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How to add a booking link to your Instagram

Where to put your booking link (bio, stories, highlights, WhatsApp Business and Google) and how to answer direct messages with it.

By the Citauno team 7 min read

Add your booking link to the links on your Instagram profile, share it with the link sticker in your stories and keep it in a highlight called “Book”. When someone asks you by direct message, reply with that same link and a short line. That way the client sees your free times and books without waiting for you to answer.

Before you paste it everywhere, make sure it shows your real availability and opens properly on a phone. A PDF with prices or “message me on WhatsApp” isn’t a booking link: it makes the client wait for your reply.

If you use an online booking system, you’ll usually have two addresses:

  • Your profile, with photos, services, address and a button to book. It’s for people who don’t know you yet.
  • The direct booking page, which starts at the first step. It’s for people who already know you and just want an appointment.

In your bio, the profile works best. When you reply to someone who already asked for an appointment, use the direct booking page.

Where to put it on Instagram

In your bio

It’s the spot people tap most. To add it:

  1. Go to your profile and tap Edit profile.
  2. Find the Links section and add an external link.
  3. Paste your link and give it a clear title, like “Book an appointment”.
  4. Save, and test it from another phone.

If you already have other links, put the booking one first. In your bio text, add a line that points to it, for example “Book online at the link below”.

Every time you post a story of finished work, someone sees it and thinks “I want that”. That’s the best moment for the link.

  1. Upload the photo or video.
  2. Tap the sticker icon and choose Link.
  3. Paste your link and change the sticker text to something like “Book here”.
  4. Place it where it doesn’t cover the work.

It works especially well when you say something specific: “Two spots left on Friday afternoon”.

In a highlight

Stories disappear after 24 hours, but highlights stay pinned under your bio. Make one called “Book” with two or three stories: one with the link sticker, one explaining how to book and another with the address or a landmark to find you.

When you change prices or services, update it. An old highlight confuses more than it helps.

In posts

Links in a post’s caption can’t be tapped. There, it’s enough to end the caption with “Book from the link in my profile”.

How to answer direct messages

Most DM questions are the same: the price, whether you have a slot on a certain day, where you are. Replying with just the link feels cold, so answer the question first and then send the link.

Hi! Gel polish is [price] and takes about an hour.
You can see the free times and book directly here: [your booking link]
If you can't find one that works, let me know and we'll sort something out.

Save that text as a quick reply on Instagram, if you have a professional account, so you don’t have to type it every time.

If someone asks for an appointment in a little while, the online page might not show it because of the minimum notice you set. Answer that case by hand and add the booking yourself.

Beyond Instagram: WhatsApp Business and Google

The same link works in other places where people look for you. You do all of this yourself by pasting the link: no integration needed.

WhatsApp Business

  • In your business profile, paste the link in the Website field.
  • Create a quick reply with the text above and a shortcut like /book.
  • If you use the greeting or away message, add the link: someone writing outside your hours can book without waiting for you.

Google Business Profile

When someone searches for your business on Google or Maps, they see your listing. From your profile’s management screen you can paste your link as the website, or as the appointment link if your listing shows that option. That way, someone who finds you on the map can book from there.

Before you share it, go through the whole flow as if you were a client. On a Citauno booking page, the client:

  1. Picks the location, if you have more than one.
  2. Picks one or more services.
  3. Picks a professional or Anyone.
  4. Picks the day and then the time.
  5. Fills in their details and confirms.

Then they get a confirmation email with a calendar invitation. By default the booking stays pending until you confirm it, and if you’d rather it come in confirmed, you can switch the confirmation mode to automatic. Everything that page shows is in the public booking page reference.

How to do it in Citauno

Your business has two public addresses:

  • Profile: citauno.com/<your-business>, the best link for your bio.
  • Direct booking: citauno.com/businesses/<your-business>/book, the one the Copy link button in the dashboard copies. It’s the best one for replying to messages.

The steps to copy and share it are in share your booking link.

If you have the links page switched on (we switch it on by request), you also have citauno.com/l/<your-business>: a single page with the booking button first and your other links below, made for your bio. If it isn’t switched on, that address takes visitors to your profile.

In the dashboard you can set the minimum notice (3 hours by default) and how many days ahead people can book (14 by default), and hide from online booking any service you’d rather arrange by message.

If you have the Visits and bookings tool switched on (also by request), you see where your visits come from: Instagram, WhatsApp, Google and other sources. That tells you whether the link in your bio is doing its job. More in visits and bookings.

If your business is listed, it also appears in Citauno’s directory at citauno.com/explorar.

An example

Picture a nail technician who works alone in her own small studio. Almost all her clients find her on Instagram, and her days went by answering “do you have anything on Saturday?” between appointments, with her hands full.

She puts the booking link in her bio, makes a “Book” highlight and saves a quick reply for direct messages. When she posts a story with a new design, she adds the sticker with “Book here”.

The messages don’t disappear: questions about designs and colors keep coming, and she’s happy to answer those. What ends is the back and forth to find a time, because clients pick it themselves.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Instagram lets you add more than one link, and it’s best to put the booking one first. If you have Citauno’s links page switched on, you can use that single address and put everything there.

Does Instagram show a “Book” button linked to my schedule?

Not with Citauno. There’s no Instagram integration: you paste the link in your bio, stories and messages, and the client books on your Citauno page.

What if someone wants an appointment in an hour?

With the default minimum notice of 3 hours, that time isn’t offered online. You can lower it in the settings, or handle that case by message and add the booking yourself from the calendar.

Yes. It’s the same link everywhere. For people who already want an appointment, use the direct booking link; for people still getting to know you, use the profile.

If you want your followers to book without waiting for your reply, try Citauno free for 15 days, no card needed. See how the online booking system for nail studios works, the one for makeup artists or for brows and lashes, or check pricing.

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