Bios… can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em. We all know the stress that comes with crafting the perfect caption, but a bio is arguably even harder. Like, 10X harder. An Instagram bio is the window to your profile. It’s likely one of the first things people see when they come across your profile, and it’s a short amount of words that afford you the opportunity to briefly tell your story. No matter what your story is or what you’re using your Instagram profile for, there’s a way to optimize your bio — read on for more tips! 

1. Stay Concise 

   
   
   Mark Twain once said, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn’t have the time.” Take this as a hint for writing your bio. It takes a lot more thinking and creativity to craft an impactful message in a few words, but it’s worth it. Why? When people are quickly scanning tens or hundreds of profiles every day, they don’t want to spend time lingering on yours if it’s too long or wordy. 
   
   

2. Add a CTA 

   
   
   For businesses and brands in particular, it’s important that you add a call-to-action of some sort in your bio. The CTA route doesn’t work for everyone, but if you’re trying to get people to follow or head to your site, find a creative way to sneak a CTA-style message into your bio. It may say something like, “For life hacks, head to my blog” or “Let’s chat. Smash the follow button!” 
   
   

3. Consider Links and Hashtags

   Some successful Instagram bios use hashtags to help get the message across. Again, this won’t work for every business, but some businesses can really benefit from the hashtag. The main reason for using hashtags in your bio is to drive more traffic to your profile.  Consider Nike with #justdoit in the bio. Short and sweet! 
   
   You may also see this as a chance to add an important link, such as a website or other social profile. Nike added their website, nike.com. Other brands add their Facebook or LinkedIn, like the Olympics. 
   
   

4. Use Emojis 

   
   
   As silly as it sounds, emojis are powerful purveyors of storytelling. What used to take 3 or 4 words can now be summarized in one emoji. While you work to craft your bio, look for areas where you can substitute a word (or a few words) for a relevant emoji. Emojis are also useful for testing different target audiences. You may be able to gather information about your target audience by their response to emojis and their own usage of emojis. 
   
   

5. Incorporate your voice 

   
   
   One of the single most important aspects of your bio is your tone of voice. This sets the precedent for the rest of your profile — meaning your captions, photos and everything! If you haven’t already, work with your team (or yourself!) to define your brand and your tone of voice. This means deciding whether you’ll be conversational or formal, funny or serious, informative or entertaining, or something entirely different. Once you’ve made that decision, find ways to inject that brand personality into your bio. It may take a few tries, but it’s well worth it in the end! 
   
   Ready for hashtags, links, emojis and everything in between? While you go through the exercise of crafting your bio, remember your “why.” Your bio is a representation of your brand. It’s a story specific to your journey as a business or as an individual. So make it special and make it YOU.