A step-by-step guide to setting up paid and free appointment booking directly from your bio page — no Calendly account required.
If you offer coaching, consulting, tutoring, photography, personal training, or any service that requires a scheduled appointment, your booking link is one of the most important things on your bio page. UniLink's Appointment block puts a full scheduling interface directly on your page — no third-party booking tool, no monthly Calendly subscription, and no friction from sending followers to yet another platform. Visitors check your availability, pick a slot, pay if required, and receive a confirmation with all the details in one seamless flow.
What the Appointment Block Does
The Appointment block is a live scheduling widget that reads your availability from Google Calendar and presents open time slots to visitors in their local time zone. When a visitor books a slot, UniLink creates a calendar event in your Google Calendar, sends a confirmation email to both parties, and — if you have connected Zoom — generates a unique meeting link and includes it in the confirmation automatically.
The block supports multiple session types, so you can offer a free 15-minute discovery call alongside a paid 60-minute strategy session, each with its own price, duration, and description. Visitors choose the session type first, then see only the available slots for that duration. Buffer time between appointments is configurable, so you are never double-booked or rushed between calls.
Intake forms add another layer of utility. Before confirming their booking, visitors can be asked to fill out a short form — their goals, company size, specific questions they want to address. Their answers appear in your Dashboard and in the calendar event description, so you arrive at every call prepared rather than spending the first five minutes on context.
How to Get Started With Appointment Booking
- Connect Google Calendar in your Dashboard settings — Navigate to Dashboard → Settings → Integrations and click Connect Google Calendar. Authorize UniLink to read and write your calendar. UniLink checks your existing events to block off busy times automatically — no manual blocking needed.
- Add an Appointment block to your page — Open your page editor, click + Add Block, and select Appointment. Give the block a display title (e.g., "Book a Session With Me") and a brief description of what visitors can expect.
- Create your first session type — Inside the block, click Add Session Type. Enter a name ("Discovery Call," "1:1 Strategy Session"), a description, duration in minutes, and price. For free sessions, set the price to $0.
- Set your weekly availability — In the availability editor, toggle on the days you accept bookings and set your available hours for each day. For example, Monday–Thursday, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM. UniLink will only show visitors slots that fall within these hours and are not blocked by existing calendar events.
- Configure buffer time and advance booking limits — Set a buffer (15–30 minutes is standard) between back-to-back appointments. Set a minimum advance notice — for example, "No bookings within 4 hours" — so you are never caught off guard by a last-minute slot.
- Enable Zoom integration for automatic meeting links — In Settings → Integrations, connect your Zoom account. Once connected, every confirmed booking automatically generates a unique Zoom meeting link included in the confirmation email and calendar invite.
- Add an intake form and publish — In the session type settings, click Add Intake Form and add 2–4 questions relevant to your work. Save, publish your page, and your booking calendar is live.
How to Manage Your Bookings Day-to-Day
- Review your upcoming bookings in the Appointments dashboard — All confirmed bookings appear under Dashboard → Appointments with the session type, client name, email, date, time, and intake form responses. Check this daily to prepare for calls.
- Send a reminder 24 hours before each session — Enable the automatic reminder email in Appointment settings. UniLink sends a reminder with the meeting link and intake summary 24 hours before the session. This reduces no-show rates by 30–40%.
- Reschedule or cancel from the Dashboard — If a conflict arises, open the booking in your Dashboard, click Reschedule, and propose a new time. The client receives an email with the updated time and an updated calendar invite. Cancellation emails are sent automatically if you cancel from the Dashboard.
- Block off specific dates as unavailable — For vacations, conferences, or days when you are unavailable, add a blocking event to your Google Calendar. UniLink reads it automatically and hides those slots from the booking calendar in real time.
- Review and respond to intake form answers before each call — In the booking details view, read the client's intake answers. Add a personal note in the calendar event description. Arriving at calls with specific knowledge of the client's situation dramatically improves session quality and client retention.
- After the session, send a follow-up offer — Configure a post-session email in your Appointment block settings. This email goes out automatically a set number of hours after the appointment and can include a link to book another session, purchase a digital product, or enroll in your course.
- Review monthly booking analytics — UniLink's analytics show you total sessions booked, session types, revenue from paid sessions, and your busiest booking days and times. Use this data to optimize your availability hours and identify which session types to promote most heavily.
Key Settings Explained
| Setting | What it controls | Best practice |
|---|---|---|
| Buffer time | Minutes blocked automatically between consecutive appointments | Set 15 min for video calls; 30 min for in-person sessions — prevents back-to-back fatigue and gives time to take notes |
| Minimum advance notice | Earliest a visitor can book before the session start time | 4–24 hours for online sessions; 48 hours for in-person or preparation-heavy sessions |
| Maximum advance booking window | How far into the future visitors can book | 60–90 days for most service providers; shorter for high-demand coaches to maintain scarcity |
| Session confirmation message | Custom text shown in the booking confirmation email and page | Include what to prepare, how to join (Zoom link auto-inserts), and what to expect in the first 5 minutes |
| Intake form required vs. optional | Whether the form must be completed to confirm the booking | Set to Required for paid sessions; Optional for free discovery calls to reduce friction |
How to Get the Most Out of Your Booking Setup
The most effective booking page setups separate session types clearly by the problem they solve, not just by duration. Instead of "30-Minute Call" and "60-Minute Call," name them "Brand Strategy Review" and "Full Marketing Audit." Outcome-oriented names give visitors enough information to self-select the right session, which means fewer mismatch calls and higher client satisfaction.
Your confirmation message is one of the most underutilized conversion assets in the booking flow. Most creators leave it as the default "Your session is confirmed." Replace it with a specific, warm message that tells the client exactly what to prepare, how to join the call, and what to expect as an outcome. A well-written confirmation message reduces pre-call anxiety, decreases no-shows, and sets the tone for the working relationship before the call even begins.
Paid sessions have a measurable impact on show-up rates compared to free ones. When a client has paid — even $25 — they treat the appointment as a real commitment. If your service supports it, even a nominal deposit for free initial sessions can reduce no-shows by half. Consider charging a refundable $10–20 deposit for discovery calls that gets applied to the first paid engagement.
Connect your post-session email to a specific offer. The 24–48 hour window after a productive session is when client motivation is highest. A well-timed email with a link to book your next session type, enroll in your course, or purchase your guide captures that momentum. This single automation — a post-session email with a relevant offer — can generate as much revenue as the session itself over a month of consistent bookings.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No available slots are showing to visitors | Google Calendar is not connected, availability hours are not set, or all slots are blocked by calendar events | Verify Google Calendar connection in Settings → Integrations; confirm availability hours are toggled on; check for all-day events in your calendar blocking the day |
| Zoom link is missing from confirmation email | Zoom integration is not connected, or the session type has a custom location set that overrides the Zoom auto-link | Connect Zoom in Settings → Integrations; ensure the session type location is set to "Zoom — auto-generate" rather than a custom URL |
| Client was charged but booking did not appear in Dashboard | Payment completed but webhook failed to create the booking record | Check Payments → Orders for the transaction; contact support with the Stripe payment ID to manually create the booking |
| Booking calendar shows times in the wrong time zone | Visitor's browser time zone differs from your set time zone, but the display is not auto-converting | Enable "Show times in visitor's local time zone" in the Appointment block settings — this is usually on by default; verify it has not been toggled off |
Pros
- Full booking flow lives on your bio page — no Calendly or Acuity subscription needed
- Google Calendar sync means zero manual availability management
- Automatic Zoom links and confirmation emails eliminate repetitive admin work
- Intake forms qualify leads and help you arrive at every session prepared
Cons
- Currently supports Google Calendar only — Outlook and Apple Calendar integration is not yet available
- No built-in group booking (webinar or workshop slots with a capacity limit)
- Recurring appointment scheduling (weekly standing calls) requires manual rebooking per session
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I offer both free and paid session types from the same Appointment block?
Yes. You can create multiple session types within one block, each with its own price, duration, description, and intake form. Visitors select the session type first, then see the available slots for that specific duration.
Does UniLink support group bookings or workshop sessions with a participant limit?
Individual one-on-one bookings are fully supported. Group session booking with a capacity limit is a feature on the roadmap but not yet available. For workshops, use the Course block with a fixed enrollment limit as an alternative.
How does the client receive the Zoom link?
When Zoom is connected in your integrations, UniLink automatically generates a unique Zoom meeting link for each confirmed booking and includes it in the confirmation email sent to both you and the client. The link also appears in the Google Calendar event description.
Can I block specific days without deleting my availability settings?
Yes. Simply add an all-day event or a busy block in your connected Google Calendar for the days you want to block. UniLink reads your calendar in real time and hides those dates from the booking interface automatically.
What happens if I need to cancel a paid session?
From your Dashboard → Appointments, open the booking and click Cancel. You can choose to issue a full refund, partial refund, or no refund. The client receives a cancellation email with the refund details, and the calendar event is removed.
Key Takeaways
- Connect Google Calendar first, then add the Appointment block with your session types, availability hours, and buffer time configured before publishing.
- Name session types by outcome ("Brand Strategy Review") rather than duration ("60-Minute Call") to help visitors self-select the right option.
- A free discovery call with a required intake form is the highest-converting entry point for paid service providers on UniLink.
- Automatic 24-hour reminder emails and post-session follow-up emails are the two automations that most directly reduce no-shows and increase rebooking rates.
- Connect Zoom for automatic meeting links — this alone eliminates the most common post-booking admin task.
Ready to start taking bookings?
Add an Appointment block to your UniLink page, connect your calendar, and let clients book paid or free sessions directly from your bio — no third-party tools required.
Get Started Free