How to See Link Clicks on an Instagram Story

Adding a link to your Instagram Story is a great way to drive traffic, but it’s ineffective if you can't tell whether anyone is actually clicking. Finding that specific number - your link clicks - in your Story insights is straightforward once you know where to look. This guide will walk you through, step-by-step, how to find your link clicks, understand what the data means, and offer simple strategies to get more people tapping through.

First Things First: You Need a Business or Creator Account

Before you can see any detailed analytics, including link clicks, you need to make sure your Instagram account is set up as either a Business or Creator account. Personal accounts can now use the link sticker, but they don’t have access to the in-depth insights dashboard where all the valuable performance data resides.

If you have a personal account, making the switch is free and only takes a minute:

1. Go to your Instagram profile and tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner.
2. Tap Settings and privacy.
3. Scroll down and tap Account type and tools.
4. Tap Switch to professional account and follow the prompts. You’ll be asked to choose a category that best describes what you do (e.g., Digital Creator, Blogger, Entrepreneur).

Once you’ve switched, future Instagram Stories will begin collecting performance data you can review.

How to See Your Link Clicks on an Active or Archived Story

Okay, your account is set up and you've posted a Story with a link sticker. Now it’s time to see how it’s performing. You can check the insights whether the Story is still live (within its first 24 hours) or after it has moved to your archive.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Follow these simple steps to find your click-through data:

1. Access Your Story:

• For a live Story: Go to the Instagram home screen and tap your profile picture at the top to view your current Story.
• For an archived Story: Go to your profile, tap the hamburger menu in the top right, and select Archive. Make sure "Stories Archive" is selected at the top, and then tap on the Story you want to check.

2. Open Story Insights:

Once you’re viewing the Story slide that contains your link sticker, simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen. Alternatively, you may see a small "View insights" or "Seen by X" text in the bottom-left corner that you can tap. This action will open the Story insights panel.

3. Find Your "Link Clicks" Metric:

The insights panel displays a lot of information. Look under the "Interactions" section. You’ll see a line item specifically for "Link Clicks." The number next to it is exactly what you’re looking for - it's the total count of how many times people tapped your link and left Instagram to visit the URL.

In older versions of the app, this metric was sometimes called "Sticker Taps," which was a bit broader. "Link Clicks" is a more precise metric because it measures the intent to follow the link, not just a casual tap on the sticker itself.

Decoding Your Instagram Story Insights: Beyond Link Clicks

Link clicks tell you who went to your site, but the rest of the numbers in your insights panel give you the full story of your content's performance. Understanding them helps you figure out why people did or didn’t click your link.

Key Metrics to Look At:

• Accounts Reached: This is the number of unique accounts that saw your Story. This is your true audience size for that piece of content. If your link clicks are low but your reach is high, it could mean your call-to-action wasn’t compelling enough.
• Impressions: The total number of times your Story was seen. This number can be higher than your reach if the same person viewed your Story more than once.
• Content Interactions: This is a summary of all the actions viewers took on your Story. Link clicks are part of this, but it also includes things like replies, profile visits, and sticker taps (for polls, quizzes, etc.).
• Navigation: This section is gold for understanding audience behavior.
  • Forward: People tapping to get to the next piece of content. Normal behavior.
  • Back: People tapping to re-watch the previous slide. This is often a great sign - whatever you posted was interesting enough for a second look!
  • Next Story: People swiping away from your content to see the next account’s Story. A high number here on your link sticker slide might indicate that it wasn't engaging.
  • Exited: The number of times people left Stories completely after viewing your slide. A high exit rate could signal viewer fatigue or content that wasn’t what they expected.

For example, if you see a huge number of "Forwards" or "Next Story" taps on the slide with your link, it’s a clear signal that people aren’t interested in what you’re linking to. Maybe the setup wasn’t interesting, or the CTA wasn’t clear. On the other hand, a lot of "Back" taps on the slide before your link could mean you did a great job building anticipation.

Troubleshooting: "Why Can't I See My Link Clicks?"

Sometimes you might swipe up and find that the metric is missing. Here are a few common reasons why that might happen:

1. It’s Too Soon: Data can take a little while to populate fully, especially in the first few hours after posting. If you check immediately after a Story goes live, some metrics might not be there yet. Give it some time and check again later.
2. You’re on a Personal Account: This is the most common reason. As mentioned earlier, robust insights are only available for Business or Creator accounts.
3. The Story Had No Interactions: On very rare occasions with extremely low viewership, if nobody clicks the link, the "Link Clicks" line item may not even appear. The panel only shows actions that have actually occurred.
4. You’re Using a Third-Party App: If you're using other platforms to view your analytics, make sure they have the proper permissions and integrations with Instagram to pull Story-level data. The most reliable source is always the native Instagram app itself.

Simple and Effective Ways to Boost Your Story Link Clicks

Seeing your link clicks is one thing, getting more of them is another. If your numbers feel low, don't worry. Here are some actionable and straightforward strategies to encourage more people to tap through.

1. Use a Strong, Direct Call-to-Action (CTA)

Don’t just drop a link sticker and hope people click it. Tell them exactly what you want them to do and what they’ll get in return. Use text on the Story itself to give a clear instruction.

• Instead of just a link, write: "Tap to read the full blog post!"
• Instead of hoping they browse, write: "Shop the new arrivals here!"
• Instead of a vague goal, write: "Sign up at this link for 10% off."

You can also use arrow GIFs or stickers to physically point to your link sticker, drawing the eye directly to it.

2. Build Hype and Context

A link dropped out of nowhere feels random and untrustworthy. Warm your audience up first. Use the slides leading up to the link to create a narrative.

• For a blog post: On the first slide, use a poll sticker: "Are you struggling with X?" On the next slide, share a compelling quote from the article. On the final slide, add the link sticker with the text, "Find the solution here."
• For a product: Show a video of the product in action, or share a testimonial on one slide. Then, on the next slide, drop the link to buy.

3. Keep It Visually Uncluttered

Don't bury your link sticker in a messy, chaotic Story design. Place it in a spot with enough negative space around it so it stands out. Customize the color of the sticker to match your branding or to contrast with the background image, making it impossible to miss.

4. Verbally Tell People to Click

If you're creating a "talking head" video for your Story, remember to verbally include your call-to-action. Say something like, "...and if you want to learn more, I’m dropping the link right on this slide. Just tap here to check it out." This direct, verbal instruction makes a huge difference in engagement.

5. Track Your Performance and Iterate

Pay attention to which Stories drive the most clicks. Was it one where you built a lot of context? Or a simple, direct link? Was it a photo or a video? Use your Story insights to identify patterns. If you notice videos get more clicks, make more videos. If polls seem to boost engagement, incorporate more of them into your sequences.

Final Thoughts

Checking your Instagram Story link clicks is a simple yet powerful habit to get into. Swiping up on your Story to review the insights panel will quickly show you how many people are taking action. By paying attention to what works, you can turn your Stories from simple updates into a consistent source of traffic for your blog, products, or services.

Keeping up with link clicks, saves, shares, and all the other metrics across countless platforms and formats can quickly become overwhelming. At Postbase, we built our analytics dashboard to solve this exact problem. We give you one clean, simple place to track your performance across all your channels - including Stories, Reels, TikToks, and more - so you can spot trends and see what your audience loves without having to piece together data from different apps. This lets you focus on creating better content, not on fighting with spreadsheets.