How to Optimize Your IG Bio Faster than an Egg Beats Kylie Jenner On Instagram

Sara Kas
4 min readJan 19, 2019

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@sarazkas

Book a free discovery call: https://sarazkas.as.me/

Goal: Craft an optimized bio for Instagram.

Level: Simple.

I get this question more times than I can count.

Here’s how to optimize your bio, BOOST engagement, CLEARLY communicate your message and get people coming to your page like it’s hot.

#tooeasy

First things first.

This a guide, it is not a list of rules.

And if it was, I would encourage you to break it.

Remember: what works for some doesn’t work for all — figure out what works for you. Beyond that have fun, change things up and enjoy this exercise in simplifying your life, your brand into what essentially fits into a screenshot of your phone.

LET’S DO THIS.

The first things we see on Instagram are your profile image, handle, name, bio, link, (and numbers — which IG will do away with soon, so lets not get hung up there, and about 6–9 of the most recent posts. If our interest is piqued we will poke around and check out more. That’s essentially what we all do, right?

I am not going into how to create a compelling feed or captions in this article. We are going to focus on the areas mentioned above. Let’s begin with your name(s) because on IG you can basically have as many as you like.

Your handle, @username: use keywords WITHOUT numbers, symbols and periods in between(12.34_)

Searchable keywords will gain traffic to your page.

For example I use @sarazkas rather than @sara.z.kas so that I appear in search results for ‘sara z kas ’. Your actual name here IS a keyword: if we are connected on another platform then I might be searching for you (try to keep it the same across platforms).

On to your name, name. The one under your profile image.

Same thing here with keywords, use them to appear higher in search results.

No weird symbols to spell it out. Such as $asha for Sasha.

You can also use keywords for your specific niche…

So if you’re a professional poker player your name could be ‘Big Slick’ or ‘Captain Hooks’ (which translates to to ace-king or pocket-jacks in case you don’t throw chips).

  • This is an opportunity to tell us a bit MORE.
  • You don’t get much space on Instagram so take advantage of PRIME REAL ESTATE.

Can do: An emoji after your name to help you stand out easier in searches. Especially if you have a commonly used name or are using keywords for your niche (like in the poker example you might use an ace card emoji).

Profile Image: for personal brands use a clear headshot.

If you’re a business and your biz name is your logo then I would suggest just using one letter and blowing it up as the entire logo may not be legible. This is a mobile app and that image is SUPER tiny. (110px by 110px circle)

@sarazkas

Book a free discovery call: https://sarazkas.as.me/

The Bio

The KNOW

What is this brand about? Is it personal? Is it business? A fan page? Let me KNOW yeah?

MAKE IT ABOUT THEM!! NOT YOU. YOUR BIZ IS ABOUT THEM.

Use a simple value proposition if you’re service or product-based business. Check out some of your favorite brands. You can bet your bottom dollar that they pay good $$ for those taglines!

Play around with different versions to see what FITS best. (A bit of formatting never hurts the eyes).

Use emojis to break things up, this is a visual platform after all.

The Like

Remember: life is not just one thing, and it certainly isn’t just about offers, and selling. So show me a bit of what makes you DIFFERENT, not better.

Great brands focus on one quality that is DIFFERENT than competitors.

Unless you have a 5-figure marketing budget “you cannot be vanilla ice cream, you have to be pistachio. People will drive out of town and pay $5 for pistachio ice cream” - Sally Hogshead.

Can do: add 1 or 2 keyword hashtags that are most related to what your profile is about. #socialmedia #engagement. This will tell IG what your profile is about. If people are interested in those hashtags (searching them) you will start showing up on their explore page and suggested users. (win-win).

The Trust

Keep it real.

Social proof: What have you done lately? For example, “As featured on” builds trust.

VITAMIN CTA

A Call-to-Action is a specific action you want a user to take.

Unlike IRL, online we want you to tell us EXACTLY what to do.

“Book a free call today”, or “Upgrade your network with me in one month”.

Keep it clear and concise.

Links: Most people want to stay on Instagram, so you have to give them a good reason to get off the app! Since getting off the app disrupts user experience make that a DAMN good reason.

Hint: a high-value freebie. Make it mobile-friendly. Make it super simple.

Double Hint: one clear CTA on the linked page.

Track your links!

Use https://linktr.ee/ if you would like to send them to more than one place.

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You can look at your competitors but remember not everyone is doing it correctly, and especially big brands DON’T NEED TO.

Stay tuned for how to FASCINATE.

If you have questions on bio optimization or anything addressed here feel free to comment below or if you want me in your corner 1:1…

Book a free discovery call: https://sarazkas.as.me/

my instagram @sarazkas

www.sarazkas.com

BEST xoS

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