A new visitor decides in a few seconds whether your Instagram page is a real business. They look at the name, the photo, the first line of the bio and the first few posts. This guide goes through each part of the profile in the order a visitor sees it. Instagram changes its menus and options from time to time, so treat the steps as a checklist and look for the same setting in the app if a name has moved.
Name and handle
The name field is the one that appears in bold and can be searched, so put your business name there, and if it helps, a short word for what you do, such as 'Meera Sweets, Jaipur'. The handle is the part after the @. Choose one that is easy to say on the phone and to write on a board: no extra underscores, no long numbers. Use the same handle on your other platforms if you can. If your first choice is taken, add the city or the trade, such as the name followed by 'jaipur', and not a string of digits.
Profile photo
Use your logo for a shop or a brand, and a clear face for a person-led business such as a consultant or a tutor. The photo is cropped to a circle and shown very small in the feed, so a long wordmark becomes unreadable. Use the mark or a simple monogram if that is what you have. Our profile picture maker crops a logo to a circle and checks how it looks small.
The bio
| Line | Answers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| First line | What do you do, and for whom? | Handmade sweets for weddings and festivals. |
| Second line | Where are you? | Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur. Orders by WhatsApp. |
| Third line | What should I do next? | Tap the button to order or ask. |
| Category | What type of business? | Choose the closest option the app offers. |
Write in the language your customers use, and keep it plain. Skip long strings of emoji and slogans that could belong to anyone. Do not claim an award or a number unless you can show it.
The link
You get a small number of places for links, so choose the page that helps a stranger most. For a shop that takes orders, it can be a WhatsApp chat link with a ready message. Our WhatsApp link generator makes one. For a service business, it is usually your website's enquiry page. If you add a tag to the link, you can see in your analytics who came from Instagram. Our QR code generator can turn the same link into a code for your counter.
Contact buttons
A business or creator account lets you add buttons for call, email or directions. Add the ones you will actually answer. A call button with a phone that nobody picks up does more harm than none. If you work by appointment or by WhatsApp, say so in the bio and make that route the clear one. Reply within the same day when you can, and tell people your hours so they know what to expect.
Highlights
Highlights stay below the bio until you remove them, so use them as a small menu. Four to six is plenty: for example Products, Prices or Enquiries, Reviews, How to order, Location. Give each a plain label and a clean cover in your brand colours, drawn from your brand guidelines if you have them. Each should hold a few stories that stay true for months.
Pinned posts and the first nine
You can pin a few posts to the top of your grid. Choose the ones that answer 'What do you do and why should I trust you?': your best work, a short post on how ordering works, a customer comment you have permission to share. Before you pin, look at the grid as a stranger would. Mixed photo quality, screenshots and random reposts make a business look careless. A planned rhythm helps, and a content calendar keeps posting steady without daily stress. Check image sizes with our social media image size guide so nothing is cropped badly.
Check the whole page
Open your profile on a phone you do not normally use, logged out if you can. Is the name right? Can you tell what the business does in five seconds? Can you reach it in two taps? Our social profile checkup goes through these questions step by step. If you would like help with the look of the page and the posts, see our creative work.
When you do not need a studio
A profile like this takes one afternoon and needs no agency. You only need to hire help when you want a consistent look across many posts, a regular plan for content or photography and design you cannot produce yourself.
