Make Instagram Work to increase your Antique Website Traffic

Setting foot into the world of online shopping is a recent move for many antique dealers. And further venturing into the world of social media is a whole new ball game altogether. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest etc are some of the platforms that can work wonders when it comes to increasing traffic back to your website. It is all interrelated after all!

Let’s talk about Instagram for instance. Being active on Instagram and increasing your followers is a sure way of ensuring that your products are visible for more people to see. Once your follower base increases, the chances of your website attracting more visitors increase too. Here are some quick tips to get your Instagram account going:

Getting followers on Instagram is not as easy as it seems. You need to first set up a good profile and start following relevant people in the industry. You can start by simply searching for antiques and other related content, find the accounts associated with antiques and follow them. Gaining your initial follower base has a lot to do with likeminded accounts ‘Following’ and ‘Following Back’. You should also try to get your existing client base on board by promoting your social media profile via your website, monthly newsletters and face to face conversations. People tend to follow you if there are a good number of existing followers.

Getting your posts to reach relevant clients is all about putting in the right hashtags. Make sure that you include plenty of relevant hashtags, related to antiques and any areas you are targeting, in the caption.

Pretty profiles are bound to get you followers, so make sure your profile is as good looking as possible. Grids, in which your image thumbnails come together to create a larger image or effect, are a popular method of making a profile look visually appealing. You should also make sure that the pictures showcase your items in the best possible light. Antique pictures often look cluttered if there are too many items in the picture, which can be off-putting or confusing for customers. Spend some time creating content for your website by setting up the stage for each and every piece that you wish to exhibit online.

And while you post pretty pictures, make sure you put up behind the scene pictures or stories as well. Keeping it real and offering behind the scenes insight is something that people absolutely love. Make the captions interesting - sharing small snippets of information or some interesting story around the object can grab attention.

With Instagram, consistency is the key to success. If you post one day and are inactive for the next 10 days, it will not help your profile. Regular content is important and there are even particular time slots that you can post during, which will give you maximum exposure.

If the picture you’re posting is of an item that is for sale, be sure to include a product tag to the item if you have a Facebook or Instagram store. This way people viewing the post will be able to click on the product tag and buy the item directly from your website.

And since we are talking about getting traffic to your website, you should also add a link to the website in your profile bio. This is important since Instagram post captions do not support clickable links. If you are making a post that you hope will encourage people to visit your website, it is common to simply direct other users to the web address in your bio.

Follow these tips and you should be able to get your Insta off to a great start, with increasing numbers of followers which will naturally lead to an increase in your web traffic.