Want to learn how to embed live Instagram feeds on your website?
With over 1 billion active Instagram users, Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms out there.
Integrating your Instagram content on WordPress is a great way to display your best visual social media content, boost engagement, and increase sales on your e-commerce site.
But without coding skills, it can be tricky to add a live Instagram feed to your website, if you do this manually.
Luckily for you, we here at Smash Balloon are using our 10+ years of social media expertise to create the simplest guide ever to embedding live Instagram feeds on your WordPress site!
The best part? This tutorial on adding live Instagram posts to your site is ideal for WordPress newbies, so you can get started even if you’re not familiar with coding!
Can You Embed Live Instagram Feeds Without a Plugin?
Displaying a regularly updated Instagram feed on WordPress can be complicated, especially if you’re not familiar with coding, custom CSS, or HTML.
There are 2 main ways to embed a live Instagram feed on WordPress:
1. Manual: Get the embed codes of the Instagram posts you want to add to your site. Then, copy and paste them into your website one by one.
This is difficult and time-consuming since you have to switch between multiple web pages, edit code and paste tons of Instagram embed codes.
Also, using the manual method makes it tricky for you to customize how your live Instagram feeds look on your website if you’re not familiar with HTML code, JavaScript, iFrame, or custom HTML.
If you’re not tech-savvy, this method can even ruin your website’s well-designed branding.
Or if you’d like to hire a developer to help you with customizing the embed code, it gets pretty expensive. Imagine the hundreds (even thousands!) of dollars you’d invest just to control your Instagram feed’s design!
What’s more, if you run into some issues while embedding your live Instagram feed on your landing page, there’s no dedicated support team to help you.
So if you’re using the manual method, you’re left on your own.
2. Automatic: Connect your Instagram account to a WordPress Instagram plugin. Use an Instagram feed plugin to automatically embed your Instagram feed with a couple of clicks.
How Do I Add a Live Instagram Feed to WordPress?
Unlike other content management platforms like Webflow, Weebly, Squarespace website or Shopify, WordPress has thousands of plugins that can add features to your site, such as embedding social media feeds.
When you use a WordPress social media aggregator like Instagram Feed Pro to add Instagram feeds to your WordPress website, it’s quick and easy to show Instagram content on your site.
Instead of embedding feeds manually, the best way is to use Instagram Feed Pro so you can:
- Display stunning Instagram feeds — no coding needed
- Easily customize your Instagram feed’s design with just a few clicks using the live feed editor
- Encourage your website visitors to follow your Instagram account with call-to-action buttons
- Boost your sales with positive social proof from user-generated content (UGC)
- Get help directly from a support team of WordPress experts
Want more control over your Instagram feed’s content and design? Then Instagram Feed Pro is the best tool to help you embed your live Instagram feed on your website.
As the best Instagram feed plugin for WordPress, Instagram Feed Pro lets you easily create, customize, and display live Instagram feeds on your website — no coding needed.
The cool part? It’s perfect for WordPress newbies since you don’t need to deal with confusing Instagram feed embed codes.
You can add your regularly updated Instagram feed to your site in less than 5 minutes!
Using Instagram Feed Pro, you can display different types of Instagram content on your online store, such as:
- Multiple Instagram feeds
- Instagram feed carousel
- Tagged feeds
- Instagram reels
- User-generated content via Instagram hashtag feed
- Instagram video feeds
- Instagram stories on a lightbox popup on your website
While it has tons of helpful features, Instagram Feed Pro is also built for speed. Since it caches the data it receives from social media platforms, it minimizes requests and loading times.
This means your Instagram feeds will load lightning-fast on your site! And with a faster site, you also get better SEO.
With a top rating of 4.9/5 stars, this Instagram feed plugin is well-loved by its millions of active users worldwide, with thousands of 5-star testimonials.
And if you ever run into some issues while embedding your live Instagram feed, you can message the plugin’s support team directly.
Note: Instagram Feed Pro is designed and built for WordPress so it may not work with other website builders such as Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, or Shopify. It’s compatible with WordPress, Divi builder, and Elementor as well.
With these in mind, let’s dive into displaying your live Instagram feed on your WordPress site using the Instagram Feed Pro plugin.
Step 1: Install the Instagram Feed Pro plugin
First, you can get your own copy of Instagram Feed Pro here. After downloading this WordPress Instagram plugin to your computer, install it on your website.
You can always check out this step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin for more details.
For step 2, you can quickly create your Instagram feed with the help of this plugin.
Step 2: Create Your Live Instagram Feed
The beauty of using Instagram Feed Pro is that it’s so easy to create your Instagram feed.
To start, go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Instagram Feed » All Feeds.
Next, you can create a feed by clicking the Add New button.
Next, the plugin will ask you to choose the Instagram feed type. The options here include:
- User Timeline: Use the feed to only show posts from your Instagram account
- Public Hashtag: Embed Instagram photos and videos that have specific hashtags
- Tagged Posts: Display the Instagram posts where other users have @ mentioned your account
By selecting multiple options at once, you can even combine different Instagram feed types for a single feed.
Once you select your feed type, click on Next.
You can now move on to the next step, where we show you how to connect this Instagram feed to a source.
Step 3: Connect Your Instagram Feed to Your Instagram Account
After you create your feed, this WordPress Instagram feed plugin will ask you to connect your Instagram account.
That way, your new feed can show Instagram content on your website.
To continue, click on the Add Source button here.
After that, you’ll see a popup that asks you to decide between connecting your personal or business profile.
A personal Instagram profile lets you embed an Instagram feed from your own account only.
Meanwhile, an Instagram business account lets you add Instagram hashtag feeds, Instagram videos, tagged feeds, shoppable feeds, and more.
For this tutorial, we’ll display a live Instagram feed from our own account, so let’s choose personal and click on Login with Instagram.
Then, the plugin will ask for read-only access to Instagram to finish connecting your account.
This access will allow Instagram Feed Pro to view Instagram info, but it can’t actually make any changes.
As you can see, Smash Balloon plugins like Instagram Feed Pro are completely safe to use.
On the popup, click on Allow to give the read-only access.
Finally, you can click on Next to confirm this account as the source for your Instagram feed.
Just like that, you’re automatically connected to Instagram’s API with just a few clicks. Now, it’s time for step 4, where you can customize the design of your new feed.
Step 4: Customize Your Live Instagram Feed
Once you’re done connecting your Instagram account, the plugin will open the live feed editor.
From this editor, you can easily set the design of your Instagram feed using the customization options on the left.
You can also change your feed layout, header design, color scheme, button design, post style, and more functionalities.
On the right, you have a live preview of your Instagram feed where you can track your changes in real-time.
Expert Tip: Want to customize fast? Instagram Feed Pro has ready-made Instagram feed themes, which let you create stunning and engaging feeds with minimal time and effort. Simply pick a theme you love, and instantly transform your layout, buttons, post style, header design, and more – all in a single click!
To get started with the customization, first, click on the Feed Layout option on the left.
Instagram Feed Pro has ready-made layout templates you can choose from: grid, carousel, masonry, and highlight.
For this tutorial, we’ll choose the highlight layout. This layout curates your Instagram posts in square-cropped images with highlighted posts displayed twice as large, like this:
After picking your feed layout, click on the Save button at the top.
Next, you can click on the small customize button to return to the main options.
On the left, click on Color Scheme to go ahead and set the colors of your Instagram feed.
With Instagram Feed Pro, there are 4 color schemes that you can pick from:
- Inherit from Theme: Automatically copy the colors of your website’s theme
- Light: Display a light background and a dark font for your Instagram feed
- Dark: Choose a darker background alongside a light font color
- Custom: Pick all the colors manually
Simply pick the color scheme that you prefer and click on the Save button again.
As you can see, it’s super easy to customize your Instagram feed using our live feed editor.
After you finish setting up the design of your live Instagram gallery, don’t forget to click Save before going to the final step.
Step 5: Embed Your Live Instagram Feed
It’s time to embed your live Instagram feed on your website. You have 2 ways to do this:
- Use the Instagram Feed block to add your feed to your post or page
- Use the Instagram Feed widget to add your feed to your sidebar or footer areas
Let’s talk about both options below.
How to Embed Live Instagram Feed on WordPress Page
Using the live feed editor, you can directly embed live Instagram feeds on your WordPress website pages — homepage, about page, blog posts page, and more.
First, click on the Embed button in the top right corner to get started.
This will open a popup where you can select the location of your live Instagram feed.
For now, click on the Add to a Page button.
On the popup, simply select the WordPress page where you want the feed and click on Add.
Instagram Feed Pro will now open that page in the WordPress editor.
From there, click the Plus (+) icon to add a new content block.
Then, type “instagram” in the search bar and click on the Instagram Feed to add it to your page.
Finally, click on the Publish button on the top right to make your page live.
So when your site visitors check out your published page, they can now see your live embedded feed on your website.
As you can see, it’s super easy to embed Instagram feeds on your WordPress pages.
Next, let’s see how you can display Instagram feeds on your sidebar or footer areas.
How to Add Live Instagram Widget on WordPress Sidebar or Footer
You can also display your Instagram feed in your sidebar areas as an Instagram widget.
First, navigate to the Instagram Feed » All Feeds menu from your WordPress dashboard.
All the Instagram feeds you create will be listed on this page.
To continue, select the live Instagram feed that you created earlier.
Once you do that, the plugin will open that feed in the live feed editor.
Like before, you can click on the Embed button on the top.
To continue, just copy the shortcode, or you can easily select the Add to a Widget option on the new popup.
After you do that, Instagram Feed Pro will open the widgets page of your WordPress site.
From here, click on the Sidebar panel to manage the widgets on your sidebar area.
Or you can manage your footer widgets by clicking on the Footer panel instead. For this tutorial, we’ll use a sidebar for your Instagram feed.
Then, click on the plus icon (+) to add a new widget before selecting the Instagram Feed widget from the options.
Finally, you can now click on the Update button, and you’ve just embedded your Instagram feed.
Now, when you visit your website, you’ll see your live Instagram feed on your sidebar area, like this:
With these simple steps, you can now easily embed a live Instagram feed on your website.
Now, you can show social proof from your Instagram content on your site to get more subscribers, boost conversions, and skyrocket your sales.
Want to create live Instagram feeds to grow your business? Get started with Instagram Feed Pro today.
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