,000 followers, when I share posts in my Stories, I can’t add the ‘swipe up’ feature (boo). We all know, you can’t add clickable links to actual Instagram captions – so that’s out. The other alternative to sharing new blog posts is via the link that’s in my bio. Perfect – right?

Yes, sort of. I used to only have my main web address in the link section of my Instagram bio but that made it difficult when I would share recipes from my archives. Visitors couldn’t just click the link – they’d have to then search for it on my blog. So then I moved to updating my links every single time I published a new post on the blog. That’s fine but it’s a bit time consuming. My next solution was Linktree! I was so excited when I found it. Let me explain a little about it.

Linktree is a free tool that lets you optimize your internet presence. It works for any type of creator who develops content online. You get one link to house all of the different content you want your followers to see. It’s great! Whenever I wanted to share an old post or if I wanted certain posts to “live” for a while, Linktree allowed me to have one link that showcased all of the different blog posts I want my readers to see. Genius.

Why I switched from Linktree

I know it must be confusing reading me speak the goodness of Linktree even though the name of the post eludes to me not using it anymore. ‘Tis true thoug. Linktree worked for me for a while. But one day, I started to think: I know there has to be a way where my readers don’t have to be taken to an outside party to only then be brought back to my site.

The minute I thought that, I saw another blogger I follow post something similar. She shared a very easy solution: make your own landing page. DUH!

So that’s exactly what I did. I made a page (find it here) that keeps track of all of the posts, both new and old, that I share on Instagram. And the best part? It links directly to my site instead of to Linktree. This is no shade to Linktree it’s just that it’s much better to lead readers directly to my site instead of an outside website. And I have Verbal Gold Blog to thank for sending me in the right direction of creating my own landing page.

Do you use Linktree?