Your Instagram bio, quite arguably, is the most important thing in your Instagram Profile. A lot of people take it for granted and throw a quick bio together, but there is some important algorithm and psychological benefits to making sure you have the right bio. So let me delve in to them and tell you how to create a great Instagram Bio.
Firstly, the techy bits
Did you know that your Instagram name, username and hashtags are the only searchable element of your Instagram account, this means that your name and username make up part of your bio, therefore some thought needs to go into what username and name you are going to use.
Your username is the name at the top of the profile and your name is the bit in bold that is underneath your profile picture. Your username should always be your business name. A searchable, Google type search name for your business name. Your name should either be your physical name, if that’s what people would search for if your name is representative of your brand or it should be a description of what you do. For example, mine might be Social Media Strategist, or Social Media Manager or Social Media Agency. This is because your name should represent something that potential clients might be typing into the search bar of Instagram to find you.
Your username and your name can be changed at any time but be warned, your username should stay similar, if not the same, unless you are having a brand overhaul, so as not to confuse your current followers.
Another techy bit of your bio that you should consider seriously is your website address. Do not just put in your website address home page, this is not useful for you or your followers. If it is just your home page, then someone who has already taken the time getting to know you, on the app, getting to understand you, getting to understand how you do business then decides that they want to do business with you so clicks onto your website link. They are then taken to a page which is not going to book them in or sell the services. They therefore, have more scrolling time through website pages to find how to get in touch with you. Make it easier for your clients by making that website link a place where they can spend money with you, i.e. a contact me page, products page, shop page, top services page, anything that makes the process of them deciding to work with you or paying their money quicker. Your website link should be changed every time you want to direct someones attention to something particular, for example; when you have an article you want people to read, change your website link to that article. If you have a new product you are releasing, change your website link to that new product. Your website link should be interchangeable depending on what you are doing in your business at that time.
Secondly, The Visual Aspect
Now that the techy aspects are over, let’s get in to the Visual Aspect of your bio. Your Instagram bio should be made up of three things; who you are, what you do and why they should follow your account. You should also have a fourth element which should always be the last part of your bio which describes exactly what’s in the link and directing people to the link.
Who you Are
Social Media is sociable. Put in your name, put in what you do, put in a fun fact about you. It doesn’t matter what it is but you need to tell people who you are. They need to know who they are doing business with, who is managing the account, what the business does.
What you do
You should be extremely direct about what your business does. You can be creative with your language, i.e. Instagram Queen, Instagram Know-It-All, Instagram Badass but you have to be very obvious about the reason why you have an account. Your bio should always be making it easier for your follower to understand what they are getting in to.
Why They Should Bother With Your Account
Write a little bit about what they are there for, i.e. beautifully curated wedding pictures, Instagram Know How. Tell people why they should follow you, what benefits they will have from following you, i.e. stick around for a beautifully monogrammed feed.
The last part of your bio should be a quick sentence, no more than two or three words with down pointing arrows pointing at the website link therefore directing the eye to your website link, i.e. contact me, the recent product, new blog post. Anything that tells people what is in the link.
So you can see your Instagram bio is more than just a few words thrown together. It is a strategically written psychologically balanced and technically constructed part of your Instagram account.
If you need more help trying to piece together a bio or you would like me to have a quick look over it, then come and join in my free Instagram training group www.instagram.com/designyoursocials and talk to me about it there. It is a regular thing that I go over because it is SO important.
