How to use Build a Bio
Five minutes from "what is this" to a published page. Every screen, every setting, and the two things people ask about most: editing without a password, and putting the page on your own blog.
The big picture
Build a Bio makes the one page that holds every link you want people to find. You build it once, with a live preview beside you. You save it with your email and it publishes instantly at its own address. You put that address in your social bios, or embed the whole page on your own blog so your clicks land on your site. When something changes, you edit it and the live page updates the moment you save.
That's the loop: build, publish, share, edit. Everything below is detail.
What each screen is for
- The builder is where your bio gets made and edited: your basics, your look, your links, your socials, and the save step, with the live preview alongside.
- Your public page is the address you share. It's a real page with real outbound links, not redirects.
- My bios lists every bio saved under your email, with View, Edit, and Embed buttons on each, plus its view count.
- Analytics (Pro) shows which links on a bio actually get clicked.
Editing without a password
Your email is the account. There's no password, on purpose: nothing to forget, nothing to reuse, nothing to leak.
- Go to the edit page and enter the email you saved with.
- I email you a magic link. It signs you in and opens your bios.
- That browser stays signed in for 60 days, so day to day you won't even need the link.
The link works once and expires after 15 minutes, and that's fine. Whenever you need another one, ask for another one. If you don't see the email, check spam, and give it a minute: there's a limit of about three emails an hour per address.
Links, sections, and the storefront card
Links live in sections, and sections are the trick to a page that works. Group them by audience: a "For sponsors" section and a "For readers" section does more than one long list, because each visitor finds their row without scrolling past everything else.
Each link takes a label, a URL, and an optional one-line subtitle. There's also a nofollow toggle: turn it on for sponsored and affiliate links. Search engines want paid links labeled, and the toggle handles that without changing how the link looks to a visitor.
If you're an Amazon creator, paste your storefront URL in the basics step and your page gets a storefront card with the Associates disclosure line already on it. You choose where the card sits.
Putting it on your own blog, step by step
This is the feature the whole product is named for. A hosted link works fine, but embedding means your bio traffic lands on your site.
- Save your bio. The done page (and the Embed button on My bios, any time later) shows your embed code.
- Copy the one-line embed. It's a single line of HTML.
- Paste it into your blog wherever you want the bio to appear: a "Links" page is the usual spot. In WordPress, that's a Custom HTML block.
- Point your social bios at that page of your blog.
Edits you make later show up in the embedded copy automatically. There's nothing to re-paste.
What's free and what's Pro
Free publishes a complete bio: 4 sections, 8 links per section, 4 socials, themes and accent colors, the Amazon storefront card, embedding, and a share picture made from your name and colors. One bio per email.
Pro is $9/mo or $69/yr and adds room and polish: 50 links, 12 sections, 12 socials, up to 10 bios on one email, a featured card at the top, seven font pairings, full colors and custom CSS, click analytics, your own buildabio.com/b/your-name link, your logo on the page and the share picture, and the option to remove the "Built with Build a Bio" badge. It renews automatically until you cancel, and cancel lives under Manage billing on My bios.
Your first ten minutes
- Open the builder and type your name. Thirty seconds, and the preview is already yours.
- Add one section with your three most important links. You can add the rest any time; three real links beats ten placeholders.
- Save with your email, then put your new link in one social bio. Done means live.
Keeping it current
A bio page earns its keep when it follows your work. Shipped something new? Open My bios, hit Edit, add the link at the top of the right section, save. The live page and any embedded copy update instantly. That's the whole maintenance routine, and it takes about a minute.
The builder also saves a draft on your device as you type, so a closed tab mid-build loses nothing. And deleting a bio always asks first.
Quick answers
- Does it cost anything?
- No. Free publishes a real, complete bio page. Pro exists if you want more room and polish, and the page never nags you into it.
- Can I change my bio after saving it?
- Any time. Go to the edit page, get your magic link, and edit away. Changes go live the moment you save.
- Where's my embed code?
- On the done page right after you save, and forever after that behind the Embed button on My bios.
- Can I have more than one bio?
- Free covers one bio per email. Pro covers up to ten, which is how one person runs a bio per project or per audience.
- How do I cancel Pro?
- My bios → Manage billing opens your billing portal, and cancel is right there. Your bios stay up either way; they just drop back to free limits.
- Can I see the tour again?
- Yes. Open the builder, press the ? in the header, and pick "Show me around."
- Where do I ask for help?
- Email hello@jenbuiltit.com. It's me reading it, and I answer.
Free, no password, live in about 60 seconds.