Today, we’re talking about all of the do’s and don’ts of your Instagram bio! Your Instagram bio, in my opinion, is probably one of the most underrated features of your Instagram account. With a strategically written bio, you’ll be able to see more growth and connections with your audience. We’re going to walk through some of the things that I think help the most – and some that don’t – so you can create a more powerful Instagram bio for your account!

Your Instagram Photo

The very first thing I want to say is to make sure your profile photo is of you! Don’t use a logo or even a photo of you that’s far away. Instead, it’s important to show your face clearly – especially if you have a personal brand. People connect with people. So, it’s important to have a profile picture that’s up close, shows your eyes and a smile, if possible. For most business owners on Instagram, this is the best way to go! This little change will help your potential audiences make an instant connection with you.

Avoid Hashtags

Please don’t use hashtags in your bio! There’s lots of information out there reminding you that it literally does nothing for you or your account. In fact, I honestly think it hurts you because it looks spammy! There’s a character limit on your bio – adding hashtags that do nothing to grow your account seems like a waste of space to me.

Include in Your Bio

If you don’t have hashtags in your bio, what should you include? It’s important to share right from the start who you are and what you do. Talk about who you serve. This should all be SUPER obvious right from the moment someone lands on your Instagram account. If you are a location-based business, make sure you add that too. For example, when I was a photographer, I made sure that people knew I was in Columbus Ohio right away. If you aren’t location based, clearly state your mission and make it clear who you help – and how.

Remove Emojis

Similar to hashtags, a bunch of random emojis is just a waste of space in your bio. Now, if you have some that clearly are part of your brand, feel free to use those! For example, we use the yellow heart emoji a lot, instead of any other color, because it goes with our brand better. That might be something I could include in my Instagram bio. If it’s something you’d use naturally on your account (comments, DMs, posts), consider allowing it to be featured in your bio, too.

Remove Irrelevant Information

While I think it can absolutely be fun to share fun facts about yourself on your Instagram account, be mindful of which ones you include in your bio. If you put that you love coffee in your bio but never share about it in stories or posts, it’s probably not what you need to place in the bio. Again, remember that there’s a character limit, so be strategic with how you use it. After you’ve shared who you are, what you do, your location, how you serve others, and what they’ll learn from you – you probably won’t have a ton of space for random facts. You’ll see this in my two accounts. My personal one states that I’m a mom, Jesus lover, and love chai. But, the Stephanie Kase education one does not. We clearly state we’re there to teach about content creation. The fun facts may still appear on my account, but it’s not as important to share those in my bio for that account.

Include a Call to Action

Instead of using the precious character count to share irrelevant information about you or your brand, make sure you have a call to action instead. Have it highlight the link in your profile. This could be al ink you change out or something like an Instagram page or linktree page with multiple links. A link like this is a great way to get people where they want fast!

There you have it! Some do’s and don’ts for your Instagram bio. The bottom line is that you want to be concise and show people who you are right away!

Other Reels Resources 

I also offer a free one-hour Instagram Reels class if you want more help with how to grow your reach, followers, and customers with Reels in 2 hours a month! You can sign up for that HERE. And, if you have questions or want some extra support, I’ve got a FREE Reels Growth Facebook Community that you can join. I absolutely love getting to chat with everyone and help them work through their questions about Reels!

Wondering what to make for your next Reel? Free quiz to find out what type of reel idea you should make next! 

Check out the podcast!

We’ve started a podcast! If you haven’t checked it out yet, now is the time!  This has been such a fun project since maternity leave and I hope you’ll tune in.If you’re listening and you have ideas about what to talk about next, please send in your requests! I really do want to know what you want to hear about in future episodes. Email me at [email protected] with your questions!! I can’t wait to hear from you!