Crafting an Instagram bio can be quite aqonizing. This is your one shot to grab someone, engage them, and get them to click that coveted “Follow” button.

What do you say? What do people actually care about seeing in this little box that’s supposed to convey so much?

A great bio should showcase the personality and uniqueness of the business while prompting the consumer to take an action. Here are the components of a great bio section:

1 | A clear photo – whether this is of you or your logo, this should accurately convey the business

Instagram is all about imagery. While the image in that little bubble in the bio section seems small, it can convey a lot. When looking at the profile, if the image appears blurry or grainy, then that will reflect poorly on your brand. Whereas, if you place a strategically selected image or even just a clean shot of your logo, it will speak to viewers.

2 | Name as a subhead – utilizing the name space to showcase your tagline or 2 to 3 main keywords will help your account show up in more searches

By utilizing the namespace to insert keywords around your business’ purpose and products, your page will be able to appear in more searches. It’s good to use words here that captivate and don’t come off as just keyword stuffing – shoving certain words in as much as possible to appear more. Make this choice wisely and based in purpose and strategy.

3 | Two main messages – your bio should communicate your business’ purpose or meaning and how a call to action

It’s best to craft this in a notes app on your phone and then copy and paste it so that you can break up the lines well visually. There should be two pieces of information – Your purpose and a CTA. Are you offering a freebie? Do you want them to email you for something? Maybe check out your new blog post? Have your CTA clear and easy to follow through on, which brings me to my next point:

4 | A link – providing a link with a Call to Action

This is a must! The most frustrating thing Instagramtagram sometimes is that they only allow you ONE link. There’s this really great app, LinkTree, that allows you to create buttons for other links. Utilizing a platform like this lets you provide more options for your audience. Do you have a few main products your pushing? How about a freebie AND a service you want people to check out? Want your contact page always linked? LinkTree provides these options and makes it so easy. On top of that, you can see how many times the button was clicked!

5 | Contact – your viewer needs to easily know how to contact you when they come into contact with your page

When an account is moved over from personal to business, new buttons appear and a location can even be added. By easily adding a form of contact, a potential client or partnership is able to quickly and easily reach out to you to inquire about anything they may be interested in. Also, by adding a location, it can help with search results. This is mostly beneficial if your business is associated with a particular location or you have a brick and mortar store. This is less applicable if you have a service-based business that is mostly done online.

Bonus: Story highlights – this is more of a bonus, but once you’ve moved into curating beautiful stories, it’s great to add those highlights

Nowadays it seems everyone is all about the stories, especially when you have really strong ones! Instagram offers a feature to add highlights to the bio section in little circles. If you post around certain themes this can be really great. For example, if you have some great shots of product, that can be one highlight circle.

Are you ready to step up your Instagram Bio game?