How to Blog on Instagram Without Having a Website

Published on 8th of August 2021

People believe that to become an Instagram blogger or influencer, they need a website. The idea of owning and running one deters people from starting their Instagram accounts because they don’t want to buy a domain, design a website, and follow the steps that require making it a success.

However, if you want to blog on Instagram without a website, it’s entirely possible. We’re going to outline how you can do that, the steps to take to become an influencer, and finally, a few tips on how to make money through Instagram.

How to blog on Instagram without having a website

1. The basics

I’ll keep this point short and sweet. First, open a business account, not a personal one. With a business account, you have access to analytics that can help you figure out who your audience is, with demographics, and which of your content receives the most engagement. Next, select your profile picture—an HD picture of your face (the space is too small for a full body or even half-body shot), and add a bio. Check out this article for how to write the perfect Instagram bio.

2. Pick your niche

Finding your niche is one of the most important steps you’ll take. Picking your niche means that you find the topic you’ll blog about. To choose your niche, one tip that everyone gives is to make a list of everything you know well about such as web design, writing, reading books, movies, social media, motivation, cooking, fitness, or anything else that interests you.

Ask yourself what you’re interested in, what you know, and what others might find interesting in getting your perspective on. It doesn’t matter that there are a million other fitness Instagram accounts; you can still get into the fitness niche and make a living.

3. Start posting

Since you’ve chosen your niche, you can start posting on Instagram. Well, start taking pictures. One thing all influencers do is use filters and keep a consistent look in their main feed. So, take pictures, then select a filter, and maintain the same lighting with all of them. Once you’ve chosen the best look, you can start uploading.

Your pictures have to be HD, but considering that basically all smartphones have incredible cameras, this shouldn’t be a problem. You can take photos of yourself, places, food, other people, and more. Be creative, and don’t hold back! Make sure you’re writing engaging captions.

How to become an influencer

1. Use hashtags

If you people to find you, you need to use hashtags. Don’t splatter random hashtags onto your post. Set out to find the perfect ones. Once you have ten thousand followers, you can get away with using five hashtags per post, but if you’re starting, use the thirty available to you. Choose broad hashtags that have 700,000+ posts, hashtags with 100,000 to 600,000 posts, and choose specific hashtags that have 10,000 to 90,000 posts. Include ALL three in one post.

2. Connect with influencers

If you want other influencers to know who you are, start putting yourself out there. Leave comments on all of their pictures, show up to their lives and ask questions, and share their content. Reply to their stories, and send them DMs. Try starting conversations with them until one day you become such a known presence they reach back out to you. Connecting with influencers takes time and patience, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

Pro tip: Sharing someone’s content, whether to your main feed or story, is underrated. When you take time to appreciate someone else’s content and share it often, you stand out.

3. Post daily

For people to find you, you need to post high-quality content every day. You should be posting at least one picture or video on your main feed once a day, and at least three stories. Go live at least once a week so that your followers get to know you. The key is to make your main feed look clean and professional. Don’t post bad, low-quality images that you put no effort into because people will catch on.

How to make money on Instagram

1. Work with brands/become an affiliate

Working with brands to promote their products is one of the most common ways Instagram influencers make money on Instagram. How this works is you reach out to a brand (or they might reach out to you, so keep an eye out!), and if they’re interested in working with you, you will promote their product. They will pay you once for taking a picture with, say, their clothes, or they could offer you an affiliate link. With an affiliate link, people can buy from the link the brand gives you, and you get money as well as the brand.

The important thing you remember about working with brands is that you choose brands your followers will like. You have to be sure to work with a brand that suits your brand. If you work with any brand, your followers will catch on to the fact that you’re only doing it for the money, and that you’re not considering what they think. Say no if you must—even if it’s an excellent opportunity. I promise you another will come along.

If you want to learn more about how to making money on Instagram, check out these articles:

2. Sell something on an already established website

You might be an artist, a writer, a musician, and what not, so you don’t want to build a website, sell what you create on already established sites. Millions of people sell posters, t-shirts, stickers, mugs, pins, clothes, and other random items on Etsy, Redbubble, TeePublic, Amazon Merch, and Society6. If you want to sell something different, such as short stories to hardcore fans who’ve enjoyed some of your writing, you can join Patreon or ask them to buy you a “ko-fi”.