How to add links to your Mastodon profile

You move to Mastodon, open your profile settings, and find a small table with four rows. Each row has a label and a value. There is no single "website" box, and some people have a checkmark next to their links that you do not.

Both have simple explanations. Here is how links work on a Mastodon profile and how to get the most from the room you have.

Where do links go on a Mastodon profile?

In two places: your bio and your profile fields. According to the Mastodon documentation, you edit both under Preferences, then Public profile, then Edit profile.

The bio is free text. The profile fields are four rows, and each one has a label and a value. The value can hold links, mentions, hashtags and custom emoji.

Use the fields for links you want to stay visible and tidy. Use the bio for a link that belongs inside a sentence.

How many characters do you get?

By default, the display name can be up to 30 characters and the bio up to 500, per the same documentation. Links are the friendly part. Mastodon counts every link in your bio as 23 characters, no matter how long it really is.

That has two practical effects:

• A long URL costs you no more than a short one, so a link shortener saves you nothing.
• Two links in the bio use 46 of your 500 characters, which leaves plenty for words.

Servers can change their own rules, so treat these numbers as the defaults. Mastodon's signup guide says each server sets its own policies, and the page does not say whether profile limits differ between them. If a field refuses your text, check your server's rules.

What goes in the four fields?

Four rows is tight, so give each one a job. Say you're a ceramicist with a shop, a newsletter and an account on a few other sites. A sensible set looks like this:

1. Website. The one page you most want a new follower to open.
2. Shop. Where people can buy from you.
3. Newsletter. The sign-up page.
4. Elsewhere. Your other main profile, such as YouTube or Bluesky.

Keep the labels short and plain. People skim these. "Shop" tells a visitor more than "My little corner of the internet".

You will notice the problem quickly. A ceramicist with a gallery listing, a workshop booking page and a podcast appearance has more links than rows. You can drop the least important ones or you can point one row at a page that holds the rest.

When one field should point at a link in bio page

A link in bio page solves the four-row limit without changing what Mastodon allows. Put the page in your first field, label it with something that tells people what is behind it, and let the page hold the long list.

On Linky, a Link Box or Link Bar block holds each link, and the page lives at lin.ky/<username>. The Free plan covers one page with up to five blocks, which is enough for a short list. If you already use the same page in your Instagram or YouTube bio, you are keeping one address current instead of four. The Bluesky profile guide covers the same idea for a platform with even less room.

Keep that list short too. The learn page on how many links you should have gives a quick answer.

How do you get the verified checkmark?

The checkmark on a link means that the page it points to links back to your profile. Per the Mastodon verification guide, there are three steps:

1. Put a link to your Mastodon profile on your website, and give that link a rel="me" attribute. The guide calls this "the important part".
2. Edit your Mastodon profile and put the address of that website in one of your four profile fields.
3. Save your profile.

The link on your site looks like this:

<a href="https://mastodon.social/@yourname" rel="me">Follow me on Mastodon</a>

Swap in your own profile address. The details in the profile documentation are where people get caught:

• The link must use HTTPS. Plain HTTP links are not processed.
• The link has to be in the page's HTML without JavaScript, and it cannot sit inside an iframe.
• Save your Mastodon profile after you add the link to your page. If verification fails, delete the link from the field, save, add it again, and save once more.

This means you need a page where you can edit the HTML. A personal website works. A link in bio builder may or may not let you add a rel="me" link, so check whether yours does before you plan around it.

What does the checkmark prove?

Less than people assume. The verification guide is direct about it: "There is no blue badge." It says Mastodon does not rely on legal names and that you do not submit documents anywhere.

The checkmark shows that whoever controls the Mastodon profile also controls that web page. That is useful. A follower can see that your shop link and your account belong to the same person.

What happens if you move to another server?

Your links do not follow you automatically. The Mastodon guide to moving accounts says the move redirects your followers to the new account, but your posts stay behind. It also recommends you set up the new account with your profile, bio and avatar, and it does not mention profile links or fields carrying over.

So after a move, re-enter your four fields, re-check the verified links, and save. If your website's rel="me" link still points at your old profile address, update it to the new one, or the checkmark will not come back.

If one of your fields holds a link in bio page, a later change to your destinations happens on that page and nowhere else.

Add your links this afternoon

Open Edit profile, fill the four rows in order of importance, and put your most useful link first. If you have more than four places to send people, make a Linky page and give it the first row. It takes a few minutes, and the Free plan costs nothing.