Embedding an Instagram post in WordPress is something you can accomplish in a few minutes without any plugins or technical knowledge.
Instagram provides the embed code, and WordPress provides the block to embed it. The result is a rendered post that looks native to Instagram and appears within your WordPress content.
That simplicity makes it worth understanding properly. You’d want to know exactly what the embed is, how it behaves over time, and when it's the right tool versus when it points to a larger unmet need.
Why Embed an Instagram Post in WordPress?
The embedded post format is most useful when context is the goal. If all you're trying to do is show your reader a specific piece of content from Instagram and not build a gallery or maintain a feed, it works great.
When an embedded Instagram post is added to a specific piece of content, it serves a clear purpose. The embed format is appropriate because it preserves the original post's integrity, including the image, caption, and account attribution, all of which remain intact and visible.
Ways to Embed an Instagram Post in WordPress
- Instagram's native embed feature
- An Instagram feed plugin
Instagram's Native Embed Feature
Instagram's embed feature generates a block of HTML that, when pasted into a WordPress Custom HTML block, renders the post directly on the page. The process for getting it to work is as follows:
- Open the post in a desktop browser.
- Click the three-dot icon.
- Select Embed.
- Copy the generated code.
- In the WordPress editor, add a Custom HTML block and paste the code.
- Publish or update the page.
The post will appear styled as it does on Instagram, with the image or video, caption, account name, and timestamp all visible.
The embed is a live reference to the original post, which means it's subject to any changes you make to the source file. If you delete the post from Instagram, the embed breaks, and if you make it private, it stops rendering. These are edge cases for most use cases, but they're worth knowing.
What the embed doesn't do, however, is anything ongoing. It shows one post as it exists at the time of embedding, and it has no awareness of anything else happening on your Instagram account.
Using an Instagram Feed Plugin
The limitation of individual embeds becomes relevant at a certain scale or when the intent is specific.
If a site has dozens of pages that each need to reference recent Instagram content, or if the goal is a section that continuously surfaces new posts without manual work, the embed-per-post approach creates a maintenance problem that grows with the site.
A feed plugin connects to Instagram at the account level rather than the post level, enabling it to display a live feed that updates automatically.
It's the appropriate solution when Instagram posts need to be a structural part of the site rather than an occasional reference in individual pieces of content.
Elevated Instagram Feed
Elevated Instagram Feed addresses the feed-level need by connecting your Instagram account to WordPress and keeping a live, styled feed current across any pages where you place it.
For single-post editorial embeds, Instagram's built-in tool remains the simpler choice. For a persistent, self-updating Instagram presence, Elevated Instagram Feed is built for that purpose.
Final Thoughts
Embedding an Instagram post in WordPress is genuinely easy and serves a clear purpose in the right editorial context. Instagram’s native embed tool handles it well, so if you are a site owner who occasionally references posts in written content, no additional tools are required.
The question worth sitting with, though, is whether embedding individual posts is the full extent of what's needed, or whether your website would benefit from Instagram content that maintains itself and stays current without ongoing manual work.
Those two goals require different approaches, and being clear on which one applies makes the technical decision straightforward.
Elevated Instagram Feed handles the latter efficiently.
For a broader look at available Instagram feed plugin options, see our roundup of the best Instagram feed plugins for WordPress.
