Five ways to display Instagram feed on websites / EC sites

Instagram’s monthly active users exceed 2 billion globally and 33 million in Japan, and the numbers are increasing every year.

Many of you who operate stores, EC sites, or service sites may already have an Instagram account, but are you displaying your Instagram posts and images on your own website?

Instagram is widely used as an information-sharing tool focused on photos and videos, and especially among BtoC companies, a lot of websites are creating content by embedding Instagram posts.

If your website is built with Wordpress, there are plenty of easy-to-use plugins, such as “Instagram Feed.” However, general website tools often offer robust functionality but can cost around ¥20,000 per month, which can be a burden for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses.

That’s why this time, we’ll introduce mainly free ways to display your Instagram feed on your website.

• Merits of displaying your Instagram feed on your website
• 3 Free Ways to Add an Instagram Widget to Your Site
• SnapWidget
• Instagram API + instafeed.js
• Snapppt
• Summary

If you already have an Instagram account and are actively using it, you’re probably seeing some traffic from Instagram to your website. However, by embedding a widget on your site, you can also expect traffic in the opposite direction, increasing your chances of gaining more followers and likes. Additionally, users who directly visit your website often have a higher interest in your content or products, so if you provide an easy way for them to access your Instagram from your site, you can promote your Instagram account and potentially engage more interested users.

Even on a simple site, displaying Instagram images of the same size in a square layout looks visually appealing. The simpler the site, the more striking and impactful it becomes visually, so I highly recommend it. Also, by incorporating seasonal photos into your posts, you can easily refresh the look of your blog or website and make it feel more up-to-date.

By displaying images on your website that are consciously chosen to match the design and overall feel of your brand, you can post photos that create a unified visual identity. This naturally boosts your branding effect. While most Instagram users browse on mobile devices, viewing your posts on a larger monitor allows you to better appreciate the impact and unity of your Instagram feed. This awareness can lead to improved photography skills and a more refined selection of images for posting.

Now, let's take a look at some services you can use to display feeds.

1. Instafeed

https://apps.shopify.com/instafeed?locale=ja

Ease of use: ★★★
Customizability: ★★☆
Responsive: ○

[Pricing]

• Free: $0
• Pro: $6/month
• Plus: $20/month

This is a recommended feed app for those running EC sites on Shopify.
(If you’re not using Shopify, it’s a bit more work, but give it a try!)
Among the various feed apps available, this one offers essential features for free and is easy to set up.
If you just want to connect and display your own account, this app is more than enough.

By the way, our corporate site (here) is also built on Shopify, and we use this app to display our feed.

There are two types of paid plans available, allowing you to change layouts from the default, filter posts by specific hashtags, and upgrade according to your need for additional features.

https://snapwidget.com/

Ease of use ★★★
Customization ★★★
Responsiveness ◎

[Plan Pricing]

• Free Plan: Free
• Lite Plan: $6.60/month
• Pro Plan: $11/month
• Developer Plan: $55/month

A globally popular embedded widget. With this tool, you can automatically display photos posted not only on Instagram but also on Twitter and Facebook, generating widgets with ease. The user experience is similar to Facebook's official widget, so you can quickly create widgets. Creating and customizing widgets is also simple: just paste the code, making it free, fast, and above all, easy.

Issues with SnapWidget
SnapWidget is free to use, but the image links lead not to Instagram, but to a page provided by SnapWidget. If you subscribe to a paid plan (from $6/month), you can link directly to Instagram, and with the $10+ plan, you can also get hashtag feeds.
While this is understandable for a free service, it's not ideal for sites where brand image is important, such as for businesses.

That's why we'll introduce another method as well. It's a bit more complicated, but it allows direct transfer to Instagram when clicking images, and there are no ads.

Lightweight ★☆☆
Customizability ★★☆
Responsiveness △

[Plan Fees]

• Instagram API usage fee: Free
• instafeed.js plugin usage fee: Free

How to display the “Instagram API” on your site by linking it with the javascript plugin “instafeed.js”.
If you don’t have much knowledge of HTML or JS, you might find it a bit difficult, but as long as you follow the steps, you can set it up.
If your EC platform supports Javascript (*), you can set it up, so in reality, it can be introduced to almost any EC site.
* For mall-type sites (Rakuten, Yahoo! Shopping), shopping cart ASPs (Makeshop, Shopserve), and open-source platforms (Wordpress, EC CUBE), for example, we were able to implement it on Makeshop for both PC and mobile displays without any issues.
You can customize the responsiveness and appearance if you have knowledge of HTML and CSS, but you can easily set the image size, number of images, etc. just by tweaking a bit of code.

The procedure is as follows.

1. Log in to Instagram and create a client for API access
2. Get Instagram user ID
3. Obtain an access token
4. Set up on your website using instafeed.js

Important Notes on Using the Instagram API
*As of June 2016, the Instagram API requires approval.
For regular use, you will need to use the restricted "Sandbox Mode" for testing. However, this mode is not suitable for purposes like embedding widgets on websites, and you'll need to submit an app demo video for approval, making the review process quite strict.

Main Sandbox Mode Restrictions Are as Follows: ・You can display up to the latest 20 data items
・You can make up to 500 requests per hour
・You cannot retrieve data from other users
Going forward, it seems you can still use it for general-scale websites and e-commerce sites without issues.

Ease of Use ★★★
Customizability ★★☆
Responsiveness ◉

[Pricing]

• Essentials: $50/month
• Standard: $200/month
• Prime: $600 /month
• Enterprise: $2,000/month

This is an embed-type widget similar to SnapWidget, but Sauce is a tool for e-commerce sites that allows users to purchase products directly from the widget. By linking with Sauce, you can select images posted on Instagram that you want to display on your site, create a profile page (Instagram Shop), and seamlessly connect the flow between Instagram and your e-commerce site. By uploading plenty of coordinated images, you can also use it like a catalog that enables direct purchases.

Ease of Use ★★★
Customizability ★★☆
Responsiveness ◉

[Pricing]

• Costs vary depending on the plan.
  For detailed pricing, please confirm here → Contact us here 

As a UGC (User-Generated Content) utilization tool that can be integrated with Instagram, this service is expanding its presence domestically, and our company has also implemented it with proven results.
The service is paid and pricing is not publicly disclosed, so inquiries are required. However, there are also merits such as comprehensive support up to implementation.
Unlike simple feed display services, this tool allows you to collect and leverage UGC, making it highly recommended for businesses aiming to maximize sales and boost user engagement.

By actively featuring Instagram on your own store, you may encourage visitors to your website or shop to follow your Instagram or increase your fan base. There are various ways to use this, from simply displaying feeds to utilizing galleries and catalogs. By creating such touchpoints, you can convey your shop’s worldview and strengthen connections that encourage repeat visits. Even if you haven’t been able to fully leverage Instagram until now, we highly recommend taking this opportunity to give it a try!

At GO RIDE, we create and manage e-commerce websites. Please feel free to contact us. For inquiries, click here.