TikTok link in bio: how it works and what to put behind it

TikTok can bring a lot of attention and, for many business owners, surprisingly little revenue. Their videos may work perfectly well. The trouble is the missing path from the video to something people can buy.

TikTok adds one more hurdle: a clickable profile link is available only when your account meets its conditions. Here is how it works, what you can do before the link is available, what to put behind it and how to measure what TikTok brings in.

How the link in your TikTok bio works

TikTok gives a business account a website field in the profile. That field is clickable, and it’s the only place in your entire TikTok presence where someone can get through to your own environment. An address does not work as a link in the text below a video.

The field will appear once your account is ready. TikTok links this to your number of followers, where a thousand is the limit you encounter in practice. Below that limit you have a profile with a bio text and no clickable address.

Therefore, set your account to business as soon as you take this seriously. You do this in the settings under account management and it takes a minute.

This is how you set it up

1. Go to your profile and tap “edit profile”.
2. Tap the website field and enter your link page address.
3. Save and then open your own profile to check if it is clickable.
4. Mention in your bio text what is behind the link, for example “free workbook via the link”.

What you do when you don’t have a thousand followers yet

Without a clickable field you still have three ways and they work better than you think.

The first is your bio text. Enter a short, readable address that someone can type: yourname.nl or your own domain on your link page. No one types out a long string of characters with dashes, but a short name does.

The second is your username on other channels. In your videos, refer to your Instagram, where you have that link. You then redirect people one step and that costs you some, although it is still better than nothing.

The third is the comment under your own video. Enter the address there and pin that comment to the top. It will not be clickable, but it can be selected and copied.

What goes behind that link

The work happens after the click. Your video spoke about one thing and visitors expect to find it. If the link opens a general homepage with a menu and welcome text, they may be back in the feed within seconds.

What does work is one link page that puts the subject of your latest video first, with the next step on the page itself. Visitors can sign up, pay for a product through iDEAL or start a course without a detour through a separate shop.

TikTok’s audience is also younger and more impatient than Instagram’s. Everything that requires an extra tap will cost you more than on other channels.

How to see what TikTok gets you

This is where things started to bother me. TikTok tells you how many views a video got and that’s where it stops. What happened next is written elsewhere.

The solution is one address per channel. You create a campaign link for TikTok, one for Instagram and one for your newsletter. They all point to the same page. In your figures you will then see the visitors, sign-ups, orders and revenue per channel.

For example, one business owner I helped saw that TikTok brought eighty per cent of her visitors but twenty per cent of her revenue. Her newsletter showed the reverse pattern. She kept TikTok for reach and used her list for sales. She could make that choice because she saw the numbers. Read more about this statistics and optimization.

Why TikTok attention does not always turn into sales

On Instagram, someone follows you and then sees you more often. On TikTok, your video ends up with people who don’t know you and who may never see you again. That makes the range large and the band thin.

This means two things for your offer. You have to explain who you are in every video and why someone would go to your link, because half of your viewers are seeing you for the first time. And you have to get that viewer in one go, with an email address or an order, because there is no second chance.

A free giveaway therefore works better on TikTok than a €97 product. You ask something small from someone you are just getting to know and then you have their address. Ten examples are included a free giveaway that brings in subscribers.

In what order you tackle this

1. Set your account to business.
2. Create your link page and put your free giveaway or your product at the top.
3. Put a readable address in your bio text as long as the link field is not there yet.
4. Check when the website field becomes available for your account, then add your link.
5. Create a campaign link for TikTok so you can measure it separately.
6. After a month, look at sign-ups and revenue per channel.

Create your link page for free and put one offer on it today.

Frequently asked questions

How many followers do you need for a link in your TikTok bio?

One thousand is the limit you encounter in practice for a clickable website field. TikTok adjusts terms per country and per account type, so check it in your own settings. Until then, use a readable address in your bio text.

Can I put a link in a TikTok video?

An address in the text below your video does not work as a link. It is possible for advertisements and some business functions, but for regular videos you send people to your profile.

Does my Instagram link page also work on TikTok?

Yes. It’s a regular web page and one address works on all channels. That’s exactly why you want to put your own domain on it, see custom domain and branding.

Can I sell directly on TikTok?

TikTok has its own shopping features that vary by country and involve terms and fees. If you sell digital products or courses, this is easier to do via your own page, see digital products.

How much does a link page for TikTok cost?

It’s free to get started: one page, one form, and one digital product with 5% Findori fees per sale. If you want campaign links per channel and 0% on your products, Growth is € 10 per month or € 72 per year. See prices.