Imagine this: It's Saturday morning, and people all over your neighborhood are lazily scrolling their Instagram feeds in bed.
Then, a mouthwatering post appears in their feeds, featuring a picturesque local cafe in a quiet location less than a block away. Their stomachs rumble, and they realize they have an intense craving for an iced latte and a freshly baked almond croissant. They decide to pay the cafe a visit.
And just like that, your cafe has a pack of new customers.
That’s the power of adding your own custom location to your Instagram bio. It connects your business with potential customers in your local area, boosting your visibility with both travelers and locals who could turn into regulars. It's a simple way to harness the power of social media to turn users into visitors and paying customers.
So how do you add a custom location on Instagram? Here’s how.
Why should you add your location to your Instagram profile?
Whether you're a small business or a larger operation, adding your location to your Instagram profile can enhance your social media presence by providing context to your content. It helps your Instagram followers know where you’re based, showcases travel experiences, and highlights your business location for potential customers.
Sharing your location on Instagram adds a layer of personalization and authenticity to your brand. It can attract a location-specific audience, especially if you have a physical store and tag products in your Instagram posts. It's also a key component in the Instagram algorithm, helping you secure and convert users who are looking for location-specific businesses. Search is an important feature of social media, and it's smart to get ahead of the trend. In fact, Instagram encourages brands and businesses to optimize their bios with locations and keywords in order to rank higher in search results.
Additionally, creating a location tag gives your brand a sense of community. This can be helpful for networking, collaborations, and connecting with like-minded individuals in your area.
What are the benefits of adding a location to your Instagram bio?
Adding your location to your Instagram bio benefits your company in multiple ways. Here are three to consider.
Increased visibility
Adding a location to your Instagram bio increases your discoverability via search. It means that people who search online for businesses in your area can find you in Instagram search results. This is especially important as social media becomes more and more popular as a search engine. 67% of Gen Z users say they use Instagram to search, replacing Google as the place where they look for products and services.
Small, local businesses should be optimizing their Instagram profiles for search to capitalize on this trend. When people search for local businesses, they are much closer to converting. Instagram calls this "explicit intent". Think about it: when someone searches for a store, a cafe, a restaurant, or another local business near them, they are likely looking to make a purchase soon. They're at the bottom of the marketing funnel hovering around the conversion stage, meaning they are ready to make a purchase in that moment. That is prime time for your business to show up in their search results, so you can get them to your profile and convince them to visit with your amazing social presence.
Increased trust
Instagram users, especially younger demographics, always have their bot radar on. There are plenty of fake profiles out there, so people are looking for clues to know you're running a real business before they interact with you. One way to boost that perception of "realness" is to add a location to your Instagram bio. This works because people know that a business with a physical location is less likely to be a bot account, or a fly-by-night front.
It's not just a matter of distinguishing yourself as a real business. Adding your location also builds customer confidence. Many consumers are looking for physical storefronts so they can get the full benefit of in-person transactions. They might be looking for expert information and advice, friendly human service, or simply the confidence that they have recourse if something were to go wrong. Just ask the 67% of people more likely to trust a local business than one that operates exclusively online.
Increased sales
More engagement on your Instagram account is excellent. But engagement rate doesn't mean much unless it translates to your bottom line. In this sense, adding a location to your Instagram bio is a no-brainer. You can use Instagram's powerful tools for increasing online engagement, then you can convert that engagement into direct sales by encouraging people to visit your business. Here's a few ways to turn Instagram engagement into foot traffic:
- Use Stories to keep your business top of mind in followers' feeds with daily updates. Stories are also a great place to run promotions and alert followers to new products, sales, and events.
- Use Reels to expand your reach to non-followers, especially travelers who might be using Instagram to plan for an upcoming trip.
- Comment on user-generated content that you're tagged in so you can nurture relationships with past customers and demonstrate to their followers that you're a friendly and engaged local business.
- Use DMs to interact with your most loyal customers, letting them know when there are deals or promotions. Your regulars are the best way to leverage word-of-mouth marketing.
How to add location on Instagram profile page
If you have a Business account, there are two primary ways to add a custom location to your Instagram bio:
1. Change your location through your Facebook page to show up on the Instagram map
2. Update your contact information on your Instagram profile
If you don't have a Instagram Business account, there is another method you can try for adding a link to your Instagram bio:
3. Use the Add a link to bio feature to link to your location
Let’s take a look at these three methods.
Method 1: Change your location through your Facebook page
This method will allow your business location to be displayed on the Instagram Map and tagged in posts and stories.
You must have an Instagram Business account and a Facebook page for this method to work. You must also have Facebook access to your page to add or change the address.
Check that you have those, and then proceed as follows:
- From your Facebook feed, click on Pages in the left menu
- Select the page you want to add an address to.
- If you are coming from a personal Facebook account, you will see a notification in the bottom left corner of the screen asking you to switch to the page to take more action (you will also see a similar notification just below the page menu). Click Switch, and Facebook will entirely switch to your Business page. If you don’t do this, you won’t be able to change the page.
- When you reach your Facebook page, click About on the menu below your profile picture.
- Select Contact and Basic Info from the left menu. You will see the Facebook page’s contact details displayed to the right of the page.
- Below the Contact Info section, click Add Your Address, then type in the address.
- Hit Save.
- Finally, if you haven’t already done this before, connect your Facebook page to your Instagram account by selecting the Instagram tab. And that’s it!
Method 2: Update your contact information on your Instagram profile
Method 2 is super simple. If you have an Instagram Business account, you can update your contact info with your address to display it on your bio. All you need to do is open up Instagram and follow these steps:
1. Open your Instagram profile and click on Edit Profile, then select Contact Options
2. Input your address. Include your street address if you want to share a specific location that people can navigate directly to. If you only want to share a general location, include just your city/state.
3. Select Done, then Save in the Contact Options panel.
4. Return to the Edit profile panel and click on Profile display. Here, make sure you have Display contact info toggled on. This will ensure your location is displayed in your profile.
5. Select Done, the head back to your profile. Your location should appear in your bio.
6. Go ahead and click the link to see how a user will interact with it. When they click, it will open the map app of their choice with your location plugged in. From here they can get directions to your business, or save it for another time.
Method 3: Drop a location link in your bio
This method works whether you have a personal or business Instagram account.
But it won’t work on your computer because editing links on your Instagram profile only works on mobile. You’ll see what we mean in a bit.
These are the basic steps:
- Hop into Google Maps on your phone and search for the specific location you want to add. You can type the address into the search bar to find it.
- Once you find the address or location you want on Google Maps, hit Share and tap Copy. This will copy the link to that specific location.
- Close Google Maps and head over to Instagram. Navigate to your profile by tapping on your profile picture on the bottom right of the app’s home screen.
- Tap on Edit Profile.
- Under the Links heading, tap on Add Links.
- On the next screen, tap Add External Link, then paste the link you copied from Google Maps. By default the map’s link will show up there. You can give it a title — we suggest using the name of your business or the name of that specific location/office.
- Hit Done, and then go back to your profile.
- Refresh the page by pulling the screen down, and voila! You’ve added a location to your Instagram bio.
FAQ about adding your location to Instagram bio
Why should I add my custom location to my Instagram bio?
Adding a custom location to your Instagram bio can help your followers and potential new followers know where you are based. It can provide context to your posts, especially if your content is location-specific or if you’re a business with a physical presence. It can also help you rank in Instagram search results for users who are looking for businesses near them.
How to add your custom location to Instagram bio
There are three methods for adding your own custom location to your Instagram profile. First, you can adjust your location through your Facebook page to show up on the Instagram map or drop a link to your location in your bio. Your second option is to update your contact information directly on Instagram using the Edit Profile options.
For the second option, search for a specific location on Google Maps and copy the location link. Then go to Instagram, edit your profile, add an external link with the copied location link, and refresh your profile to see the added location.
Is it safe to share my custom location on Instagram?
Instagram allows you to control the privacy settings of your custom location tag. You can choose to share your precise location or a more general location.
It is common practice for brick and mortar businesses to share their physical location so that people can find them and visit the storefront. However, sharing a specific business office location is probably not necessary if you don't perform in-person services with customers there. In this case, you can share a more general location like the town or city you're located in.
It’s important to be mindful of your privacy settings and only share the information you are comfortable with. Adjust your settings in the Instagram app to ensure your location is shared responsibly.
Can I change my custom location on Instagram frequently?
Yes, you can change your custom location on Instagram as often as you like.
This is useful if you conduct business from several locations, or if you want to showcase different aspects of your life based on your location. For example, you might run a food truck, or you might be a travel influencer who visits many different cities. Simply update your bio with the new location information to reflect your whereabouts. Just remember that you should only share your specific location when you want customers to visit your physical storefront.
Does adding a custom location in my bio affect who sees my posts?
Adding your custom location to your Instagram bio doesn’t directly impact who sees your posts.
However, adding a custom location tag to your individual posts can make your content discoverable to users who search for or explore that location. This can potentially increase the visibility of your posts to a wider audience.
Can I add multiple locations to my Instagram bio?
Instagram allows you to add only one custom location tag in your bio. If you want to highlight multiple locations, you can consider creating a brief list or mentioning your general region.
Alternatively, you can use the location feature when posting individual content to highlight different places or activities you visit.
Final thoughts: How to add location on Instagram
It only takes five minutes, but adding a custom location to your Instagram bio can significantly increase your brand’s visibility, foster trust, and improve your businesses's legitimacy in one fell swoop. It’s a quick win and an absolute no-brainer.
And whatever you do, be sure to use a relevant location and update it regularly — such as if you move or change your business address. This will ensure that people can find you no matter what.
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