As much time as we all spend on social media, it’s very easy to overlook one of the single most important aspects of our online presence: our profiles. Whether writing a personal bio or business profile for a social media account, you should always keep in mind that this is effectively your online business card. Not only is your profile how others will learn the pertinent facts about you or your business, but it is usually the point where they will decide whether or not to follow you. Here are some key tips that you should know:
Keep your profiles up-to-date
Does your profile have your current stats and contact information? What about a current photo or logo?
Use the best photos and graphics possible
Speaking of photos and logos, are you using the best quality image or graphics available to you? While the resolution of a tiny avatar may not seem that important, remember that on many platforms, users can click on avatars and see the full-size image. One more consideration: Go for contrast in smaller photos to help them stand out.
Include links
Did you include a link to your business or blog? If you don’t have a website, why not offer a link to your profile on another social media platform? You may find that some of your followers would rather engage with you there.
Be keyword-conscious
Just as in a webpage, keywords help search engines identify and index you so that people can find you. (Read more about how “semantic search” works in our article about Google Hummingbird.) An important thing to remember about search engines is that they are not limited to Google and Bing. Practically every social media platform has its own native search engine, so accurately defining yourself or your business with keywords is extremely important.
Be buzzword-conscious
You should consider buzzwords as keywords on steroids — they can be very powerful, but they can also carry some serious risk. Buzzwords can show that you are up with current trends, but if your profile gets a little stagnant, they can also date you as behind the times. As mentioned before, keep updating that profile!
Keep profiles consistent across platforms
Make sure your profile descriptions, links, and graphics/photos are not only accurate but consistent across all of your social media accounts. Think of yourself as a brand and show the consistent messaging that all successful brands have.
Include a call to action
Call to actions placed at the end of your bio are a great way to get your visitor to take the next step in interacting with you or your business. This can be as simple: Tell them how they can benefit from your mutual interaction and ask them to follow you. You can also get elaborate: Offer (where possible) a clickable link that sends your new follower down a carefully-designed marketing funnel.
Use trackable link-shortening services
Any time you include a link that provides no domain branding or identifying keywords in the URL, it is a wise practice to use trackable shortened links. Not only will this keep those long indiscriminate URLs out of your carefully-worded profile, but it will also offer you a degree of analytics that you can use to hone your profile. One of the most popular services is bit.ly, and you can learn more about trackable links here.
So, when was the last time you checked your social media profiles? Now is always a great time to spruce things up a bit.
