You have 150 characters to convince someone to follow your business on Instagram. That's less than a tweet. Less than this paragraph.
Most businesses waste these 150 characters on generic phrases like "Welcome to our page!" or "Quality service since 2005." That tells a potential customer absolutely nothing useful.
Here's how to write an Instagram bio that actually works.
The Formula: What Every Business Instagram Bio Needs
Every effective business bio has four components, in this order:
1. What you do (be specific)
Not "helping people achieve their goals." Not "your trusted partner."
- Yes "Emergency plumbing — Phoenix metro"
- Yes "Hair color specialist · balayage + vivids"
- Yes "Thai street food · lunch & dinner"
- No "Welcome to our page!"
- No "Quality you can trust "
2. Where you are
Local businesses need their city or neighborhood in the bio. This is how people decide if you're near them.
Use Location: to save characters: Location: Downtown Phoenix
3. What makes you different (one thing)
Pick one differentiator. Not three. One.
- "Same-day appointments"
- "Family-owned since 1998"
- "Vegan menu available"
- "Free estimates"
4. Call to action
Tell people what to do. Instagram gives you one clickable link — make the CTA match it.
- "Book online ↓"
- "Free quote: link below"
- "Order online below"
Real Examples
Plumber:
Emergency plumbing · Phoenix metro
Same-day service · No trip charge
Phone: Free estimates ↓Salon:
Balayage + vivid color specialist
Location: Old Town Scottsdale
Book your consult ↓Restaurant:
Authentic Thai street food
Location: Tempe · Lunch & Dinner
Order pickup or delivery belowAccountant:
Small business tax + bookkeeping
Location: Chandler, AZ
Stress-free tax season starts here ↓Common Mistakes
Being clever instead of clear. "Where flavor meets passion meets innovation" tells me nothing. "Wood-fired pizza · downtown Phoenix" tells me everything.
Using corporate language. "Solutions provider" and "innovative approach" are meaningless on Instagram. Talk like a human.
Ignoring the link in bio. Your bio CTA should match your link. If your CTA says "Book online" but your link goes to your homepage, you'll lose people.
Copy-pasting the same bio everywhere. Instagram's 150-character limit is not the same as LinkedIn's 2,000-character About section. Each platform needs its own version.
Skip the Guesswork: Get Your Bio Written for Free
Write it from your website's own words rather than from what other accounts in your industry sound like — the phrases you already use with customers are the ones that will land.
Enter your website URL, and in 60 seconds you'll have:
- An Instagram bio written to exactly 150 characters
- Bios for 7 other platforms, each at the correct character limit
- Your logo and images ready to download
- Direct links to create accounts on every platform
Which platforms are worth claiming →
After Your Bio Is Set: What to Post
A great bio gets people to your profile. Great content gets them to follow and — eventually — buy.
If posting consistently is the part that never happens, Boomp creates and publishes professional Instagram posts for your business automatically. $99/month, no content creation required.
But first: work out which profiles are worth having.
