A step-by-step guide to adding the Promo Bar block to your UniLink page so you can surface a sticky announcement banner — with optional countdown timer — that stays visible as visitors scroll through your content.
- The Promo Bar is a slim sticky banner that anchors to the top or bottom of the page and stays visible as the visitor scrolls — it is always in view, making it the most persistently visible block on your page.
- The built-in countdown timer is the Promo Bar's strongest feature for time-sensitive offers — it counts down to a deadline in real time, stays visible regardless of where the visitor is on the page, and outperforms a standalone Timer block for ongoing promotions.
- Keep Promo Bar text under 60 characters — longer text wraps awkwardly on mobile screens and undermines the bar's clean single-line appearance.
- For non-time-sensitive announcements, include a dismiss button so returning visitors can remove the bar once they have read it — a permanent bar that cannot be closed trains visitors to ignore it.
Most content on a link-in-bio page competes for attention as the visitor scrolls. A block seen in the first two seconds might be forgotten by the time the visitor reaches the bottom of the page. The Promo Bar does not compete — it does not scroll away. Whether the visitor is reading your bio, clicking a link, watching a video block, or scrolling to the bottom of your page, the Promo Bar is there. That persistent visibility makes it the most attention-retaining block in the entire UniLink block library, which is exactly why what you put in it matters so much. An announcement that would get lost three blocks down the page gets seen by every visitor who spends more than two seconds on your page when it is in the Promo Bar. Use that real estate for the thing that most needs to be seen right now.
What the Promo Bar block does
The Promo Bar renders as a horizontal strip anchored to either the top or bottom edge of your page. Its height is intentionally minimal — a single line of text, an optional CTA button, and an optional countdown timer — which means it occupies very little vertical space while maintaining constant visibility. Unlike a regular block that lives within the scrollable content area and disappears as the visitor scrolls past it, the Promo Bar is fixed to the viewport edge: it stays in position regardless of scroll depth. A visitor reading your third or fourth block down the page still has the Promo Bar in full view at the top or bottom of their screen.
The content options within the bar are deliberately constrained to match its form. You write a short text message — the announcement itself. Optionally, you add a CTA button with a label and a destination URL. Optionally, you add a countdown timer that counts down in real time to a date and time you specify. And optionally, you include a dismiss button that lets visitors close the bar after reading it. These four elements — message, button, timer, close — are everything the Promo Bar needs to do its job. The minimal surface area is a design decision, not a limitation: a narrow bar with dense content or long text becomes difficult to read on mobile and loses its clean, attention-directing quality.
The countdown timer is the feature that separates the Promo Bar from a simple announcement block. When you enable the timer and set an end date, the bar displays a live countdown — days, hours, minutes, seconds — updating in real time. Because the bar is sticky, that countdown is visible for the entire duration of the visitor's session on your page. Compare this to a standalone Timer block, which counts down when it is in the viewport but disappears from view as soon as the visitor scrolls past it. A Promo Bar with a countdown stays in the visitor's peripheral awareness for as long as they are on the page, creating consistent urgency that a mid-page Timer block cannot match. For any time-limited promotion — sale ending tonight, registration closing Friday, drop going live in two hours — the Promo Bar countdown is the most effective urgency tool in UniLink.
Before you start
- Write your message text first, then count the characters: The Promo Bar's single-line layout is unforgiving on mobile. Write your message, then count its length. If it exceeds 60 characters, rewrite it shorter. Abbreviate where natural ("Free shipping on orders $50+" not "Free shipping on all orders over fifty dollars"), drop unnecessary words, and lead with the most important information. The message that fits cleanly in one line on a 375px screen is the right message for the Promo Bar.
- Decide whether you need a countdown timer: The timer is the bar's most powerful feature, but it only makes sense for time-limited offers with a real deadline. If the announcement is ongoing ("New episode every Tuesday," "Free shipping all month"), a timer adds nothing. If the announcement has a specific end time that matters to the visitor ("Sale ends Sunday at midnight," "Early bird tickets close in 48 hours"), the timer is the most important element in the bar and should be your primary reason to use this block.
- Choose top or bottom position: Top position is more prominent — it is the first thing visitors see regardless of where they land on the page. Bottom position is less intrusive — it does not overlap the opening content and suits announcements that complement the main page experience rather than interrupting it. Time-sensitive offers with a countdown timer belong at the top where urgency is immediately visible. Softer announcements ("New blog post — read it here") work well at the bottom.
- Set your brand colors before opening the editor: The Promo Bar's background and text color need to contrast with your page's main design while remaining consistent with your brand. Have your hex codes ready. High-contrast combinations (dark background with white text, or a bright brand color with dark text) read clearly at the bar's small size. Low-contrast combinations are legible on desktop but fail on mobile in bright light.
How to add the Promo Bar block to your page
- Open your page in the Dashboard: Log in to UniLink, go to My Pages, and click Edit on the page where you want to add the announcement bar.
- Add the block: Click + Add Block in the editor. Find Promo Bar in the block picker — look in Marketing, Announcements, or the featured block section. Select it. The block appears in your editor and previews as a bar across the top or bottom of the page depending on your position setting.
- Set the position: In the block settings, choose Top or Bottom for where the bar anchors. Top is more prominent and better for urgent announcements. Bottom is subtler and suits softer calls to action.
- Enter your message text: Type your announcement in the message field. Keep it under 60 characters. Lead with the most important word or number — "$50+ gets free shipping," "Sale ends Friday," "New episode out now." Visitors reading a sticky bar at a glance will see the first few words before anything else.
- Set background and text colors: Use the color pickers to set the bar's background color and text color. Choose a background that is visually distinct from the top of your page content (so the bar reads as a separate element, not part of the page layout) and a text color with high contrast against it. Test on mobile by checking the preview at a narrow width.
- Add a CTA button (optional but recommended): Click to add a button inside the bar. Enter a specific label — "Shop Now," "Book a Spot," "Listen Here," "Register" — and the destination URL. The button appears inline with the message text. Use it whenever the announcement is asking the visitor to go somewhere: an external product page, an event registration, a podcast episode, a YouTube video.
- Enable the countdown timer (optional): Toggle on the countdown timer if your announcement has a real deadline. Set the end date and time in the date picker, including the time zone. The bar will display a live countdown formatted as days:hours:minutes:seconds or a similar format. Once the end time passes, the timer reaches zero — decide in advance whether you will remove the bar at that point or update it for the next campaign.
- Configure the dismiss button: Choose whether the bar is dismissable (visitor can close it) or always-on (visitor cannot remove it). Dismissable bars are better for ongoing announcements or for returning audiences who will see the bar on every visit — giving them the ability to close it once they have read it prevents fatigue. Always-on bars are appropriate for very short campaign windows or for critical notices (site maintenance, checkout unavailable) where the visitor genuinely should not miss the information.
- Save and publish, then test on mobile: Click Save and Publish Page. Open the live page on an actual mobile device (not just a desktop preview) to confirm the bar text fits in one line, the button is tappable with a finger, and the countdown timer is readable at mobile font sizes. The Promo Bar's performance is primarily a mobile experience — most of your visitors are on phones.
Key settings explained
| Setting | What it controls | Best practice |
|---|---|---|
| Position | Whether the bar anchors to the top or bottom edge of the viewport | Top for urgent offers with countdown timers — it is the first thing seen; bottom for softer announcements and content links that complement rather than interrupt the page opening |
| Message text | The announcement copy displayed in the bar | Stay under 60 characters; lead with the most important word; read it on a simulated 375px mobile width before publishing — if it wraps to two lines it is too long |
| Background color | The fill color of the bar itself | Use a color that is visually distinct from the top of your page so the bar reads as a separate UI element; brand colors work well here as long as text contrast remains high |
| Text color | The color of the announcement text and any inline labels | Maintain at least 4.5:1 contrast ratio against the background color for WCAG AA compliance and legibility on low-brightness mobile screens |
| CTA button | An optional clickable button inside the bar with a custom label and destination URL | Always use specific action labels — "Shop Now," "Register," "Listen" — not generic labels like "Click" or "Here"; the button is small and the label is the only cue the visitor has about where it goes |
| Countdown timer | A live countdown to a specified date and time, displayed inside the bar | Only enable for offers with a real, fixed deadline — a countdown that counts down to nothing (or restarts on refresh) destroys credibility immediately; if the deadline is not real, remove the timer |
| Dismiss button | Whether visitors can close the bar after reading it | Include a dismiss button for all non-critical announcements and for any bar running longer than 24 hours — a bar that cannot be closed and never changes becomes visual noise that returning visitors learn to ignore |
| Sticky behavior | Whether the bar is fixed to the viewport edge or scrolls with the page | Keep the bar sticky (fixed) — a Promo Bar that scrolls with the page provides no advantage over a regular inline block and loses the persistent visibility that makes the block valuable |
How to write a Promo Bar that gets clicked, not ignored
The Promo Bar's perpetual visibility is a double-edged quality. Every visitor who spends time on your page will see it — but that same visibility means it will be evaluated and dismissed in under a second on first glance. Returning visitors who have already seen the bar will register it automatically and move on without reading unless something about it is new or urgent. This is the core tension in Promo Bar design: it has maximum exposure, but each individual exposure is extremely brief. The bar has to earn attention in one line of text.
The most effective Promo Bar messages share two properties: specificity and immediacy. Specificity means naming a concrete offer, event, or piece of content rather than a general announcement. "Free shipping ends tonight at midnight" is specific. "Check out our special offer" is not. Immediacy means giving the visitor a reason to pay attention now rather than later — a deadline, a quantity limit, a just-released piece of content. "New episode out — listen now" has immediacy because it signals something that just happened. "Subscribe to my podcast" has no immediacy — it is equally true on any visit, which means it reads as background noise. When your Promo Bar combines specificity and immediacy, it earns the glance it is guaranteed to get.
The CTA button inside the Promo Bar is small — much smaller than a standard link button on your page. This means the label carries the entire weight of communicating both what the destination is and why the visitor should click. "Shop" is better than "Click Here." "Register Free" is better than "Sign Up." "Listen Now" is better than "Check It Out." The label needs to complete the action in the visitor's mind before they click: "I am going to shop the sale," "I am going to register for the event," "I am going to listen to this episode." When the button label makes that action clear, click-through rates improve because the visitor knows exactly what they are agreeing to before they tap.
The single most common failure mode is leaving a Promo Bar live long after the offer it references has expired. A countdown timer that reached zero last week and now displays "00:00:00:00" is actively harmful to credibility — it signals that the page is not being maintained. A "New Episode Out Now!" bar for an episode published two months ago signals the same thing. The Promo Bar is a dynamic, time-sensitive tool. Plan to update or remove it when the offer ends. If you know you will forget, set a calendar reminder on the same day you publish the bar — the date the timer hits zero, or the day the campaign ends — so you remember to come back and clean it up.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Promo Bar not visible on the live page | Block saved but page not published, or bar toggled off in block settings | Confirm the block is enabled in settings; click Publish Page in the Dashboard — saves update the draft only; test on the live page in an incognito tab |
| Text wraps to two lines on mobile | Message text exceeds roughly 60 characters for the mobile viewport width | Shorten the message — cut filler words, use abbreviations where natural ($50+ not "fifty dollars or more"), and re-test on a simulated 375px width before republishing |
| Countdown timer shows wrong time remaining | End date and time set to the wrong time zone, or a 12/24-hour format mismatch in the date picker | Re-open block settings, delete the end date/time, re-enter it carefully with the correct time zone selected, save, and republish; verify the displayed countdown matches expected time remaining |
| CTA button in bar links to wrong page | URL entered without https://, or saved before the full URL was typed | Open block settings, delete the URL field completely, re-enter the full URL beginning with https://, save, and republish; click the button on the live page in an incognito tab to confirm the destination |
| Bar overlaps the top of page content, cutting off the first block | Promo Bar positioned at top with no padding compensation in the page layout | Check if the first content block on your page has a top margin or padding that accommodates the bar height; if content is being obscured, reorder blocks or switch the bar to bottom position |
| Dismiss button not appearing — visitors cannot close the bar | Dismiss toggle is off in block settings | Open block settings, enable the dismiss button toggle, save, and republish; confirm the X or close icon appears on the live page and functions correctly on both desktop and mobile |
| Countdown timer reached zero but bar is still showing "00:00:00:00" | No action configured for when the timer expires; bar remains visible with a zero countdown | When the countdown expires, open the block editor and either remove the block, toggle off the timer, or update the bar with a new message — a zero countdown left live actively harms credibility |
Best fit for
- Time-limited sales, discount windows, and early-bird offers where countdown urgency needs to be visible throughout the entire page visit — not just at the moment the visitor happens to scroll past a Timer block
- Content creators with regular releases (weekly podcast episodes, newsletter drops, YouTube uploads) who want a low-effort way to surface the latest release without rearranging their page layout each time
- E-commerce sellers using UniLink as a storefront front door who want a persistent "Free shipping on orders $X+" or "Sale ends Sunday" reminder that follows every visitor through the page
- Anyone promoting an event with a defined registration deadline — booking open for a workshop, limited seats for a live event, RSVP closes Friday — where a real countdown timer is appropriate
Not the right tool if
- Your announcement is permanent and evergreen — "Welcome to my page" or "Follow me on Instagram" as permanent Promo Bar content will be ignored immediately by any returning visitor and contributes nothing for new visitors that a bio block could not do more contextually
- You have multiple simultaneous announcements to surface — the Promo Bar is a single message; it cannot rotate between multiple offers or show different content to different visitors; for multiple announcements, use inline blocks within the page layout
- Your page has a very long content layout and the bar position (top or bottom) would conflict with your primary CTA blocks — test for layout conflicts before committing to a position
- The message requires more than one sentence to explain — if you cannot state the offer in under 60 characters, the Promo Bar is the wrong format; use a highlighted inline block or a callout section within the page instead
Frequently asked questions
Can I have two Promo Bars on the same page — one at the top and one at the bottom?
This depends on your UniLink plan and the specific block configuration options available to your account. In most cases, you can add multiple Promo Bar blocks and position one at the top and one at the bottom. However, two simultaneous bars can feel cluttered and reduce the impact of both. If you have two equally urgent messages, consider whether one of them belongs in the Promo Bar and the other belongs as an inline callout block within the page layout — the Promo Bar earns its position by being singular and persistent, not by competing with another bar for the same role.
What happens to the countdown timer when it reaches zero?
The timer displays zero (00:00:00:00) and stops. The bar itself remains visible on the page — UniLink does not automatically remove the block when the countdown expires. You need to manually remove the block or update the content after the deadline passes. If you are running a time-limited campaign, schedule a reminder for yourself on the campaign end date to return to the Dashboard and update or remove the Promo Bar. A bar displaying a zero countdown is worse than no bar at all — it signals stale, unmaintained page content to every visitor who sees it.
Is the Promo Bar countdown timer the same as the Timer block?
They count down to the same date and function similarly in terms of display, but their positioning and visibility are categorically different. The standalone Timer block lives within the scrollable content area of your page — it is visible only when the visitor has scrolled to where the block is positioned in the layout. The Promo Bar countdown is fixed to the viewport edge and stays visible regardless of scroll position. For sale urgency and event registration deadlines where you want the countdown visible throughout the entire session, the Promo Bar countdown is more effective. For a countdown that is contextually tied to a specific product or section, the standalone Timer block is the right placement.
Should the Promo Bar be dismissable or permanent?
For most announcements, include a dismiss button. Visitors who have already read the bar and taken the intended action (or decided not to) should be able to remove it — a permanent bar that cannot be closed trains returning visitors to ignore it entirely, which defeats the purpose. The exception is very short campaign windows where you genuinely want the message present for every visitor throughout the campaign, and where the campaign is short enough that annoyance does not build up (a 24–48 hour flash sale, for example). For anything running longer than a day or two, or for any audience with significant return traffic, include the dismiss option.
Can I change the Promo Bar content without affecting the rest of my page?
Yes. The Promo Bar is an independent block — editing its content, colors, or settings does not affect any other blocks on your page. You can update the message text, swap the CTA URL, change colors, or toggle the countdown timer on or off at any time. After saving changes to the Promo Bar block, click Publish Page to push the updated bar to your live page — saves in the Dashboard update the draft only. Your other page blocks and their settings are unaffected by Promo Bar changes.
- The Promo Bar is a sticky banner fixed to the top or bottom of the viewport — it stays visible as visitors scroll, giving it more sustained exposure than any inline block on the page.
- The countdown timer in the Promo Bar is the most effective urgency tool in UniLink for time-limited offers because it remains visible throughout the entire session, not just when the visitor is near a Timer block in the page layout.
- Keep message text under 60 characters — text that wraps to two lines on mobile breaks the bar's clean single-line format and makes it harder to read at a glance.
- Always plan to remove or update the Promo Bar when the offer it references expires — a bar with a zero countdown or a stale announcement actively damages credibility with every visitor who sees it.
- Include a dismiss button for any bar running longer than 24–48 hours or for pages with significant return traffic — returning visitors who cannot close a bar they have already read will start ignoring the entire top or bottom strip of your page.
Ready to make your most important announcement impossible to miss? Create your free UniLink page and add a Promo Bar block — a sticky banner with countdown timer that stays in view no matter where your visitors scroll.