5 Components of a Simple and Effective Instagram Bio
A step-by-step guide with custom examples and explanations
Perhaps a slightly saturated topic, but I see profile optimization as an action that is often done the wrong way, even though it is crucial. Many people still write unclear biographies on their Instagram profiles. Usually, it’s not even a matter of purposefully doing it wrong. You might just be overlooking it.
Instagram Bio: the piece of text at the top of your profile, usually used for a short introduction or explanation of the page (edited through the ‘edit profile’ section).
There are a couple of mistakes that many of us make. Try to avoid these:
- large blobs of text/numbers
- no spacing: leads to lack of clarity/makes it hard to read
- pasting your link in the text section (if it’s not in blue when you view your profile then the link is in the wrong place)
So why do the following steps matter? With countless items on the social media to-do list, why this? The essence of what I write is usually to help you save time when doing digital marketing; the goal being to actually get to creating content and building connections with clients.
Optimizing your biography improves your conversion rate. In this case:
Conversion rate: the percentage of incoming profile views that lead to sales/follows.
You can measure this with your metric that matters. Any statistic that you decide is most important and directly indicates a success.
A higher conversion rate essentially means that your profile becomes both more efficient and effective. Your efforts in reaching new audiences will be paid off more regularly as a higher rate will mean more of those new audiences will complete the actions you desire.
In the following section I will take you through the components of a good Instagram biography. These actionable steps should make it easier to devise something that works for you.
1. Explain and Clarify “what you do”
It’s important that users understand this immediately. It makes your profile relatable and interesting. When a concept is overly unclear and takes users a long time to understand, they usually click away. Try to come up with a short phrase that lays out the function of the business/profile.
2. Why should the user bother to keep reading?
With heaps of information available online, there needs to be a reason to keep reading. Try to build curiosity by convincing readers that you and your content matter.
Curiosity: readers keep reading, they learn more.
Awareness: readers are informed, they find value.
Connections: readers understand the value, they are ambassadors.
Below are some examples of an effective curiosity-builder:
3. Build Credibility
Statistics or numbers will help make your case. Recording a form of proof that others care about your content may help to convince users to follow or visit your page. Here are some examples:
- total number of sales
- google/facebook review score
- percentage of happy customers
- statistic that proves your service/product works
4. Call to Action
If you don’t remind users to take the action you wish them to, chances are they won’t do so. Personally I often forget to follow helpful profiles and a quick reminder would lead me to completing that action. I’m already convinced of the benefits of that action, but I forget. This happens to a large portion of your audience.
5. Insert Link or Address
These are pieces of information that are necessary for obvious reasons. However, you only get one link in Instagram. Sometimes there are multiple places you want to send your users. In that case, you can build a dedicated page for this on your site where you redirect people. Otherwise, you can use software such as linktr.ee to divide traffic over the locations of your digital presence (website, youtube, email address, linkedin, etc.) in an organized manner.
When you combine all the components into one bio it should look something like this:
I’ve compiled a short infographic you can download/save for future reference. You can also follow my Medium page and find the article back easily whenever you need it.
Keep in mind: monitor the effects of these changes and finetune your bio over the months. Instagram Insights lets you see the number of profile views and follows so keep an eye on this ratio and see if changes to your bio affect these statistics. Ask others from time to time if the bio is clear and whether they see room for improvement. Also, you’re welcome to email me or leave a comment. I’m more than happy to help you!
There are other ways to write a good biography. I just know that this works, but there may be even better options that suit you specifically. Don’t let it sit though.
So, regardless of the path you wish to take: stop procrastinating, start walking.
