How to Optimize Your Instagram Bio
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Writing a top-notch Instagram bio is both an art and a science. How do you craft something that will entice your target audience? That includes all the necessary information and is still concise and compelling? You only have 150 characters to do it! Today on the blog, we’re diving into best practices for optimizing your Instagram bio.
Picking a Username
One of the first things you’ll want to do when setting up your Instagram account is pick a username that makes sense. It should be easy to spell and match any other platforms you’re on, like Facebook and Twitter. The goal is for your handle to be recognizable.
If your business name is unavailable, try adding periods or underscores in the name, or a related word like media, app, or org. There are lots of variations that can be logical and straightforward!
Rochester Youth Year uses their full name and logo so it is recognizable to their audience
Selecting a Profile Picture
For businesses, there’s not much reason to use anything other than your logo. If you use a photo of a random person or building, you run the risk of not being identifiable to your target audience. I’ve seen nonprofits use a photo of a smiling client, or the building they are located in, and while it can be visually interesting, it’s less recognizable and can hurt your brand equity. Use your logo! The Instagram profile picture size is 110x110 pixels.
If you’re an individual, you may want to use a headshot or more casual photo of yourself. When you’re building a personal brand, you’ll want to use your own face, not a baby picture, photo of your dog, or something unrelated. It’s about building brand equity and being clear, friendly, and approachable.
Crafting a Bio
Now, the hard part! Writing the perfect bio is challenging. The maximum character count is 150--which is fewer characters than a tweet! When you begin this exercise, think about your goals. What do you hope to achieve when someone reads your bio? Are you simply introducing the brand and its personality? Are you promoting sales or new products? Give it some thought before you start writing! If it’s the latter, make sure you have a plan for updating the bio regularly as new products roll out or sales change.
Another key aspect of crafting a good bio is writing it from the perspective of your followers. What will they gain by following you? Why should they care? Your bio should be about THEM, not you. Don’t use internal jargon or terms someone new to your organization may not understand right away. Remember, it’s okay to show off your brand’s personality! A bio doesn’t have to be stuffy or formal. It can be fun! Keeping your followers top of mind while crafting this is essential.
National Geographic’s bio is written with its audience in mind
You’ll also want to think about keywords as you craft the bio. When someone’s looking for a business like yours, what are they searching for? Brainstorm a list of keywords someone might type into the search box, and try to incorporate them naturally into the copy of your bio.
Readability is important too. While some people like to use custom fonts to stand out, most custom fonts are not accessible to individuals who use screen readers. I recommend avoiding them so you can keep your content accessible to more people. You can also incorporate emojis into your bio--it can add a fun and playful tone--but don’t go overboard. One or two emojis is great, especially if you’re targeting a younger audience, but any more than that may be excessive and hard to read. If you’d like to make your bio more readable, incorporate line breaks to create some visual space.
A few final things to include: if your brand has a hashtag that you’d like your followers to use, make sure you’ve incorporated that. If you have related accounts, like a subsidiary brand, tag them in your bio too. And last but not least, before the infamous link in bio, be sure to include a CTA to entice people to click on it. What will people find when they click the link? Give them a preview! This is a great spot to add an emoji, like a pointing finger or arrow, to draw attention to the link.
Other Details & Logistics
A few final things to consider! Make sure your contact information is up-to-date and accurate. If your business has a physical location, make sure you’ve included the address. Include your email and phone number as well. You can also choose a category for your business, which helps with searchability. Check out this list to get a sense for what categories are out there. Again, think about this from your ideal follower’s point of view. What would they search for to find you? And finally, when you put a link in your bio, make sure it’s to a more targeted landing page. Don’t just send folks right to your homepage--they’ll be lost with no clear call to action. Consider linking to a new blog post, product page, upcoming event, or whatever is most relevant at the moment. Remember, you can update the link in your bio frequently! It doesn’t have to be static.
For more about optimizing your Instagram account, check out the following:
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