Topic of the week: Do creators find value in link in bio tools, or is it just an extra platform for them to manage?
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​-Will, 26
The first idea for a "link in bio" tool came in 2014 when Instagram switched from a chronological feed to an algorithmic feed. It started as a simple landing page for music artists to link out to all of their relevant profiles, albums, merch, and digital properties.
The idea caught on quick and the now-giant, Linktree, was born.
Link in bio tools are valuable for creators because most people post on more than one platform and they need an easy way to direct their audience to their most relevant channels & content.
I don't think it's too much to manage because you can have a default set of links and rarely adjust them, or you can update it with every new YouTube video or blog post you publish.
But personally, I'm not a huge fan of "link in bio" tools for one main reason:
It drives people to a website that you don't own
For new or growing creators, this isn't too big of a deal. Linktree can be beneficial to quickly set up a "landing page" and give people easy access to your preferred links.
But for established creators, or if you plan to be in it for the long haul, you should be building equity in your own domain.
In an ideal situation, you would have a page on your website that plays the same role Linktree does. You can embed videos, create buttons, embed an email form, and customize everything to your preference while using your own URL. For example, The Rock could have therock.com/links rather than having a generic linktree.
People are also then on your website - then it's easy for someone to click off the landing page and dive further into your content or service offerings.
So overall, link in bio tools are awesome and if you don't have a personal website you should be using them - but work towards hosting everything you can on your own domain.
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