Today I talk about Bio Link tools. Also known as Link aggregators or Link in bio . These are services that allow you to have one link take a person to as many links as you want. It is essentially a mobile website landing page without you needing…well, a website. Linktree was the first and is the most famous, but there have been some significant improvements that I would like to share with you.

This is Bill Strand and you are listening to the Reptile Entrepreneur podcast.

This episode is the next step for everyone who is following the zero to eCommerce program where you follow the episodes in season 2 and have a fully functioning digital footprint and e-commerce business by the end of the year. For those following along, we started with your social media home base with an Instagram account, have created a logo, put it on a print-on-demand storefront and the link to your storefront goes into the one website link on your Instagram account.

The Problem

But now, we are looking into starting a marketing outreach with a podcast or Youtube channel. We don’t want to take on making a full website just yet, but we now have more than one link we want to share with our followers. So, the next step is to add on a bio link tool which will give you the ability to share as many links as you wish.

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to link out of Instagram? You get one link in the bio and you get a sticker in stories. And this is so much easier than before. Instagram has been very stingy with allowing us to send people off their platform!

That link sticker that you use now wasn’t available for everyone until the end of 2021. It isn’t even a year old! Before that you could link from stories only if you had 10,000 followers! And even then you had to do this strange swipe up motion. 

Instagram may have started it, but TikTok continues the tradition. 

So, why in the world was Instagram so stingy with links? Facebook and YouTube had no problem with links all over the place. 

Well, links took you off the platform and Instagram really wanted you to have as few distractions as possible and staying on their platform looking at their ads. It was the increased desire to appeal to businesses that has loosened the restrictions.

The Solution

But, in 2016, you had your one link and it was very annoying for businesses to constantly have to change out what link was there. So every time they wanted to promote a product or service they had to say“link is in the bio”. Of course, as soon as the link had to be changed, the previous posts promising the previous link would produce a disappointed customer who would find something else at the link.  A couple of brothers and a friend decided that they wanted to change this and created a service where they allowed you to create a mobile landing page. So you could say, “click the link in the bio” and that link could have any number of links such as webstore, YouTube channel, or anything else you had in mind. It was such a pent up demand that the service exploded to the point where Instagram took note and briefly banned it in 2018. The public outcry was so great that Instagram had to lift the ban. It is interesting when social media platforms try to control the behavior of their members. When you appeal to the mob, any sense of control is merely an illusion. But, yeah, go ahead and keep trying! 

What are bio link tools?

So, what are these bio link tools? They are highly curated single landing pages. You are given a very few specific fields you can populate with very few options. With anything, the more limited the choices the easier it is and with bio link tools easy is golden.  You go to one of these tools, provide the links you want to display and they will give you a link you can share with your follower. This can all be set up and done within 30 minutes. And that is with time taken for a coffee refill and bathroom break.

Sounds perfect! But, let’s do the typical Reptile Entrepreneur thing where we step back and take a look at the full story. These tools get you started for free so warning bells should be going off. Never use anyone else’s work until you know how they make their money. Seriously, if it is free it is either not maintained or else you are the product and you are being farmed. How many people were incensed when they learned that one of the most profitable companies, Facebook, who had a completely free product, was using their personal data to sell ads. So, figure out how your free service makes money before you join up. In the case of most bio link tools, they give you a free introductory page with limited features and you pay if you want the more advanced features. The free option generally is quite enough for most people. Going pro is only needed if you want to take it to the next level. Pro features include automatically displaying your latest YouTube video or podcast episode, collecting email addresses, and advanced analytics. So, while you are starting out, go ahead and use the free version. If you go to the website and you see a pricing plan which has a paid upgrade path then you know how they make their money. You can relax to use their evaluation level.

Now, there are other business models here and there. One that I really like is from a company called Koji. They go with the model that they give you the full functionality they offer for free and allow you to put apps on your bio link. These app are things like a tip jar or ask me anything functions or even having your followers bid to be featured on your digital billboard. Koji makes their money by taking a percentage of the money you bring in from your followers. I really like this monetization method because that means it is in their best interest for you to have a great experience with their entry level offering and to be able to bring in money. So, yes, they get a percentage from you, but you are working in parallel towards the same goal. With the upgrade business model, the service wants you to have a good time, but not too good of a time because they want to entice you to pay for the level up. So they are focused on you being happy, but not too happy at the entry level. Not that that is a huge deal. And if you need the features offered by a tool with an upgrade path then definitely do that. But, I am going to go through a set-up later in this episode and I will do it with Koji.

Koji? What the heck is a Koji? Well, yeah, all you have to do is Google bio link tool and your brain will explode with all the options. It is a simple business to get into and an obnoxious number of companies have sprouted up. And they all have these bizarre names. Linktr.ee…well, that makes some sense. But then we have Koji, Shorby, Pallyy, tap.bio, Lnk.bio…you get the idea. 

The nice thing about this is that each has a free plan so you can try them out. You can make an account on every single one and then use which ever link you feel like using. As each of them do the basic linking you don’t have to feel any pressure to choose right now. Just pick one and use it until you want to try another. There is no closing your account so you can go back and forth. One thing you can do is scroll through your favorite Instagram accounts and take a look at what tool they use and how you like what they have done with it. Go digital window shopping. Like I said before, I am choosing Koji to do a walk through so if you don’t feel like pouring through the features grids then you can start there with me.

I personally tried Linktree and Shorby. I stopped before I got far at all with both of them because I was spoiled with Koji. I had set up a Koji before and had all sorts of feature options which I quickly found were paid features with the other two. For example, simply having a video as the background. And I really like that feature. So it is Koji for me and I will take you along building a Koji for yourself.

Pros and cons of biolink tools

First, let’s go over the pros and cons of bio link tools. The obvious pro is that it is easy to set up and you do not have to have a website. That is why we are doing it now. But there is a downside to this.

All of your traffic is going to the bio link tool. What I mean by this is that Google measures how much traffic goes to your website. If you have your website in your bio link and the link goes to a page where you put all your links then your website gets credited for 100% of the traffic you bring in. And your website rises in Google’s view with every new click. If you have a bio link tool then every click off of Instagram will go to making the bio-link tool provider look good.If you are following the season 2 program then this is not an issue as you do not have a website. But once we do get a website, traffic to our site is of prime importance to let Google know we exist and are worth listing in search results. Once we create a website we will have a decision to make. But that is for later.

So, are bio-link tools only for people without websites? Well, it used to be a clear cut yes. The thing is that bio link tools have been becoming more and more sophisticated and have more and more advanced features. Heck, with Koji you can even put games on your bio link page. So they have become more than just a landing page for people who don’t have websites. Though I admit that I was quite passionate about not using bio link tools if you had a website because of the lost google observed traffic. In fact, it actually caused a bit of tension between me and my wife. If you wonder what our fights are like, she liked the sleek look and convenience of linktr.ee and I countered that you could recreate anything on her website and she could have the traffic. And why would you want to send people bouncing around your social media platforms when the whole purpose of those social media platforms was to get people to go to the website where they could buy what you were offering. If you bounce people between Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok you risk them getting lost in all the distraction that those platforms offer and they will likely forget that they were suppose to be going to your website to purchase something. If you want to run a business you fish for people with your free social media outreaches, but you want each one to funnel the follower to the website where you will actually make money. I know that sounds so cynical, but the fact is that banks don’t accept goodwill as payments on the mortgage. So, yeah, I had some pretty strong opinions on the matter. In fact, we had to leave the subject unresolved. I don’t mind if you criticize how I throw everything in the laundry together or if you put the toilet paper on totally wrong or park crooked. But use a bio-link tool when you have an e-commerce website? That is crossing a line. That was a year or so that we had that fight and we both have avoided the subject since.

So this leads us to last Sunday. My wife took me out to my favorite coffee house. It was a beautiful day and we had pleasant small talk. But I knew she was trying to say something. Finally she let me know what was on her mind. She was going to use a bio link tool even though she had a website. She quickly added in all the reasons while I just sat and listened silently. There are times you realize that you are two separate people and you both need to make your own decisions and, as partners, we have to not only accept, but support, the directions they take in life. Even if we can’t fully understand. After she was done stating her reasons there was a moment of silence and then she softly asked how I was feeling. 

And at that moment I busted out laughing at the absurdity of the situation. We had let this stupid totally irrelevant topic get so heated that she had to take me to a neutral place to let me know of her decision and she actually asked me my feeling on the matter! Okay…point taken…maybe I had been a little too intense in my analysis of bio-link tools and my view on how they should be used. But, hey, at least she should have some interesting stories when she gets with the girls and they all compare their biggest arguments they have had with their husbands. My husband is such a jerk when it comes to link aggregators. 

But, it really wasn’t that bad. Unbeknownst to her, I had actually been working on this episode for a couple weeks by then and was writing how bio link tools have grown into more than just a traffic cop that would soak up your Google traffic. They have become a simplified, mobile optimized landing page that directly captures the latest expectations of the public for something simple and easy to select their next move. If it takes more than a TikTok video’s worth of time to figure it out then they are off to something else. And, for this, I fully support bio link tools until you are able to recreate that simplicity with your website. I, myself, am using bio link tools in order to fully explore their use. They have become much more than they were before and have powerful tools. You can now even conduct certain e-commerce transactions within the bio link tool so we have entered into the next level of functionality. It is to the point where it may put off your need for a website. 

And, for those wondering, my wife and I are doing fine. We decided that our relationship was strong enough to weather this storm. And to those of you out there having similar problems with your partner and the use of bio-link tools I just want you to know that there is hope. You can make it through this. 

Start here

Okay, so let’s bring this to the execution stage.

I am going to tell you how to set up a bio-link tool. First, we choose one. You literally can choose whatever one you want. I am selecting Koji because I like the financial model they set-up and feel they are incentivized to work with me. Koji is also used by a number of Instagram accounts which I respect and I like how their link looks. 

So, to follow along, go to https://withkoji.com

And then sign up. They want you to use your phone number, but if you select the option for other you can sign up with your email. Pick whatever you are most comfortable with. Considering how many robocalls I already get I hardly ever pick up the phone anyways.

Once you have an account you can start setting up your bio link. Go ahead and start collecting your links. They could be your Patreon, website, merch store, YouTube channel, your TikTok, or anything. Though keep in mind that you have the major social media links at the bottom already. I would double up only if you feel you would like to highlight one over the others. You have three main links and as many secondary links as you want. So to prepare for your Koji bio link page here is your list of things to prepare.

1. You will have a profile picture. This is a circle and can be the same thing as your Instagram profile image
2. Account name and description. This is just your business name or influencer handle with a brief description of what you are. People accessing this page already know what they are coming to so don’t stress too much on the wording.
3. Three main links. You get three big circles to highlight your most important links. For these I chose my Patreon, Merch store, and Website. Each of these needs an image. You can supply your own or scroll through a number of options they offer which includes GIFs. So you can have animations.
4. Secondary links. You get three main links, but you can have as many secondary links as you want and they take the form of buttons that stack under the main three circles. Each needs a link and an image.
5. All your social media links. You have all the major social media platforms available for you to put in your account name or link and it will go in the social media icon row.
6. Finally, you have the option to select your own background. And this can be a video. If you go to the Chameleon Academy account either on Instagram or TikTok you will be able to see what I mean. I have a Parson’s chameleon snagging a dub roach in the background of all my links. This video is a standard profile 1080 x 1920 that you would put on Instagram or TikTok.

And that is it! Once you are done, tap the Manage button and the share icon for a link that you can place anywhere. You can even make a QR code for it.

The next level up is to start adding in apps. Each one of these apps is considered a link and can be placed in the primary or secondary spots. And there are a whole lot of apps for you to browse through and decide what fits for you. There is a tip jar, and Ask Me Anything app, and even games. I have added a link that will lead them to my latest podcast episode and one that will collect email addresses for my newsletter. It can all be found in the Manage tab when you are building your page. There are some monetization apps that we can will explore at a later date. 

Once you have your bio link then just enter it into your Instagram or TikTok account. Note that with TikTok you need both a business account and 1000 subscribers before you can add a website link to your profile. Though things are so fluid, who knows what if any restrictions there will be next week.

And there you have your bio link. Pretty simple and zero commitment. But it is a powerful tool and as soon as you have more than one link to your name you need a tool like this. You can definitely use your website as a landing page. But, and don’t tell my wife this, but I am starting to like my bio link. I’ll keep telling her I have to use it so I can be effective when I advise my followers. But, these have become very powerful and convenient tools! I <ahem> recommend you use one. And, this is my personal reasoning and I have no published data to back it up. But I feel like the internet community is slipping more and more into the quick fix. Not only will they be disappointed if they don’t find what they want right away, they will stop looking. And I wonder if these bio links are actually finding their place as an effective mid step. They come off their endless scroll session on Instagram or TikTok and the Koji landing page offers a very limited number of options. The person can then decide to go to the website with the full experience. The marketing person in me doesn’t like putting another step between them and where you want them to end up. But it is worth thinking about the nice, tight, and neat presentation the Bio link tools offer. Anyway, right answers aren’t always at our fingertips so I offer this as something to think about. 

Thank you very much for joining me here. As mentioned I do have a Patreon account which helps support the outreach here. And it provides a quieter situation where you can ask any question about anything  have gone over in more detail. It is just starting up so you would be on the ground floor and pretty much get personal attention! And you can find a link to the Patreon account on the bio-link tool that I have set up from the Reptile Entrepreneur Instagram account.

For examples of what I have done, check out the Chameleon Academy and Reptile Entrepreneur accounts. Very simple and you can be up and running within an hour. And when you do set up your bio-link tool please let me know on Instagram so I can check it out! This is Bill Strand signing off. Take care of yourself, take care of our reptile community, and let’s see what we can build!