When you consider your Instagram account, your bio probably isn’t the first thing to come to mind. Your Instagram bio, however, can make or break whether or not someone will hit the “Follow” button when they reach your profile.
Just like everything else you put on your Instagram, you should think carefully about how to craft the perfect Instagram bio. Optimize your Instagram bio today by implementing these tips, sure to attract your ideal follower and help you get Instagram followers.
Why Does My Instagram Bio Matter?
When users reach your profile, your bio is the first thing they learn about you and your Instagram account. Your bio should represent who you are or what you plan to share on Instagram. A great Instagram bio can convince someone to follow you if they are on the fence.
If your Instagram account is more than just your personal page, a good bio can be informative: if someone is interested in a travel blog on Instagram, letting them know that you’re sharing that content may convince them to give you a follow.
Create an Instagram Bio To Attract Followers
Your Instagram bio should convince anyone that comes to your page to follow you. A complete profile needs a name, profile picture, bio, and posts of course. While you’re fixing your bio, make sure that your username on Instagram is the best possible name to make it clear who you are and what your account is all about. Your profile picture should do the same – if it’s a personal account, make it a clear picture of your face, and if it’s a branded account, use the brand logo.
Follow these tips to optimize your Instagram bio and attract followers. To edit your bio, simply go to your Instagram profile and click “Edit Profile” underneath your follower and following count.
Be Authentic
Your Instagram bio should be authentic and, of course, accurate. Be true to yourself and the content you’re sharing – you don’t want to mislead users to get them to follow you, as that will only result in poor engagement or a subsequent unfollow. Use your bio as a space to introduce yourself to your potential new followers: tell them about who you are, what you plan to share on your Instagram, and what interests you.
Consider Your Ideal Follower
To drive engagement and increase your number of followers, you should always be considering who your ideal follower is and what would interest them. If you run a business Instagram, your ideal followers are customers. The same way that a business accounts for their target demographic of customers, you should consider your target demographic of followers. Here are some questions you can consider:
-
- What are the demographics of your target audience? Think age, gender, occupations, education, and location.
- What are their interests, hobbies, values, or lifestyles?
- What personalities or attitudes do you want to attract?
- What kind of person would be interested in what you’re sharing?
- What drives your target audience?
- If you fit into your target audience, what would attract you to follow a page or buy their products or services?
Once you’ve asked yourself these questions, craft an Instagram bio that would appeal to that target audience. Keep them in mind, since they are the ones who will read your bio and decide if they should click the Follow button.
Add A Link To Your Instagram Bio
To improve your Instagram bio and drive traffic to your website or blog, add a link. The bio is the only place on Instagram where you can add a clickable link (other than Instagram stories, but those only work if you have over 10,000 followers or a verified badge).
You can only have one link in your bio at any given time. The link in your bio can change, however; for example, if you share a post about a new product or a new blog post, you can direct followers to the “Link in bio!” to drive followers and potential customers to your website.
You can also link your other social media in your bio if you want to connect to followers across platforms. One thing to remember if you do this, however, is that Instagram flags any “Follow me” links, so don’t directly instruct users to follow you. Instead, include some other call to action like, “Check out my blog at the link below!”.
Add Hashtags to Your Instagram Bio
A recent Instagram update now allows you to put hashtags in your bio. These hashtags are clickable, and will lead to that topic page just like any other hashtag. Unfortunately, adding a hashtag to your Instagram bio does not make your account searchable through that hashtag, nor will it place you on the explore page for that hashtag.
Still, adding a hashtag to your Instagram bio can let others know what interests you, what kind of posts they can expect from your account, or could lead them to click said hashtag themselves. This last possibility is especially useful if you have a brand hashtag specific to your business. If you have a branded hashtag, add it to your Instagram bio to drive traffic and increase brand exposure to that hashtag and your business in general.
Tag Someone In Your Instagram Bio
Another new feature offered is the ability to tag another Instagram account in your bio. If you have a second account, this is the perfect place to @ it, driving your followers to that account as well. You can tag your work if you don’t have a business account of your own. You can also tag another user who your brand is partnered with, or an organization that you support (think charities you work with or care about).
Include a Call to Action
You’ve caught someone’s attention with your Instagram bio – now what? Including a call to action can guide users to engage with you further, whether it’s getting them to follow you, check out your linked website, or contact you through some other channel. Another great call to action could ask users to tag photos using your branded hashtag. Direct users to what you want them to see or do next – not everyone will automatically obey your call to action, but many will.
Change Your Headline
Your headline appears at the top of your bio in bold. For many users, their headline is their name (largely because when you click “Edit Profile” this field is called “Name”). If your username already clearly states your name or your business’ name, you may choose to change your headline to be more descriptive.
Your bio is only 150 characters in total, so use your headline to get more information on your page. Your headline could be a short description of who you are, but think of it as more of a title than a long description, which you should leave for the bio itself. This Insta-famous dog named Mr. Biggie has his nickname as his headline.
Add Space or Bitmojis To Your Bio
If your bio is more than one line long, you should consider formatting it so that there is more space. Dense, wordy bios are harder to read and less pleasing to the eye, so try breaking it up with spaces, bullet points, or bitmojis.
The Instagram app will not allow you to format spaces, so type out your bio in the Notes app on your phone or edit on the desktop version of Instagram.