A real estate agent usually has more listings than a profile has room for, so the link in bio carries most of the work. Instagram allows 150 characters of bio and a short list of links. TikTok allows 80 characters and one link, and only after 1,000 followers or a verified business account. Meanwhile the questions buyers send are always about a specific home: what it costs, where it is, and when they can see it.
This guide covers the bio text, the page behind the link, a separate link for every listing, and the QR code on the sign outside the house. It also covers what to do with that code when the house sells and the sign moves to the next one.
What a buyer wants from your profile
People reach an agent's profile in two ways. Some saw a listing video and want that one home. Others are looking for an agent in their area and are checking whether you work it. The bio has to tell the second group where you sell and what kind of property. The link has to give the first group the listing they came for within one tap.
Most agent profiles get this the wrong way round. The bio lists awards and the brokerage slogan, and the link goes to the brokerage website, where the visitor has to search for the agent and then for the home. By then the person who saw a 40-second video of a kitchen has usually gone back to scrolling.
Realtor bio examples for Instagram and TikTok
The bio does one job: it says where you work, what you sell, and that the link is where the listings are. Your name and photo already sit above it, so you do not need to repeat them.
For Instagram, with room to spare under 150 characters:
Licensed realtor in Austin, TX. Condos and first homes under $400k. New listings every week, tap below to book a viewing.
That is 121 characters. For TikTok, where the cap is 80:
Austin realtor. Condo tours every Thursday. Listings and booking below.
That one is 71. The details of what counts toward the TikTok limit are in the TikTok bio character limit guide.
Two things are worth adding if you have the characters. The neighbourhoods you know best, by the names locals use, because that is what a buyer searches for. And the brokerage name. In many US states and in several other countries, advertising rules require it next to the agent's name on social media, so check what your licensing body says before you trim it.
What to put on your link in bio page
The page behind the link should read like a short listing sheet, with the newest homes at the top. A link in bio page built from cards does this without a website:
- A product card for each active listing. It takes one photo, a title such as "3 bed, 2 bath, East Riverside", a short description, a price and a second, reduced price. When a seller drops the price, the card shows the old number crossed out, which buyers notice.
- A video card for the walkthrough. YouTube, Vimeo and TikTok links play on the page, so a buyer can watch the tour without leaving it.
- A map card for your office, or for the open house if you are holding one this weekend.
- A text card of up to 255 characters for the open house times, or for "Under contract, more coming Friday".
- A WhatsApp or phone button for viewings.
Keep it to the homes you are actually selling. A page with 14 cards, half of them sold, makes a buyer wonder which ones are still available. When a listing goes under contract, switch the card off rather than deleting it, and switch it back on if the deal falls through.
A viewing request in one tap
A WhatsApp link can carry a first message. Put it under each listing with the address already written in:
https://wa.me/15125550123?text=Hi%2C%20I%27d%20like%20to%20see%20412%20Oak%20St
The buyer taps, WhatsApp opens with "Hi, I'd like to see 412 Oak St" in the box, and they press send. You get the message already knowing which home it is about. That matters more than it sounds once you have six listings and a phone full of messages that say "is it still available?"
One short link per listing
The bio page counts visits and shows where they came from: referrer, country, device and any UTM tag. It does not record which card a visitor tapped. For an agent, that is the number that matters most, because it tells you which listing is pulling people in.
The way around it is to give every listing its own short link and use that as the card destination. Create linx.ly/412-oak and linx.ly/east-riverside-condo with a URL shortener, point each one at the listing on your brokerage site or the portal, and put the short link on the card. Each link keeps its own click count.
The same short link works everywhere else you mention the home: a TikTok caption, a story sticker, a text to a buyer, the description of a YouTube tour. Link click tracking explains what each count includes. If you run paid ads for a listing, add UTM parameters to keep that traffic apart from the people who found the home organically.
TikTok for real estate agents: the link problem
TikTok is where the walkthrough videos get watched. The trouble is that a link in a TikTok caption is plain text, and the profile link field appears only for accounts with 1,000 followers or a verified business account. The steps for getting that field are in how to add a link to your TikTok bio.
Until you have the link, say the address of the page out loud at the end of the video and put it on screen as text. linx.ly/yourname is short enough for someone to type from memory. Once the field appears, that same URL goes in it, and nothing you said in older videos goes out of date.
Each video is about one home, so end it by sending people to that home: "412 Oak is the first card on the page in my bio." Then make sure it really is the first card. A listing that went viral last month should not still sit at the top once it is sold.
One QR code per sign, not per listing
Every link you create gets a QR code automatically. Most agents put the listing's code on the yard sign or the window flyer. The problem is that the sign is reused and the listing is not. Print a code that opens 412 Oak St and it becomes useless the day 412 Oak St closes.
Print the code for the sign instead. Create linx.ly/sign-01, linx.ly/sign-02 and so on, one per physical sign, and point each one at whichever listing that sign currently stands in front of. When the house sells and the sign goes up on a new street, change the destination in your dashboard. The sign, the sticker and the printed code stay as they are. This only works because the code opens a link you can edit, which is the difference between dynamic and static QR codes.
Scans are counted for each link, so you also see which street gets people to stop and pull out a phone. Tracking QR code scans covers what the scan data shows.
Flyers at an open house can use the same idea. One link for the flyer, one for the sign, one for the window card at your office. A month later you know which of the three people actually scanned.
Setting it up
- Sign up for Linxly and start the 7-day free trial.
- Create a short link for each active listing and one for each sign you own.
- Build the page: newest listing first, then the walkthrough video, the open house text, a map and a WhatsApp button.
- Set the page slug to your name, such as
linx.ly/janesmith, so you can say it out loud in a video. - Put the page URL in the Instagram and TikTok link fields, your email signature and your business card.
- Print the sign codes, and repoint them each time a sign moves.
Frequently asked questions
What should a realtor put in their Instagram bio?
The area you work, the type of property you sell, and a line pointing to the link. If your licensing rules require the brokerage name, add it. Awards and slogans can go on the page behind the link, where there is room.
Can I show all my listings on one link?
Yes. Each listing goes on its own product card with a photo, price and link to the full details, newest at the top. The best link in bio examples post shows how other industries order their cards.
What happens to the QR code on my sign when a house sells?
If the code opens a short link, you change where that link points, and the same printed code opens the next listing. If the code was made from the listing URL directly, it keeps opening the old page and has to be reprinted.
How do I know which listing gets the most interest?
Give each listing its own short link and use it on the card, in captions and on flyers. Each link counts its clicks separately, and QR scans of the same link land in the same report.
Do I need a website if I have a link in bio page?
Your brokerage site or the listing portal still holds the full details and photos. The page sits in front of them and gives a buyer from Instagram or TikTok a direct route to the right home, which a brokerage homepage rarely does.