Setting up social media for your business isn't complicated — but doing it well is the difference between profiles that attract customers and profiles that sit empty forever.
Most businesses make two mistakes: they either skip platforms that matter, or they rush through setup and end up with generic bios that say nothing about what they actually do.
Here's how to do it right.
Which Platforms Do You Actually Need?
Not every platform matters equally for every business. Here's the honest priority list:
Must-Have (Do These First)
Google Business Profile — This isn't optional. It's the listing that shows up when someone searches your name or "[your service] near me." It directly affects whether people find you. Here's how to set it up.
Facebook — 2.9 billion monthly users. More importantly, it's where your customers validate you. When someone gets a referral, they check your Facebook page before calling.
Instagram — Visual proof that your business is real, active, and professional. Even if you're not a "visual" business, customers expect to see an Instagram presence.
Should-Have (Do These Next)
LinkedIn — Essential for B2B, professional services (lawyers, accountants, consultants), and anyone who does business with other businesses.
Pinterest — The sleeper platform. 80% of weekly users discover new brands on Pinterest. Incredible for salons, restaurants, photographers, home services, and retail.
Nice-to-Have
Bluesky — Growing fast. Early-mover advantage is real here.
Twitter / X — Useful for customer communication and thought leadership. Less important for local businesses.
Threads — If you have Instagram, Threads is free reach with a built-in audience.
What Goes in Your Bio?
Every platform bio needs four things:
The problem? Every platform has different character limits:
| Platform | Bio Character Limit |
|---|---|
| Instagram | 150 |
| Twitter / X | 160 |
| Bluesky | 256 |
| Facebook About | 255 |
| LinkedIn About | 2,000 |
| Google Business | 750 |
| Pinterest | 500 |
| Threads | 150 |
Writing eight versions of your bio — each optimized for different character limits — takes time. That's why we built a tool that does it for you.
The Free Tool That Does All of This in 15 Minutes
Glow Social's free Profile Kit scans your website and generates everything you need to set up every social media profile:
- Platform-specific bios written to each network's exact character limit
- Your logo and images pulled from your website, ready to download as PNGs
- Direct "Create Account" links for every platform
- One-click copy buttons — just paste into each signup form
No login. No credit card. Just enter your website URL and email.
After Setup: The Part Most Businesses Skip
Creating profiles is step one. Keeping them active is what actually drives results.
An inactive social media profile is worse than no profile at all. It tells customers your business might be closed, or at least that you don't care enough to post.
The minimum? One post per week, per platform. For most business owners, that's 3-5 hours a week they don't have.
That's exactly why Glow Social exists. We create and publish professional posts to all your platforms automatically — starting at $99/month. You approve the content, we handle the rest.
But first things first: get your profiles set up. It takes 15 minutes and it's free.
