The 5 Biggest IG Bio Mistakes I See

Let’s look at the five biggest mistakes I see all the time when it comes to Instagram bios.

Before I start, I want to say a few things:

• First. Please don’t get your feelings hurt if I point out something that you’re doing! There are many people giving a lot of advice and if you don’t have a marketing background, how would you know? So don’t beat yourself up.?
• Second. It’s okay to edit your bio and fine-tune it as you go. You don’t have to have everything figured out in order to get started.??

?Let’s dive in!

?1) Your Instagram Bio is Not Clear Enough

When people find you on Instagram, you want them to either press the Follow button or press the Message button. You want them to do something when they find you.?The clearer you are in your bio, the higher the chance of that happening.?

So, when you look at your bio, I want you to answer these questions:

• Who am I??
• What do I do??
• Who do I help??
• How can people reach me for more information??

As someone who is building their personal brand and want to build some personal brand equity,?you need to use Instagram as an intentional platform for people to find you, get to know, like, and trust you. You want to build relationships with people and you can’t do that if you’re not clear about who you are and what you do.?

2) Your Instagram Handle Is Too Obscure?

Everything on Instagram is searchable:?your captions, the texts in your reels, your posts, your bio, as well as your handle and the description below it.?Make sure that your first and last name exists somewhere in there and the easiest way to do it is to change your handle to your first and last name.?

For example, my handle is?@coachtracey_p?and I have?Tracey Pontarelli Mindset + Wellness Entrepreneur?right underneath it.?

Your first line should be your first and last name and something that relates to your business.?You want to be direct about what it is you do.?

3) Your Instagram Bio Makes No Sense

These go in any number of ways and this is fine if you just have a personal account and you’re being funny with your friends. But if you’re an entrepreneur, and you’re trying to help new people find you and understand what you do, it’s a lost opportunity to put something that you think is quirky and funny, instead of saying what you do and who you help.?The more specific you can be, the better.?

For example, my bio says?“Coaching midlife mommas to get the health + life they desire??Magnetic mindset + marketing podcast Anti-hustle online wellness biz + branding boss”.

I help women with their health because I am a wellness coach. I help women with their mindset, their happiness, and their wellness and I focus on midlife moms like me. That’s the bullseye of my target.?

Why should people listen to me??I am a coach, I’m a branding expert and I have a podcast. So I’ve given people different things that they can tap into.?

4) Your Instagram Bio is Filled with Hashtags

If your bio is filled with hashtags it’s annoying, because it’s not about the reader, it’s about the algorithm.?Read your bio out loud to yourself to see if it makes sense and sounds normal.

Hashtags do not sound normal and someone decided to tell everyone to put hashtags in their bio.?Your bio is for the reader, and the hashtags are for the algorithm.?You don’t need the hashtags in the bio.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of hashtags. I put them on almost every single post in the first comment. I do not include them in the caption because I think that they are distracting to the reader. I’m always thinking about the person that’s reading on the other side and how to get them the information that they want as quickly as possible. If they are annoyed or distracted by hashtags, you lost them. So,?get your hashtags out of your bio.?

5) You Have No Link in Your Instagram Bio for More Info

I do not recommend sending people to your online shop link. For me, it’s a lost opportunity. Here’s why:?I want to help people. I want to highlight some of my favorite products.?I don’t want to say: “Here’s the shop. Good luck!”?

Instead, I use?Milkshake. It’s a free app that allows me to highlight different things, which is perfect because I have a lot of stuff going on that I want to share and give people quick access to:?

• My podcast?
• My courses?+?The Magnetic Marketing Academy
• My favorite wellness products?

I fit it all in on a Milkshake (you can check out all my offers?here). In case you need some help setting up Milkshake,?have a look at my little training on Milkshake.??

Remember,?it’s okay to edit and rework your bio and fine-tune it as you go.?The only way it’s going to get to where it needs to be next, is if you work at it.?You’re going to evolve and so will your bio. Your bio represents who you are right now and where you’re going.The content in your feed needs to loop back and resonate back to that bio.?So, when somebody looks at your bio,?the content needs to resonate and be congruent with who you’re saying you are.

Hopefully, this has sparked some curiosity in you and if you have any questions, please feel free to?get in touch with me.?

In the meantime, remember, you are magnetic and people are waiting to hear what you have to say.

Love,

Tracey.