Instagram may had exclusively started as a mobile application for iOS but as of late it is also storming on the web (mobile+desktop). Few weeks ago, Facebook’s photo-sharing service embarked user profiles for the web and now it proves again that its gaze leans toward the more traditional path of expansion.

You know, this old-fashioned way which traverses the aboriginal Internet and includes http at its core.

Instagram introduced a new method for publishers to distribute their web profile presence over their own websites, a method that almost any other major social networking site already wields, badges. That’s right, Instagram now also has its own social buttons similar to all other social media widgets.

Unlike Facebook’s Like or Twitter’s Follow buttons, Instgram’s badges don’t create any action (like, follow, share) but rather operates as a simple static widget that links into the targeted profile. Perhaps as Instagram would continue to ground and unfold itself moreover across the web, we’ll see those active widgets as well.

To create your own web profile badge, click on the “Badges” link that hangs down from your username at your profile page or plainly enter the badges page directly. Then, choose your desired button design and copy the code to wherever you want it to appear on your site. Alternatively, you can download Instagram’s icon (zip) and set it how you desire yourself.

Here’s an example of how the “View on Instagram” button that links to my own personal profile looks like:

comScore reports that in October Instagram has had about 26.4 million unique visitors from the U.S., slightly more than the 26.3 million it had in September and the 26 million in August. However, its arch-nemesis photo-sharing service Pinterest managed to surpass it for the first time with 26.7 million unique visitors in October.

It’s important to mention that while Pinterest was already formerly well-established across the web, Instagram has just begun its outstretch maneuvers recently. The race for the number one image-based social network is entirely open and bewitchingly visual…