A complete guide to adding Instagram-style story highlights to your UniLink page — with cover icons, slide sequences, and text overlays that keep visitors engaged.
- The Highlights block adds circular story bubbles to your page — just like Instagram Highlights — each opening a swipeable full-screen story sequence when tapped.
- Each highlight circle is independent: set a cover image, a label, and as many slides as you need (images, videos, text overlays, link buttons).
- Keep the circle count to six or fewer on mobile — seven or more forces horizontal scrolling and collapses the visual impact.
- Highlights are a visual storytelling tool, not a navigation element. Use the Links block for clickable calls to action; use Highlights to show, not just tell.
Most link-in-bio pages hand visitors a plain list of buttons. That works for navigation, but it does almost nothing to communicate who you are, what you do, or why any of it matters. A first-time visitor who lands on a page full of links has to decide whether to click before they know anything about you — and most don't. The Highlights block solves this by putting your story first. Five seconds with a swipeable "About Me" or "Portfolio" highlight gives a visitor more context than ten links ever could. If you're a visual creator — photographer, fashion designer, artist, anyone who lives on Instagram — the Highlights block is the fastest way to make your UniLink page feel like a real presence rather than a list of URLs.
What the Highlights block does
The Highlights block renders a horizontal row of circular icon bubbles near the top of your page — the same pattern Instagram popularized for profile highlights. Each circle has a cover image or icon and a short label underneath. When a visitor taps or clicks a circle, it opens a full-screen story viewer overlaid on the page. Inside the viewer, they see a sequence of slides — images or videos — which can include an optional text overlay and an optional link button on each slide. Visitors swipe left or right to navigate slides, and slides can auto-advance on a timer you control. The viewer closes when they tap outside it or when the last slide ends.
The key distinction between Highlights and the rest of your blocks is that Highlights are for browsing, not for clicking through. Every other block on your page — links, shop, services — is built around a single action: tap here, buy this, go there. Highlights ask for attention and time first. They're the visual equivalent of a brand story: you get to show your work, introduce yourself, walk through your service lineup, or present testimonials in a format people already know how to use from Instagram. That familiarity matters. Visitors who've spent time on Instagram don't need to learn how to use story highlights — they just tap and swipe.
Highlights support multiple slides per circle, which makes each one capable of being a complete micro-story. An "About Me" highlight might have five slides: a portrait, a location shot, a "what I do" text slide, a recent project preview, and a closing slide with a subscribe prompt. A "Services" highlight might walk through each service with one slide per offering, each with a link button that goes directly to a booking form. This sequence format is more persuasive than a static description because it controls the order in which visitors process information — exactly the way a well-structured pitch deck works.
Before you start
- Prepare your cover images: Each highlight circle is small — roughly 60–80px on mobile. Low-resolution images, busy backgrounds, and small text all look poor at that size. Use high-contrast images with a single dominant subject, or use simple icon-style graphics. Square images work best since the circle crops them equally from all sides.
- Plan your highlight structure: Decide how many highlights you want and what each one will cover before you start building. Six or fewer is the right ceiling for mobile — anything beyond that requires horizontal scrolling and the circles start to look crowded. Common starting sets: About Me, Services, Portfolio, Testimonials, FAQ, Latest Drop.
- Gather your slide content: For each highlight, have the images or short videos ready. Each slide can also carry a text overlay and a link button, so know in advance whether any slides need a destination URL (booking page, product page, external portfolio, etc.).
- Log in to your UniLink Dashboard: Go to unilink.us and open the editor for the page you want to add the Highlights block to.
How to add the Highlights block to your page
- Open the block picker in the Dashboard editor: Click "Add block." Search for "Highlights" or scroll to the Visual section of the block library.
- Insert the Highlights block: Click it to add it to your page. It appears as an empty row of placeholder circles. By default it shows one empty highlight — you'll build it out from here.
- Add your first highlight: Click the plus icon to open the highlight editor. Upload your cover image or choose an icon, type a label (keep it short — one or two words read best at small sizes), then proceed to add slides.
- Add slides to the highlight: Inside the highlight editor, click "Add slide." For each slide, upload an image or video, optionally add a text overlay (choose font size, color, and position), and optionally add a link button with a label and destination URL. Repeat for as many slides as this highlight needs.
- Set the auto-advance timer per slide: Each slide can auto-advance after a set number of seconds (3–10 seconds is typical). If you leave auto-advance off, visitors must swipe manually. For image slides with minimal text, 4–5 seconds is a comfortable default. For slides with a lot to read, disable auto-advance or set it to 8+ seconds.
- Save the highlight and add more: Click Save on the highlight editor, then click the plus icon again to add your next highlight circle. Repeat until all your highlights are built.
- Reorder highlights: Drag the highlight circles within the block to set the order. The leftmost circle is the first one visitors see — put your most important or most engaging highlight there.
- Position the Highlights block on your page: Drag the Highlights block to the right position in your overall page layout. Near the top of the page — after your Header but above the Links block — works well for most creator pages.
- Save and preview on mobile: Click Save. Use the mobile preview in the Dashboard to check that circle labels aren't clipped, that cover images look good at small sizes, and that no more than six circles are visible without scrolling.
Key settings explained
| Setting | What it controls | Best practice |
|---|---|---|
| Cover image / icon | The image or icon displayed inside the circle bubble for each highlight | Use high-contrast, single-subject images cropped square. Avoid small text or busy backgrounds — they're illegible at circle size |
| Label text | The short text displayed below the circle, identifying the highlight topic | One to two words maximum. "About Me", "Work", "FAQ", "Services", "Reviews" — anything longer will truncate on narrow screens |
| Slide media (image or video) | The full-screen content shown when the visitor opens the highlight and views that slide | Use portrait-oriented images (9:16 ratio) for best full-screen display on mobile. Keep videos under 30 seconds per slide |
| Text overlay | Optional text displayed on top of the slide image or video | Use large, high-contrast text with a semi-transparent background strip if the image is busy. Keep it to one or two lines — slides move fast |
| Link button | An optional CTA button on a slide that links to an external URL | Add link buttons only to slides where the visitor is ready to act — the last slide of a services walkthrough, for example. Don't put a link on every slide |
| Auto-advance timer | How many seconds before the story automatically moves to the next slide (or 0 to disable) | 4–5 seconds for image slides without a link button. Disable or set to 8+ seconds on slides with a link button, so visitors have time to read and tap |
| Circle count | The total number of highlight bubbles in the row | No more than six on mobile. After six, circles overflow off-screen — visitors rarely swipe to find hidden highlights |
How to get the most out of your Highlights block
The Highlights block performs best when each circle tells a complete story in three to five slides. Longer sequences lose viewers before the end — the majority of people who open a highlight will drop off after the third or fourth slide regardless of how good the content is. If you find yourself building a ten-slide highlight, split it into two: "Services Pt. 1" and "Services Pt. 2," or reorganize so each highlight is focused enough to say everything it needs to say in five slides or fewer. Tight, focused highlights with a clear topic outperform long, comprehensive ones every time.
Think about the relationship between your Highlights and the rest of your page. Each highlight should connect to something clickable elsewhere on the page — or include its own link button on the final slide. An "About Me" highlight that ends with a slide pointing to your contact form, a "Portfolio" highlight whose last slide links to your full portfolio site, a "Latest Drop" highlight with a buy button on the product image. When Highlights feed directly into your links and offers, they function as a warm-up sequence rather than a dead end. Visitors who open a highlight and see strong content are much more likely to act on whatever the highlight pointed them toward.
Cover image quality is one of the most overlooked variables in Highlights performance. The circle is small, but it's the thing visitors look at when deciding whether to tap. A blurry, low-contrast, or visually noisy cover icon tells visitors nothing about what's inside. Put real effort into cover images: use strong brand colors, clear subjects, or distinct icons that make each circle immediately recognizable. If you have a consistent aesthetic across all your cover images — same color palette, same style — the entire Highlights row looks polished and intentional, which builds trust before anyone taps a single circle.
For creators with seasonal or campaign-based content, the Highlights block is also a flexible campaign tool. Replace a "Latest Drop" or "Current Offer" highlight entirely when a campaign changes — swap the cover, swap the slides, update the link button destination. Because each highlight is fully editable, you can run time-limited promotions, seasonal lookbooks, or event-specific content by cycling one or two highlight slots while keeping the rest of your stable highlights (About, Portfolio, FAQ) untouched. This is faster to update than editing individual links and more visually compelling than a banner.
Troubleshooting common issues
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Highlight circles are cut off on mobile — some are hidden off-screen | Too many highlight circles (more than six for most screen widths) | Remove lower-priority highlights or merge two thin highlights into one. Keep the visible count to six or fewer for a clean single-row display |
| Cover image looks blurry or badly cropped inside the circle | Image resolution is too low, or the focal subject is not centered in the original image | Upload a higher-resolution image. Crop the source image to a square with the main subject centered before uploading |
| Slides advance too fast to read the text overlay | Auto-advance timer is set too short for the amount of text on the slide | Increase the timer to 6–8 seconds for text-heavy slides, or disable auto-advance on that slide so visitors control the pace |
| Link button on a slide is not visible | Text overlay or image is covering the button, or button color blends with the slide background | Reposition the text overlay to the top of the slide and ensure the link button is at the bottom. Change button color to a high-contrast option if it blends |
| Story viewer doesn't open when tapping the circle on mobile | The highlight has no slides added, or the slides have no media attached | Open the highlight editor and confirm at least one slide has an image or video uploaded. Empty slides cause the viewer to fail to open |
| Video slide doesn't play inside the viewer | Video file format is not supported (e.g., .mov from iPhone) or file size is too large | Convert the video to .mp4 before uploading. Keep video files under 50MB. Trim clips shorter if they exceed that limit |
| Highlight label text is truncated or cut off below the circle | Label text is too long for the available width under the circle | Shorten the label to one or two words maximum. Long labels truncate with an ellipsis on narrow screens |
Best fit for
- Instagram-heavy creators who want their bio page to feel immediately familiar to their audience
- Fashion creators, photographers, and visual artists who need to show work, not just describe it
- Anyone with multiple distinct content areas — services, portfolio, testimonials, FAQ — who wants to organize them visually without building a full navigation menu
- Creators running campaigns or seasonal drops who need a high-visibility slot they can update quickly
Not the right tool if
- You want visitors to click directly to a destination — use the Links block instead. Highlights are for browsing and storytelling, not navigation
- You have only one or two things to showcase — a single highlight circle looks incomplete and draws attention to what's missing
- Your audience is primarily desktop-based and not familiar with the Instagram Stories format — the swipe interaction is intuitive on mobile but less natural on desktop
- You don't have quality visual content — low-res covers and empty slides will hurt credibility more than no highlight block at all
Frequently asked questions
How many highlight circles should I add?
Six is the practical maximum for mobile. On most phone screens, six circles fill one row without overflowing. Seven or more forces horizontal scrolling, and research on mobile UX consistently shows that most users don't discover horizontally scrollable content they weren't explicitly told to swipe. If you need more than six highlights, consolidate related topics — merge a "Work" and "Case Studies" highlight into one, for example — rather than adding more circles that most visitors won't find.
Can I add a buy button or link inside a slide?
Yes. Each slide has an optional link button you can configure with a label and any URL — a product page, a booking form, an external site, another block on your page. The button appears at the bottom of the slide during the story viewer. The best use of this is on the final slide of a highlight sequence, after you've given the visitor enough context to want to act. Putting a buy button on the first or second slide before establishing any value typically underperforms a button placed at the end of a well-structured sequence.
Do highlights update automatically, like Instagram Highlights?
No. Unlike the TikTok or Instagram feed blocks, the Highlights block is fully manual — you control every circle, every slide, and every piece of content. Nothing pulls in automatically from any social platform. This is actually a feature: you get complete control over the story you're telling, the order of slides, and the exact content at every point. You update highlights whenever you want by going back into the Dashboard editor and editing the highlight's slides directly.
What image size works best for slide content?
Portrait orientation at a 9:16 ratio is ideal for slide images because the story viewer is a full-screen overlay that fills a phone screen vertically. A standard 1080×1920px image (the same dimensions as an Instagram Story) will display crisp and properly proportioned. Landscape or square images will display with black bars or be cropped to fit the portrait viewer frame, depending on your block settings. If you're repurposing existing Instagram Story content, those files are already the right size.
Can visitors share individual highlights or slides?
No. The Highlights viewer is an embedded experience within your UniLink page — it doesn't have its own shareable URL and visitors cannot share individual slides the way they can share Instagram Stories. What visitors can share is your UniLink page URL, which brings others to the same page where they can interact with all your highlights themselves. If you want specific content to be shareable, link to that content from a slide's link button rather than relying on native sharing.
- The Highlights block adds Instagram-style story circles to your page — each one opens a swipeable full-screen sequence of image or video slides.
- Keep the circle count to six or fewer on mobile; beyond that, circles overflow off-screen and most visitors won't find them.
- Use high-contrast, square-cropped cover images — the circle is small and low-quality or busy images look unprofessional at that size.
- Each highlight works best with three to five focused slides; longer sequences lose viewers before the end.
- Highlights are for visual storytelling, not navigation — pair them with a link button on the final slide to connect engaged viewers directly to your offers.
Ready to tell your story? Create your free UniLink page and add your first Highlights block in minutes.