Your Instagram profile, fixed in one sitting
When someone hears about your business, they often look you up on Instagram. Before they read a single post, they see one screen: your photo, your name, a few lines of bio, a link and a row of circles. That screen helps them decide whether to follow, visit or book.
The good news is that it's all yours to fix, and it fits in one sitting.
Time: about 50 to 90 minutes in one sitting, doing it for the first time. Add 20 to 40 minutes if you make highlight covers from scratch. You need: your phone, your logo as an image file, your current hours, and the one link you most want people to tap.
Step 1: your profile photo (5 to 10 minutes)
Your photo shows as a small circle everywhere: on your profile, next to every post and in every comment.
- Use your logo if you're a shop, a restaurant or a studio. Put it on a plain background and leave space around it, so the circle doesn't cut it off.
- Use your face if you are the business: a stylist, a trainer, a therapist.
- Check it small. Look at it next to one of your comments. If you can't read it there, simplify it.
Step 2: your name field (about 5 minutes)
Your name field is not the same as your username. It's the bold line on your profile, and people can find you by the words in it.
- Write your business name, then what you do or where, in this pattern: "Your business name | what you do, where."
- Keep it short and readable. It's a label, not a slogan.
Step 3: your bio (10 to 20 minutes)
You have 150 characters. Emojis count for more than one. Use them to answer three questions, one short line each:
- What do you do?
- Where are you? Use the words locals use: a town, a neighborhood, a street people know.
- What should they do next? Order, book, visit, or message you.
Three examples:
Bagels and coffee, baked every morning in Acworth. Open daily from 7. Order ahead below.
Dog grooming in west Cobb. By appointment. Book your spot below.
Small-batch candles, poured in Marietta. Shop online or find us at the Saturday market.
Skip "Welcome to our page" and lists of hashtags. They use your 150 characters and tell people nothing.
Step 4: your links (5 to 10 minutes)
Instagram lets you add several links to your profile, and the first one shows most clearly.
- Put the link people need most first: booking, ordering or your menu.
- Add the others in order of how often people ask for them.
- Tap every link yourself. A link that goes to an old page or an error is worse than no link.
Step 5: your highlights (15 to 30 minutes)
Highlights are the circles under your bio. They keep Stories on your profile after the day they were posted, so they're the best place for the things people ask again and again. If you have Stories already, start from those.
Three to five is plenty:
- Hours, including any holiday hours.
- Menu or services, with prices if you share them.
- How to find you: the door, the parking, the street.
- What customers say: screenshots of kind messages or reviews, with permission.
Give them short names and simple covers in your colors, so the row looks like it belongs to you. Add 20 to 40 minutes if you design the covers from scratch.
Step 6: pin your best three (about 5 minutes)
Instagram currently lets you pin up to three posts or reels to the top of your profile, so they stay first no matter what you post next. Choose three that a new visitor should see first: what you do, your best seller or most booked service, and your hours or how to visit.
Last: check it like a stranger (about 5 minutes)
Open your profile on a friend's phone, or log out and look it up. In a few seconds, can you tell:
- what the business is,
- where it is,
- and what to tap next?
If the answer to all three is yes, you're done.
The short version
A clear photo. A name field that says what you do. Three lines of bio. The right link first. A few highlights that answer the usual questions. Three pinned posts. Then check it like a stranger.
If you'd rather spend that time on your business, answer a few questions at owdiscovery.com/contact-us and we will build your personalized proposal.
Sources
- Later, "Instagram bio" guide: the bio limit is 150 characters, and Instagram allows several links in the bio (up to five). https://later.com/blog/instagram-bio/
- PetaPixel, "You Can Now Pin Photos to Your Instagram Profile Grid" (June 2022): up to three posts or reels can be pinned to the top of a profile. https://petapixel.com/2022/06/07/you-can-now-pin-photos-to-your-instagram-profile-grid/
- Instagram search looks at the username and the name field when matching accounts: Dummies, "Choosing an Instagram name and username for your business." https://www.dummies.com/article/technology/social-media/instagram/choosing-instagram-name-username-business-249576/
