Whether you’re an online company or you’re using the web to market your offline business, you’re going to need a great social media business description for your business. A meaningful and memorable business description can change how customers perceive your brand—both online and in real life.
But sitting down to write about your business can be intimidating. To help you break through that writer’s block, here are some specific pointers for writing a business bio for popular social media and review platforms.
Each platform has different guidelines for business descriptions, and the audience and focus for each platform are also slightly different. For each site, you can start with your standard business description and tailor it for the particular nuances and requirements of the particular site.
Yelp
Your free business page on Yelp includes three sections where you can write about your business, and you should write something for each one. Below are tips for each.
Specialties: Lead with keywords, but don’t overstuff, and don’t include things you don’t offer. This is your opportunity to share how your business is unique and what you’re known for. Character limit: 1,500.
History: Share the story of how your business got started—this is where your storytelling skills can shine. Include the year the business was established and any important milestones along the way. Character limit: 1,000.
Meet the Owner/Manager: This is your chance to put a human face to the business. Share your passion for your work and include a few personal details that you’re comfortable sharing. Character limit: 1,000.
Do not use these areas for offers and announcements, contact information, or links, and never attack competitors, customers, or people who have reviewed your business.
Just like a tweet, your description should be short, searchable, and include 1-2 hashtags that apply to your business. Feel free to use incomplete sentences, short phrases, and abbreviations. Twitter is not a place for formality, but do keep it professional (not stuffy, though).
Tag any related business or personal accounts, if applicable.
Include a call to action and link if you have something to promote.
On Facebook, you have the opportunity to add a description for the “About” tab on your page. Write the story of your business, service areas, events, and more. Facebook is a very interactive platform, so write your profile to create a sense of community.
Character limit for your general description: 255. All other business detail sections don’t have a character count, but that doesn’t mean you should write a lot of text.
In the “Business Info” section, you have the opportunity to include core details like date created, business type, and mission.
“Contact Info” includes website, phone number, email, and contact information.
“More Info” includes sections for additional information such as products, menus, awards, and more, depending on your business category.
Casual and friendly in nature, Instagram is a highly visual channel, so let your description paint a vivid picture of your brand. While the focus on your Instagram presence is the imagery that you post, you should still take the time to write a description that will inspire your followers and give context for your images.
Emojis bring a playfulness to your bio and are also searchable.
Include your location and hashtags so the right people can discover your account.
Include any related business or personal accounts, if applicable.
If your business has a large staff, consider a LinkedIn company page. Highlight the talent running your business and attract new employees (and even some customers) with industry hashtags.
Character limit for company name: 100. About page: 2,000 (although even LinkedIn recommends keeping it short and sweet).
Optimize pages with industry, company size, specialties, and headquarters, and include relevant keywords to help people find you in LinkedIn search.
Create a Jobs page if you’re hiring.
Writing a business description for social pages doesn’t have to be tricky. Think about your story, write about what makes you different, and let the power of social proof allow new and existing customers to find you.