A good Instagram bio can mean the difference between a visitor hitting follow, or tapping away.

And with only 150 characters to set the stage, the greats keep their bios short, sweet, and most importantly, informative.

Check out how the Black in Fashion Council account communicates what they’re all about in one concise sentence:

You can also use your bio to encourage users to take action — whether it's through a compelling CTA (call-to-action) to your website or a branded hashtag for collecting UGC (user-generated content).

For example, see how Book of the Month implores users to join their branded hashtag — resulting in over 500K posts:

Suffice it to say, action + your brand’s story = an increase in engagement and conversions, too. 

For even more insight on what makes a good Instagram bio, check out this YouTube video.

Ready to learn what it takes to create a killer Instagram bio? Here are eight tactics to stand out from the crowd: 

1. Share Your Story 

2. Include Targeted Keywords in the Name Field

3. Use a Link in Bio Tool

4. Add a Call-To-Action and Action Buttons

5. Share Your Contact Information 

6. Choose a Relevant Profile Picture

7. Tag Related Accounts and Add Your Branded Hashtag 

8. Use Instagram Stories Highlights

Like Charles Wright once sang, express yourself!

Think of your Instagram bio as a 150-character sales pitch.

Whether it’s a bulleted list or a few short lines, use this space to speak directly to your target audience and detail your story.

That way, new visitors and prospective customers will understand you or your brand, immediately. 

Take a look at how Sarah Chetrit introduces herself, and what her page offers in three succinct lines:

By laying down the groundwork and communicating her value, this fine-tuned bio has the power to turn visitors into followers.  

P. S. Don’t be afraid to add a bit of personality to the mix. Emojis and relevant puns are highly encouraged here.  

Need help writing your Instagram bio? Download our free Instagram bio worksheet to brainstorm and create an effective bio.

Did you know that the name field in your Instagram bio is completely separate from your username?

It’s a valuable (and rarely used!) SEO tactic to reach even more users as they search — improving your visibility on the app.

So, take a moment to brainstorm keywords your ideal customer might search for on Instagram. This could be your niche, the products you sell, or the city your business is located. 

Once you find the right keywords, pop them in!

For example, check out how content creator Lauren Toyota uses the name field to reveal more about her page:

Rather than simply using “chef”, Lauren includes the keywords, “vegan chef” to open up a world of discovery for her account.

Now, if someone searches “vegan chef” on Instagram’s Explore Page, Lauren's account has a better chance of appearing in the list of results: 

Just remember to consider what your visitors might be looking for and use your Instagram bio’s name field to your advantage!

Looking to boost your SEO ranking? We’re sharing 3 easy ways to increase your discoverability in the video below: 

Your Instagram bio only allows one external link, so it’s important to be strategic about how you use it.

Enter: Later's link in bio tool, Linkin.bio.

With Linkin.bio, you can create a landing page with unlimited button links and a clickable version of your Instagram feed.

This makes it easier to direct followers to specific web pages referenced in your posts, without having to frequently update the URL in your Instagram bio.

And the best news? It’s free!

Plus, with Later’s Shopify integration, you can tag up to five products directly in your Linkin.bio feed posts:

In other words: a faster and more streamlined checkout experience for your customers. Talk about a serious win-win.

Ready to optimize your Instagram bio with Linkin.bio by Later? Sign up today, it’s free!

If you want to drive more engagement from your bio, all you have to do is ask!

For example, if you’re offering a new promo, a resource, or requesting a follow, make sure to let your profile visitors know.

Apostrophe invites users to partake in a CTA by tagging their account for a chance to be featured:

Whichever CTA (or CTAs) you choose, remember to be clear and specific. 

The clearer you are, the better the chance of driving tons of traffic and engagement. 

Another tactic to encourage more taps on your profile? Make use of those Action Buttons. 

Depending on your account, you can include: Order food, Book now, Get quote, Reserve, or View shop.

This way, you create an easier access point to yourself and your services.

If you want your profile to be a one-stop-shop for new visitors, you’ll need to make it easy for them to contact you.

One of the best ways to do that is to switch to an Instagram business profile.

Doing so lets you include your email address, phone number, and WhatsApp without sacrificing any precious character space.

Additionally, you can include a business or brand category that will appear underneath your name field — so people can know what you do.

Once that’s all set up, a visitor can easily reach out to you directly via email, a phone call, or be given directions to your location with ease.

When it comes to social branding, your profile picture is what people recognize most.

If you’re a brand or product-based business, you’ll want to ensure that everyone who lands on your Instagram profile is quickly introduced to who you are.

Think company logo, or a clear shot of a product you’re best known for:

On the other hand, if you’re an influencer, creator, or offer a personal service — such as a photographer, or life coach — you might want to use a headshot.

Why? Because “you” are the main part of your brand, and you should introduce yourself to visitors right off the bat.

Faith Broussard Cade, Liana Satenstein, and Lauren Spencer each use an on-brand headshot to keep things clear:

Though it might sound simple, using a headshot or logo helps followers instantly recognize your brand as they scroll Instagram.  

TIP: Much like a diamond, clarity is key. Be sure to choose a clear, high-resolution image.

Major “hack” alert: profile usernames and hashtags included in your Instagram bio are clickable links.

Why does this matter?

Because it gives you the ability to promote sister brands, highlight your founder’s Instagram account, or drive traffic to a branded hashtag.

Take a look at how Wan Wan Thai Restaurant uses their Instagram bio to spotlight three sister restaurants, @wayla.nyc, @kimika.nyc, and @lotusandcleaver:

While Deepica Mutyala and Reels Tips highlight branded hashtags in their bios:

NOTE: Placing hashtags in your Instagram bio doesn’t make your profile discoverable via hashtag search, but a branded hashtag can help you spotlight and collect user-generated content (UGC).

Instagram Stories Highlights appear directly under your Instagram bio and play as a stand-alone story when someone taps on them.

They’re perfect for sharing valuable information about your brand, spotlighting your community, and showing your personality.

Skincare brand Glow Recipe uses highlights to showcase how its recycling program works, announce new products, and share blog content like their “Boss Babes” series:

This provides additional information and value to profile visitors, so it’s a good idea to be strategic in how you set them up.

PRO TIP: To elevate your Instagram Stories Highlights even further, create a set of covers to ensure a consistent look and feel. 

Suzanne Spiegoski and Herbivore Botanicals have created cover images and icons that reflect their overall vibe: 

However you decide to style your Instagram Stories Highlights, a consistent collection can make your bio more appealing and click-worthy.

And that’s it, eight tactics to level-up your Instagram bio to attract your ideal audience, drive traffic, and convert sales.  

If you haven't updated your Instagram bio in a while, now’s the perfect time to give it a refresh and turn visitors into followers! 

FYI: Later's Instagram Scheduler is trusted by 4M+ marketers, creators, and small businesses. Sign up today and start planning your Instagram posts in advance — for free:

step-by-step instructions on how to develop and promote a personal page from scratch

Instagram* accounts are difficult to display in search results. The social network actually blocks the indexing of images by search engines - this is an obstacle, but surmountable, since the profiles themselves can still be indexed. Manish Dudhareja, President and Founder of digital agency E2M Solutions Inc., explains how to do this.

• Set up semantic data markup nine0006
• Use the primary keyword in the username
• Optimize your bio
• Treat image captions like a title tag
• Provide links to posts on other sites
• Conclusion

Everyone involved in an omnichannel marketing strategy understands that Instagram* profile promotion efforts must go beyond the platform itself. Profiles themselves can still be indexed, but images can't. This is a difficult task for marketers who want to get additional Instagram traffic from search results. nine0003

Let's move on to recommendations on how to optimize your Instagram* account for search engines.

Set up semantic data markup

Google allows you to use schema.org markup to show which social media profiles you own. If a brand gets a card in the Knowledge Graph (a semantic technology used by Google to improve the quality of search results), your social media profiles will appear here:

Ask your developer to review Google's documentation on how to properly implement structured data to make sure your Instagram account is enabled. nine0003

Social media content support

from 19 000 ₽ Service page

Content support from SEMANTICA studio — useful content about your business, company processes, products or services. Earn the trust of your followers and build a loyal following with expert social media posts.

Use your primary keyword in your username

The title tag for your Instagram page* is generated automatically using profile information and looks like this:

My name (@username) • Instagram photos and videos*

Adding your main target keyword below your profile name is the only way to add the most important key to your Instagram* title tags.

We strongly discourage the use of keywords at this location. You just need to change, for example, "Casey's" to "Casey's Groceries".

To update your Instagram* name, click the profile button, then Edit Profile and update the Name field. nine0003

Optimize your bio

When editing your profile, make sure your bio is optimized for search results.

The Instagram* bio is limited to 150 characters, which is Google's character requirement for meta descriptions. Luckily, “keyword stuffing” is acceptable in an Instagram bio* as long as you use the right hashtag words.

Instagram* hashtags are clickable links that take users to a list of posts with the same hashtag, so they are considered useful to users. nine0003

If you have accounts for other brands or influencers you work with, you can also enter @ usernames here and they will turn into clickable links.

How to choose a color scheme for Instagram design*

And the initial stage of creating a visual is the selection of shades and their combinations. How to do it correctly - we will tell in the article. What is a color scheme Let's look at what color combinations are and how you can learn how to make them. Itten's color wheel Even Isaac Newton proposed a model for systematizing shades. But the most popular scheme was the color wheel of the Swiss artist Johannes Itten. His system has become the basis of the modern theory of color, it is sure to be studied and used by artists and designers. In the center of the classic Itten circle is a triangle of ...

The bio is rendered as html and can be crawled by search engines, and it's pretty much the only text on your page, so this is where a lot of the optimization takes place.

You can use a combination of TagBlender for Instagram hashtag research and Google Keyword Planner for keyword analysis to determine which keywords to put here. However, it's a good idea to include a few words in your bio that aren't just hashtags to give search engines more room to work with. Fill out the biography as much as you can, given the limited space. Be as specific as possible about who you are and what you are going to do. nine0003

When editing your profile, of course, you also need to make sure that the Website field contains your brand's website URL. Although this link is unfortunately banned, it still serves as a source of referral traffic and should not be neglected.

Treat image captions like a title tag

We tend to treat Instagram* image captions as if they were meta descriptions. When Instagram creates a page for your post, the title tag of the post includes the title, for example:

My Instagram name*: "this is my picture caption"

Here we see again how important the "Name" field is on the profile, as it also appears here, while your @name does not.

Keep in mind that when the rest of the title tag is occupied by the image caption, some tags in the search results will look sloppy and incomplete:

The situation is aggravated if emoticons are included in the entry.

The image title must not be too short to stay within the title tag, otherwise the caption will be small. nine0003

I recommend checking where the title tag will be trimmed regularly and making sure the most important information is at the beginning. As with a bio, make sure your signature contains the keys. But keep in mind that this will be read as a call to action by the search results. The hashtag line is justified on Instagram*, but it can look like spam in the title tag in search results.

Link to posts on other sites

This is perhaps the most important step in the process. The Instagram* app is mostly hidden in JavaScript, which means links to individual posts from your profile are not considered "real" according to Google. For this reason, most Instagram posts are not indexed in search results. nine0003

You cannot promote individual posts on Instagram* by simply promoting your profile. For someone to be able to find these posts in the search results, you need to link to them in your other channels. To get it, click on the ellipsis in the lower right corner of the message, then on the "Copy link" button in the pop-up window:

Stock photography - what is it and how to choose good stock photos

What is stock photography A stock photo is an image placed by the author on a special aggregator site in order to sell the rights to use it. A visitor to a photo bank can select the desired illustration, pay for it, and use it in advertising or design materials.  Unlike bespoke designs, these images are versatile and can fit many different products and situations. Due to this, they are much cheaper, and given the ease of choice and purchase on modern stocks, the demand for them is always high.   How the stock photography industry works  All…

Naturally, you want to place a link to the post on all available resources so that it is definitely indexed. For example, this can be achieved with blog articles. Another option is to include a link when you insert an image from an Instagram post into the text*.

The guide from Shopify has a recommendation to follow, like and comment on the posts of a competitor's followers as about 34% of them will follow back. As a result, the more followers you have, the more mentions you will get when they start linking to your posts on various platforms. nine0003

Conclusion

Although Instagram* is not an SEO optimized platform, profile and posts may appear in search results. To do this, you should set up semantic data markup, write the correct username, bio, caption for the image, post links to posts on other sites. These simple tips will help increase your Instagram profile's visibility to potential customers.

Source: https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2018/11/14/how-to-optimize-your-instagram-account-for-search-engines/

^{*Social networks Facebook* and Instagram* are owned by Meta, recognized as an extremist organization in the Russian Federation}

How to optimize your Instagram profile to attract an audience

Do you want to make money on the Internet? Then it's very likely that your social media presence matters. Big value .

In fact, Vishal Shah, director of product management at Instagram, noted that roughly half of the companies on Instagram don't even have websites, relying on Instagram as their main point of contact with customers. But, even if you have an amazing website, it's worth checking out social media.

Instagram now has over 1 billion monthly active users and over 80% of them follow business accounts.

Is your Instagram profile ready to turn these visitors into customers? Have you optimized your photo, bio, call to action and link? Do you use Instagram action buttons and story highlights? nine0003

This article will show you exactly how to optimize your Instagram profile.

Make sure you have an Instagram business profile

What is an Instagram profile? You probably already know, but did you know that Instagram has two types of profiles?