We conducted a poll last week asking which platform our followers wanted to give more advice on and the people have spoken: they want tips for Instagram!

This wasn't shocking for us. In fact, it was exciting. Instagram is one of our favorite social media platforms of all time, so sharing our advice based on years of research and experience is something we're looking forward to. So here is goes! This is how you can create the perfect profile picture for your Instagram.

Steps To Adding An Instagram Profile Picture

Some of our readers might be new to Instagram, so it couldn't hurt to include a quick tutorial that shows how you can add or change your profile picture. Click play to start the tutorial!

And yes, I did download a bunch of pink images so you couldn't see all of my embarrassing selfies and random pictures of my food.

Steps To Creating The Perfect Profile Picture

Now let's start talking about the reason you clicked on this blog. To make it easier to follow, I broke down the tips into steps that you can read as you go and create. For step one...

1. Decide What You Want Your Profile Picture To Be

Some business will choose a logo and some will choose a headshot. The best picture for you depends on what type of business you are.

These are the business that should choose their logo as their profile picture:

• Businesses with multiple owners

• Businesses with multiple employees

• Businesses that sell products

These are the businesses that should choose a headshot as their profile picture:

• Businesses that is centered on one person

• Businesses that offer personal services (like consulting)

2. If You Choose To Use A Headshot: Make Sure It's Branded

Just because your profile picture is more personal than a logo, doesn't mean it can't be branded. In fact, it's best if you use some brand elements in your photo. This way people will know what your business is about before they even click to your profile.

These are a few ways you can accomplish this:

• Stand in front of a brand-color background - for example: our business would choose a blue or yellow background

• Wear clothes that match your brand, as well - if your brand is super sophisticated, you can try wearing a suit; if your brand is casual, you can try wearing a t-shirt

• Get creative with your accessories - do you have a hat with your logo on it? How about cool earrings with an icon you frequently use?

• Include your equipment/products in the photo - if you're a catering company, you can hold up a plate of your most popular dishes

• Use graphic design - if you don't have a backdrop or physical branded items, you can try using a platform like Canva to add in a colored background and cool elements that you can incorporate into your photo

3. More Advice For Businesses Posting Headshots

If you're a logo-user, skip this step and go to step 4!

If you are someone who is going to use a headshot, use these tips when you're starting to take your pictures:

• Focus on your face, not your entire body - Instagram doesn't allow people to zoom in on profile pictures, so you want to make sure they can see who you are.

• Pay extra special attention to the lighting - a dark photo is hard to see and won't benefit your growth.

• Stay away from trends - taking a headshot is a lot of time and energy, so using a trend only means that you will have to quickly update your profile picture with another photo later on. When you're thinking themes, think classic and timeless.

4. Make Sure You're Using Optimal Dimensions

A blurry picture isn't fun for anyone to see - and this applies to both headshot profile pictures and logo profile pictures. To have the most crisp- and clear-appearing photo, use these dimensions: 180x180 pixels.

If you insert your picture into these dimensions and they appear blurry, I highly recommend that you take another headshot or choose a different photo.

5. Edit Your Photo To Help It Stand Out

We don't normally encourage editing pictures because a more authentic photo helps your audience connect to you better. HOWEVER, if you edit your photo right, it can really make a big difference in how much your profile picture stands out.

Let's be honest - a regular photo doesn't normally come out as vibrant as we would like. But this can be remedied when using amazing editing tools such as Instagram's built-in editor and Canva.

If you're confident in your ability to edit a photo without making it appear too edited (or too fake), then these are the goals you should strive to achieve:

• A nice contrast

• Vibrancy

• Brightness

• Saturation

6. Center The Photo!

Some businesses might think that being able to see their logo/headshot is good enough - but it isn't! People are hyper aware if something looks off about your profile picture, and one that is off-center might repel them from your brand. Why? Because it doesn't look professional.

Social media is full of harsh critics.

Which is why we again encourage you to use Canva to create your profile picture. It has a tool that will show you where the center of your image is, so you can move your photo until all the important parts are at the center before you upload it to your Instagram.

Note: Canva has a free plan.

7. Be Careful What You Crop

Our final tip: to not crop any important part of your photo out. This includes your face, parts of your logo, and any elements you added such as text.

You can accomplish this by leaving space around the focal point of your image (your focal point would be your head or your logo).

Final Thoughts

Instagram is a lot of fun, and can be a powerful tool when used right. If you need more advice on your Instagram growth, feel free to scroll through our blog. This social media platform is a frequent topic here! Or, sign up for a FREE consultation so that you can get advice for your specific business's Instagram page. Click the button below to see our availability.