Profile header on Instagram: filling rules and interesting features

Missouri State University of Science and Technology conducted an eye-tracking study. Scientists followed the user’s eyes when browsing websites. Conclusions: It takes less than two tenths of a second for a visitor to get a first impression of a brand.

It also says that it takes about 2.6 seconds for the gaze to stop in the area of the page that most affects the first impression.

Given such a tight deadline, the primary task is to properly design the Instagram profile header. This is important for both business accounts and personal blogs.

What is it and why is it important

The profile header is a small piece of information under the name of the page owner. You can add a brand description here or tell about yourself – why people will be interested in following your life.

The description contains emotional presentation, character, principles and information for the target audience. Isn’t it great;)

There are several reasons why it is worth taking the time to sign up for an account:

Increases account credibility. By looking at your profile picture, people should be aware that you are running a legitimate business, not a schoolboy.
Essential for brand awareness. A photo and profile description introduces your business or blog to millions of Instagram users.
A well-designed profile header forms the image of an organization or a person. What kind of entrepreneur would like it if a user, having entered a business page, in the first seconds thinks: “Nonsense … They don’t really try.”

In the Story about a hand-made knitted bag, but in the description there is not a word about it. It is not clear what it is about – about children? Handmade? Too many questions. Do not do it this way

Bad first impressions are difficult to correct. It is easier and safer to pay attention to important details right away. How exactly – let’s figure it out.

How to design an Instagram header: a few examples

Such details in the Instagram profile header are a description and a picture. This is the first thing that visitors to your page see.

The logo, description of a page with a brief information about a brand or a blog affects whether a person subscribes to your updates or passes by.

Profile photo. What is good and what is bad

A picture for a visual social network should be up to par: beauty is what a user expects to see on Instagram. Annoying color effects, graphical noise, a pile of small details go to trash. This may not be so important for famous brands, since the audience’s opinion has long been formed, but for new or little-known companies, the “gouge out” style is rather a minus. But with a caveat.

For example, if you sell designer clothes in acid colors, wild color combinations might be what your audience needs.

It’s important that people instantly recognize your profile. The picture must be unique and memorable. For a company, this can be:

Logo.
Logomark. The same logo, only without words.
Mascot. This is a “humanized” character who represents the company for the marketing interests of the brand.

Sometimes it’s better without a talisman at all. For example, in a Business Insider study, 46% of people surveyed called the Six Flags theme park mascot, Mr. Six, “creepy.” And the author of the article in Time Magazine asked the question: “It is not clear why to influence the target audience, consisting almost entirely of children, use the image of a creepy old man?” Surely, such an unpopular character is one of the good reasons why the company uses a logo instead of a mascot.

Many successful Instagram profiles use the same color palette for content and logo. This helps create a distinctive, recognizable style.

For example, the British company Not on the Highstreet, which brings together more than 4,000 small businesses. A very soft palette and light background are preferred in images. This ensures that the content on the page matches the overall aesthetics and colors of the brand, which makes a good impression.

Think about the colors and style of the brand. Still, Instagram is a social network for those who love a pleasant visual series.

A few tips for decoration:

Try a simple, not overly cluttered design. The profile picture on Instagram is small even on the desktop version. If you try to fit in too many details or a piece of text, they will be indistinguishable in the avatar.
The size of the image in the Instagram profile is 110 x 110 pixels with an aspect ratio of 1: 1. Perfect tiny square. Instagram will make the same tiny circle out of it. When creating a logo, remember that what looks great in a perfectly square image sometimes does not work well in a round shape. And further. You should upload a picture with a higher resolution, 1000 x 1000 pixels or higher. So the image will be of high quality.
Use color contrast and make sure the logo is visible on the light and dark versions of the app. A simple background with no detail will improve visibility.

Judging by myself. When looking for a company on Insta, I look at the profile picture as one of the important signals. If the photo is of low quality, which is difficult to make out, most likely, I will continue to search. I’m sure enough people will do the same.

In many cases, the corporate logo will be the account photo. If you use it not only on your Instagram profile, but also as a favicon of the site, it will work to increase brand awareness outside the site.

Therefore, when designing a company logo, try to make it clearly visible in a small size. Take a look at Instagram – a stylized camera image is used as a logo and favicons. Or VKontakte, where the logo and icon are the abbreviation VK.

For more examples of profile design, see the article “Top 15 Stylish Instagram Designs for Inspiration.”

Profile description. What to write about yourself on Instagram

Users should understand at a glance who you are and what you do. The quality of the audience depends on it – those people who really need it or are interested will subscribe.
For example.

The description has everything you need: benefits for subscribers and personal achievements – the billionaire from the Forbes list shares practical experience. True, you can write only in Direct, but still this is not a store, but a personal blog

Of course, a billionaire will always find something to surprise subscribers and something to tell about himself. How to be a young business or a budding blogger?

Get to know your target audience and write a description for it. Want to highlight a specific skill, profession, or hobby? Indicate this in your profile header. Describe how and to whom you help, how you can be useful.

Or write to stand out from many similar blogs. Something from the heart.

Have you noticed that those profiles remain in your memory where there is a “highlight”? Not just a benefit for the subscriber, but a little soul of the author

Here you can report:

Name, surname or company name. The login, which is indicated next to the photo, is used in the search – make it short and memorable. If a person hears it and can write it without transliteration options, that’s perfect. For example, the Russian letter “I” in transliteration is ja or ya. Even – ia. Avoid ambiguous spelling whenever possible.
Contacts. E-mail, instant messengers other than Direct, a link to a website or other social networks. In the business account for them there is a special column of settings “Communication methods”. By the way, this is the only place on Instagram where you can place an interactive link – it won’t work in publications.

The profile description is the only place on Instagram where you can post an interactive link. It will not work in publications

Information about the type of activity or description of the business. In the business profile, under the name or company name, the account category will be displayed – personal blog, entrepreneur, politician, and many other options.
What you find interesting about yourself or your company. There are 150 characters available for the short story. But keep in mind that part of the description may be hidden under the “More” button. If you want to communicate something important, write it down in the top two lines.

The description in three words at the top line clearly conveys the theme. Briefly and clearly

A good profile description can entice visitors to subscribe to your page, scroll through some more of your content, or follow a link to your site. Take advantage of this.

Life hacks and secrets of the profile header design

There are several chips that will help you design your profile header in an original way.

Let’s get started.

How to write more headers in the block. For business accounts

If you need to post urgent information for subscribers or need more space for description, you can use additional lines.

To do this, open the profile editing and select “Communication methods”. In the item “Company address” enter the name of the city, and in the line with the exact address write down your message.

The inscription in this field can be changed as needed – to announce promotions, sales. Or use it for its intended purpose – indicate the exact address of the company

How to change the font in the profile header

You cannot change the font in the Instagram settings. But you can use services or applications for this purpose.

A custom font in the profile description will help you stand out among the many similar accounts.

For example, use the online service Textygram or LingoJam. Or download one of the applications from the Play Market or App Store to your smartphone. These are Cool Fonts for Instagram Bio, Better Fonts, Fonts & Text Emoji for Instagram and many others.

However, mainly the English font and numbers are changing. You can find a couple of options for the Cyrillic alphabet, but they are not for everybody. Still, it’s a good way to get attention.

More characters for profile header

Want to use symbols instead of emoji? For example, scissors for a handmade account? A handset to indicate the number? Zodiac signs, chess pieces, card suits, popular symbols from Facebook?

They can be found in online services. For example, Cool Symbol. Large characters on the screen are categorized – copied, pasted. Simple and convenient.

How to write bio in a column, not in a row

The column description looks nicer. Plus, information is more convenient to perceive. One thought – one paragraph.

It can be problematic to do it from the phone – the spaces are removed automatically, and the lines crawl on the screen in different directions.

The easiest way is to edit the description from your laptop. Or use the Textygram service, the link to which is above. Insert or write text in the input field, add emoji, break into paragraphs – the service will format and save it when you transfer it to Instagram.

Emojis at the beginning of a line visually separate lines and convey additional emotions. Perhaps they are superfluous for a plant or an investment platform, but here they are in place

From the phone, you can write to the bot in Telegram – Text4InstaBot. The bot makes “correct” paragraphs for Instagram. Centered text, red lines, strikethrough words.

But that’s not all.

A beautiful profile header does not guarantee that the account will be successful, subscribers will begin to fly like flies for jam, and they will also get bogged down here. We need interesting, regular content.

The SMMplanner service will help with regular publications. Download prepared posts, schedule days and hours for posts – free up time for other important things.

Canva’s built-in image editor will help you create beautiful Instagram Stories, experiment with photos or design and draw a logo without leaving SMMplanner.

As in a person, everything should be fine here: the header, description, and content. Check out the complete guide to styling your Instagram profile – from choosing a nickname to posting.

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