It’s official: human beings are social addicts. The majority of us spend an obscene amount of time on social media, whether we’re promoting our business (or that of others) or simply sharing our personal lives with our followers. For both of these types of social media profiles, improvements can be made in a matter of minutes.

Here are a few easy ways to improve your social media profiles which, altogether, shouldn’t take you more than an hour.

1 – Make your profile photos consistent across all channels

Having the same profile photo on all your social media channels allows people to recognizse you immediately as they scroll quickly through their feeds.

The more people see your logo, the more likely you are to be in mind when they need your product or service.

2 – Fill in every field of your bio

Leaving one of these fields empty can come across as unprofessional or even lazy. Make sure every field is completed with the right information and that it explains exactly what your business is all about. This will allow your customers to learn about you and the services you offer more quickly.

3 – Link to your other social media profiles

Use this field to link to your other social profiles as another means of cross-promotion.

Facebook allows you to add multiple links to its website fields, where you can add all your other social media accounts. There are also apps that allow you to display Instagram and YouTube accounts in Facebook tabs. LinkedIn allows you to add your Twitter account to your profile. And Pinterest allows you to connect both Facebook and Twitter, in addition to having a website field within your profile.

4 – Showcase your best content with pinned posts

These types of posts can only be made on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and they are the first thing people see when they enter your account, as they stay put (unlike normal posts).

Choose a post that promotes an important or strong piece of content – whether that be a special offer, landing page, video, blog post or other media asset. Making use of this great tool can greatly improve your social media profile.

5 – Ask a few friendly clients/customers for reviews or endorsements

Positive reviews on your social media profiles earn trust and increase your chances of turning strangers into followers, and followers into business…

How to do this:

• Make use of LinkedIn’s endorsements section: Here, people can endorse the skills on your profile or leave unique endorsement messages.
• Use the review and star rating section on Facebook pages: This is where people who have already tried your services can leave a small message or a rating on your profile, describing their opinions and experiences.
• Pin positive tweets on Twitter: Take a positive tweet about your business and pin it to the top of your account. That way, people who visit your profile will see it immediately.