Most businesses start social media by asking what to post. We start with a less exciting question: what does someone see when they tap through to your profile?
Because that’s what happens when a post does its job. Someone sees it, thinks “huh, that’s interesting”, and taps your name. Your profile is the landing page they arrive on, and it’s rarely been designed on purpose. A great post sending people to a weak profile is like a beautiful shopfront with the door stuck shut.
So every time we take on a new organic social media client, we audit their profiles before we post a single thing. Here’s what we look at, and why.
- Your bio should tell a stranger what you do, who it's for, and why to trust you, all in a quick glance.
- Instagram search reads your profile name and username, so the name field should include a plain-English description of what you do.
- Three pinned posts should answer the questions every new visitor has before they've scrolled at all.
- Handle, links, contact buttons, and your other platforms get checked at the same time, so nothing contradicts anything else.
Why we audit before we post a single thing
Posting into a profile that isn’t ready is a quick way to waste good content.
Content is the fun part, and profile settings are not. But the two are linked more tightly than they look. Meta’s own documentation for Instagram’s feed system shows it tries to predict how much time someone will spend on an author’s profile after seeing their post. And beyond the algorithm, there’s a simpler, more human version of the same thing. Someone who taps through is deciding, fast, whether you’re the real deal.
The audit is also how we get to know a business. By the end of it, we’ve got a clear view of what’s missing, what’s confusing, and what’s already working. That feeds straight into the organic social strategy we write for the client, where the profile updates and a set of pinned posts sit ahead of the monthly content plan.
Here’s what’s on the list.
Does your bio say what you do in a quick glance?
First stop is the bio. You get 150 characters, and a stranger will give them a quick glance before deciding whether to keep looking.
In those seconds, a bio needs to answer four questions:
- What do you do?
- Who is it for, or where do you do it?
- Why should I trust you?
- What should I do next?
The bios we write for clients follow that order. The strong ones carry something real as proof (years in business, a review rating, a certification), one point of difference, and a clear next step. Here’s how that plays out with a made-up example:
Before:
Smith & Co ⚡ Quality you can trust. Passionate about what we do. Link below 👇
After:
Brisbane electricians, fixing it right ⚡
Licensed and local, 4.9★ from 150+ reviews
Same-day callouts, no surprises
Get a free quote 👇
The “before” could belong to almost any business on the planet. The “after” answers all four questions, and the same-day callouts add a point of difference.
Proof only works if it’s real, so every number in a bio has to be one the business can back up. And in some industries, the proof looks different. If you’re in healthcare, AHPRA’s advertising rules restrict testimonials, so we lean on qualifications, experience, and plain-English descriptions of services instead.
The same logic applies on Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Whatever the field is called on each platform, the question is the same: can a stranger work out what you do?
Is your name something people can actually search?
Next up is the name field, which isn’t the same thing as your handle.
Your handle (the @ bit) is your unique address, so we keep it simple and recognisable. Your name is the bold line sitting above your bio, and it’s the one a lot of businesses fill in with the business name and then forget about. But Meta’s documentation on how Instagram Search works says one signal it uses is how closely an account’s username or profile name matches what someone types in. So that line is doing a job whether you’ve given it one or not.
Before:
Handle: @smithandco
Name: Smith & Co
After:
Handle: @smithandco
Name: Smith & Co | Brisbane Electricians
With the same handle, a search for a Brisbane electrician now gives the platform something to match.
We keep it to one clear descriptor, written the way a customer would say it. It’s a name, not a keyword dump, and it should still read like something a human would be happy to see.
If you want to go deeper on how captions, alt text, and on-screen text help people find you, we’ve covered it in SEO vs hashtags: which matters more on socials?
Are your pinned posts doing the selling for you?
Last of the big three is pinned posts. Instagram lets you pin up to three posts or Reels to the top of your grid, which makes them the first thing a new visitor sees under your bio. Lots of accounts leave them empty, which means a stranger sees whatever happened to go up last Tuesday.
We treat those three slots like a front door. A first-time visitor wants answers to the same handful of questions, and they’re not going to scroll back through months of posts to find them. So we pin the three posts that answer those questions for you:
- What do you do, and how does it work?
- Who’s behind it, and why would I choose you?
- Does it actually work? Show me proof.
The exact three change from business to business, but the job stays the same. Here’s how it’s played out in recent client strategies:
| The question | A pet relocation company | A packaging manufacturer |
|---|---|---|
| What do you do, and how does it work? | A step-by-step "how it works" carousel that walks a first-time visitor from enquiry to arrival, showing the process always keeps the pet's best interest front of mind | A "what we make" product carousel, a mini catalogue across industries like food and beverage, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical, so prospects can quickly see if their product is a fit |
| Who's behind it, and why would I choose you? | A "meet the team" photo carousel with people from across the globe, showing a family-owned business run by real animal lovers. | A "who we are" photo carousel showing the team and every location, so it feels like real people and real facilities. |
| Does it actually work? Show me proof. | A reviews carousel that turns a high star rating and hundreds of reviews into scroll-stopping proof that other pets have arrived safely and happily | A "how we work with brands" post featuring a recognisable client, showing a long-standing relationship and how easy the process is |
Whatever the business, a stranger arrives with questions, and the pinned row answers them before they’ve had to ask.
One practical tip: when you pin a carousel, the first slide is what shows on your grid, so design it like a cover. Facebook and LinkedIn also let you pin a post to the top of your page, so the same thinking applies there.
The small fixes that make the big three work harder
The big three get most of the attention, but a few smaller checks sit alongside them. They’re quick to fix, and they remove a surprising amount of friction.
Your handle
Short, simple, and as close to the business name as you can get. We also check it isn’t boxing you into a smaller audience than you serve. We’ve dropped a location tag from a handle that made a worldwide business look like it only operated in one country. If you change a handle, update it anywhere the old one is printed or linked, like email signatures and your website.
Your links
A single link to your homepage is a missed opportunity. Instagram lets you add more than one now, so we set up quick links for the things people actually want to do next, like getting a quote, finding a stockist, meeting the team, or heading to the website.
Your contact buttons
Email and call buttons switched on, so getting in touch takes one tap rather than a treasure hunt.
Your other platforms
A tidy Instagram profile only covers part of the picture. We also look at the Facebook intro and About section, plus the LinkedIn About section, banner image, and any half-finished sections like locations or products and services. The goal is for everything to say the same thing at a glance, and to point people to where the detail lives.
Run the audit on your own profile
Grab your phone, open your profile, and pretend you’ve never heard of your business. Then work through this list:
- Does my bio say what I do, and where or who for?
- Is there real proof in my bio, like a rating, years in business, or a certification?
- Does my name field include a plain-English description of what I do?
- Can someone enquire in one tap, through a link or a contact button?
- Does my first pinned post explain what I do and how it works?
- Does my second pinned post show who's behind the business?
- Does my third pinned post prove it works?
- Do my other platforms say the same thing as Instagram?
If you can’t tick them all, that’s a perfectly normal place to start. Plenty of profiles get built in a rush on the day the account was created and never looked at again.
The takeaway: fix the front door before you invite people in
A tidy profile won’t rescue content that isn’t useful. The two do different jobs: your content gets people to the door, and your profile decides whether they step inside. Get both right and every post has somewhere worth landing.
That’s why the audit comes first. It takes a business from “we should probably post more” to a profile that explains what it does, can be found when someone searches, and has three pinned posts ready to answer the questions every new visitor asks.
To be upfront, none of this is a promise of followers overnight. Social is a long game, and a sorted profile is just where it starts.
Once your profile’s sorted, the other half of organic social is how you show up when people start commenting. We’ve covered that in our guide to community management.
Want a hand auditing what your profiles are telling people? Chat to us 👋
