Salon's latest creations
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Key takeaways
- Feeds now need a Business or Creator Instagram account.
- Most feeds that stopped in December 2024 need the account switched and the feed reconnected.
- A custom feed saves light copies on your site, so it loads faster and never sends visitors to Instagram’s servers.
- Collab posts owned by another account don’t come through any official feed.
- Custom means no monthly fee, your own design, and you own it.
Chapter 01Your options
What are the ways to show Instagram on your website?
Four ways: embed one post at a time, add a plugin, pay for a widget service, or have a custom feed built.
All four show your Instagram on your site. They differ in how they update, how fast they load, how much they look like the rest of your site, and whether you pay every month. Pick your answers and the options that fit light up:
Which one fits you?
- Embed a post
Instagram's own embed code, pasted onto a page. Free, but one post at a time, and it never updates by itself.
- Free plugin
A WordPress plugin with basic layouts. The look and extras usually sit behind a paid upgrade.
- Paid plugin or widget
More layouts and a dashboard, for a monthly or yearly fee, often loading from the seller's servers.
- Custom feed
Built for your site and your design, with your photos saved on your own server. A one-time build, no monthly fee.
Chapter 02Why it broke
Why did my Instagram feed stop showing on my website?
On December 4, 2024, Meta switched off the old connection most feeds used, so feeds on personal accounts stopped updating.
- Before December 2024Any Instagram account, even a personal one, could feed a website.
- December 4, 2024Meta switched off the old connection (the Basic Display API). Feeds on personal accounts stopped updating.
- TodayFeeds need a Business or Creator account and Instagram's newer connection.
Old posts often stayed on screen for a while from a cache, which made the feed look fine until you noticed nothing new was coming through. If yours stopped, check these in order:
- Account type: switch Instagram to a Business or Creator account in its settings. It is free and keeps your followers and posts.
- Reconnect: disconnect and reconnect the feed in your plugin or widget, so it uses the newer connection.
- Update: old plugins may not support the newer connection at all.
- Clear the cache: on the site and in the plugin, so the newest posts can show.
Chapter 03What you need
What do you need before you can show your feed?
A Business or Creator Instagram account, a Meta developer app that can only read your own posts, and a spot on your site to show them.
- 1Switch to a Business or Creator account
In Instagram's settings. Free, and nothing you have posted changes.
- 2Register as a Meta developer
Free, with your Facebook login, at Meta for Developers. That is what I did for the salon's feed.
- 3Create an app for the feed
Choose the Instagram use case and give the app a plain name, like "Your Business Website Feed".
- 4Allow reading only
The app asks for one permission: to read your own profile and posts. It can't post, message or change anything.
- 5Connect the account
Your Instagram account approves the app, and your site gets a private key that renews itself and never appears on the page.
The app can stay in development mode for a single business feed. It only needs Meta's full review if other people's accounts will log in to it.
Chapter 04How it works
How does a custom Instagram feed work?
Once an hour your site asks Instagram for new posts, saves light copies of the photos, and shows them in your own design.
- Your InstagramNew post
- Every hourYour site checks for new posts
- WebPWebPWebPSaved on your siteLight copies, about 40 KB each
- Your designGrid, pop-up, Load more
Because the photos are saved on your site, the feed keeps showing your latest posts even if Instagram is slow or down, and your visitors' browsers never talk to Instagram at all. If the newest posts haven't changed, nothing is downloaded.
Chapter 05The real build
What did we build for Salon Bravissimo?
A custom feed on the salon's homepage that shows their newest posts in the site's own design, opens each one in an on-site pop-up, and has no subscription.
The salon used a paid widget before, and it caused a strange problem: on their website, some of the photos they had posted were replaced by stock photos that were never on their Instagram. The posts looked right on Instagram itself, and we never found out why the widget did it. On top of that, it loaded every photo from Instagram, looked like someone else's design, and came with a monthly bill. That's why the salon asked us to build their own. Here is what the custom feed does instead:
- Checks Instagram every hour: new posts appear on the site within the hour, with no one touching anything.
- Opens posts on the site: tap a post and it opens right on the page, with a Book an appointment button. The next chapter shows it part by part.
- Load more: twelve more posts at a time, in rows that always stay full at every screen size.
- Takes care of itself: the private key renews itself, and the dashboard warns us if anything ever needs attention.
From Anthony
I registered as a Meta developer to build this. The app can only read the salon's own posts. Nothing on the site can post, message or change anything on their Instagram.
Chapter 06Tapping a post
What happens when someone taps a post?
It opens right on the salon's site, in a pop-up with every photo and video, the whole caption, and a button to book. Nobody is sent off to Instagram.
The pop-up is the part visitors actually use, so we built it like the rest of the site, not like a widget. Here it is on desktop, part by part:
123456On a phone it works the way people already use Instagram: swipe for the next photo, tap the arrows for the next post, and videos play where they are.
Why it matters
- Visitors stay on your site: the post opens over the page they are on, one tap from booking.
- Booking is right there: Book an appointment opens the salon's own booking window, from inside the post.
- Light until it's opened: the grid uses small copies. The bigger photo loads only when a post opens, and a video only when someone presses play.
- Finger, mouse or keyboard: swipe on phones, arrows and arrow keys on desktop, and Escape closes it.
- Your design: the salon's orange, fonts and buttons, not a widget's.
Many feeds send every tap to Instagram. Once a visitor is there, the next thing on their screen is someone else's post, not your booking button.
Chapter 07Speed
Does an Instagram feed slow down your website?
It can. The salon's old widget loaded 34 photos straight from Instagram, 13.8 MB. The custom feed's first view is about 0.5 MB, with nothing loaded from Instagram.
First view of the homepage feed
- 34
- photos the old widget loaded from Instagram
- 0
- requests to Instagram from the custom feed
- 26x
- lighter first view
- 1 h
- between checks for new posts
Most of the difference is the photos. Widgets often load full-size originals from Instagram's servers on every visit. A custom feed saves small copies sized for the grid, loads the bigger version only when a post is opened, and plays videos only when someone presses play.
Chapter 08What it can't show
What won't an Instagram feed show?
Collab posts owned by another account, like a stylist's, never come through Instagram's official connection.
On Instagram
Collab postowned by @a_stylistCollab postowned by @a_stylistOn the website
Instagram only sends the posts your own account created. Every feed tool that uses the official connection has the same limit. Two smaller ones are worth knowing too:
- Reels with licensed music: Instagram doesn’t send the video file, so the feed shows the cover with a Watch on Instagram button.
- Stories: they disappear after a day and aren’t part of the feed.
Tip from Anthony
Want a stylist's post on your website? Create it from the business account and invite the stylist as a collaborator. It shows on both profiles, and your feed picks it up within the hour.
Chapter 09Your choice
Custom feed or subscription: which is right for you?
A subscription is the quickest way to start. A custom feed has no monthly fee, loads faster and looks like the rest of your site.
| Plugin or widget subscription | Custom feed | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly or yearly fee | Yes, as long as you use it | No. A one-time build |
| Speed | Often loads photos from the seller or Instagram | Light copies saved on your own site |
| Design | The tool's layouts and settings | Your site's own look, fonts and buttons |
| Who owns it | You rent it | You own it |
| Getting started | Minutes, with a sign-up | A short build, then it runs by itself |
Now that the salon's feed exists, setting one up for another business is much quicker than the first build. The work is connecting your account, matching your site's design and testing it, not starting from scratch.
Free consultation
Want your own feed, without a subscription?
Tell me about your site and your Instagram, and I'll tell you what it would take. You get an estimate in hours before anything is billed.
Questions
Straight answers.
More of what people ask about Instagram feeds.
Updated
Can I add my Instagram feed to my website for free?
You can embed single posts for free with Instagram’s own embed code, and free plugins show a basic feed. A feed in your own design that updates itself needs a paid tool or a custom build.
Do I need a Business account?
A Business or Creator account. Since December 2024, personal accounts can’t feed a website. Switching is free in Instagram’s settings and keeps your posts and followers.
Why isn’t my newest post showing?
Most feeds check on a schedule, so it can take up to an hour or more. If it never shows, it may be a collab post owned by another account, which no official feed receives.
Why is my Instagram feed showing photos I didn’t post?
If the photos look right on Instagram but wrong on your website, the problem is in the widget or plugin showing the feed, not in your Instagram account. It happened to Salon Bravissimo: their old widget swapped some of their photos for stock images on the website only. A custom feed shows the photos saved from your own posts, so what’s on your site always matches your Instagram.
Will an Instagram feed slow down my site?
It can, when it loads full-size photos from Instagram on every visit. A feed that saves small copies on your own site, like the salon’s, loads a fraction of that.
What happens if Instagram changes its rules again?
A custom feed is updated the same way as any part of your site. The salon’s feed already uses Instagram’s newer connection, and its key renews itself.
Does this work on Shopify or a hand-coded site?
The salon’s feed is a WordPress plugin. The same approach works on other platforms, built for that platform.
