How to Create Instagram Highlight Covers
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Where to find Highlights
They are the circles found just below your bio and just above the grid. Each circle represents a different story and can be added to any time. Read on...
Two Reasons to Use Instagram Story Highlights
- The simplest reason -- so you and others can see them again.
- But more important, and especially if your Instagram page is promoting your business, you can show visitors to your profile page all that you do in a glance. We are visual learners and having a Highlight for each of your various services is a great way to show people what you are all about at a glance.
Here's how to move your Instagram Stories into a Highlight and then how to create a cover in keeping with your brand.Note: There is a lot of information here, but I urge you to stay through to the end to see how to add another layer of professionalism and visual interest to your profile page!
Creating a Story Highlight
There are two ways to create a Highlight – from your photo archives, or from the Story itself.First -- from you photo archives on your phone. To start, open the circle with the + sign in the middle.Then swipe up to see your most recent Story Archives.
Simply select the posts you want to add to that highlight album and tap next.Next: To create a new highlight from an active story on your Instagram profile, open your story post and tap the Highlight icon with the heart.
Simply hit "Add this to my story" and it's done.STEP TWO: Name Your Highlight Album Next, give your highlight album a name. Keep it short and sweet. It can be up to 16 characters long, but not all 16 characters will appear in the album name on your profile before getting cut off. More how-to information follows on this.STEP THREE: Add or Delete Posts from a Highlight Album Once you’ve set up a highlight, you can always add more story posts to it or even delete posts from the album.To add more content, select the highlight and tap on the three-dot on the bottom right of the screen.Select “Edit Highlight” and then tap the Archive tab to access your story posts. Any posts currently part of the highlight will be faded and designated with a check mark. Select one or more posts to add to the highlight and tap Done when complete.As far as content strategy, the newest Highlight will appear on the far left, pushing the older ones over. If you plan to have five or more highlights, create the less-significant ones first, and the most relevant or important ones last.And within the Highlight, pay attention to the order they are uploaded in, especially if it’s a tutorial that should be viewed in chronological order.STEP FOUR: Add a Branded CoverHighlight covers are an effective way to extend your brand and streamline your Instagram profile, adding an element of professionalism and visual interest.
How to Create an Instagram Highlight Cover
Here is a step by step guide using Canva on how to create an Instagram Highlight cover branded to your aesthetic. In this case I already had a series of Highlights, but wanted to change them over to my new brand color palette.**Note that the Canva portion of the tutorial was completed on a computer but you can also use the mobile app.
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