Optimizable Elements of Your Instagram Profile

Those in internet marketing know a thing or two about improving visibility, traffic, and sales online. And while social media platforms such as Instagram live and breathe on the internet, you’ll find that photo posts don’t quite function in the same way as web pages. So today I share some tips to leverage your Instagram profile to increase traffic to your website.

To keep in line with the website-Instagram analogy, let’s consider your profile as your homepage. There are a number of “optimizable” elements within your profile.

Username

Your handle is your ID within the platform. It is the website equivalent of your domain. Usernames are searchable – so choose a handle that users identify with your brand – if your brand name is available, it’s a solid choice.

Profiles for public figures, celebrities, or well-established brands will sometimes have a Verified badge next to their username – this means Instagram vets that the profile is legit.
If your profile earns a Verified badge, CONGRATS! You’re kind of a big deal.
(Don’t worry if you don’t get a shiny badge. It just means you’re at low-risk for insta-identity theft. )

Profile Picture

Your profile picture is a rounded off (110×110 minimum) image of your choosing. While your photo doesn’t have a direct impact on visibility within the platform, a profile photo adds a measure of user-trust in your profile. If the username claims to be X and the profile photo reflects X, then the profile is more likely to belong to or represent X.
This is a smart place to upload your logo – or your favorite selfie. Desktop displays this photo at 152×152, which you can keep in mind if you want to maintain your resolution across devices.

Bio

Your bio is like the meta description of your homepage. What is your brand all about?
Keep it concise! You’ve only got 150 characters to make your impression.

Website

Within the whole of Instagram – Sponsored posts aside – links will only be found in one place: the Website indicated within users’ profiles. This is where you’ll want to place a link to your page target.
If you’re running a seasonal campaign or promotion, or wanting to send traffic to fresh content or products on your site, update this link to send users directly to the desired landing page. For aesthetic reasons, use a URL shortener – and don’t forget to add tracking parameters!

Name

For personal profiles, this is typically where you would indicate your name – you know, so your friends know that you’re you. If your IG profile is your homepage, then consider this your title tag. This is the only other searchable element of your profile – so make it count!
Companies and organizations that own their brand name as their username can get crafty here and utilize this field to insert their tagline (30 character max). If you’re Kylie Jenner, you can use this space to give yourself a cool nickname. I don’t have my own tagline or a cool nickname, so for the purpose of this post I’ve slipped in my job title here at Elevated.

You’ve got your @handle, selected a selfie, drafted up some sweet bio copy, and your website link is in place – this is enough info to get you started – but as the saying goes “Content is king.” To discover best practices for posting photo content to Instagram, watch out for my next post which will cover photos, captions & how to handle hashtags.

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