The Twitter bio. It’s an easy thing to overlook or just downright ignore. But, it is far more important than you may believe.

Whether this is the first thing a user sees or they see it after coming from a reply or retweet, your bio is generally going to be your introduction to a new face. A first meeting deserves a proper introduction.

So, writing a solid Twitter bio, not only to avoid looking like a fake account, but to give followers a proper introduction to you, should be a high priority when setting up your Twitter account, whether it’s a personal account or a business account.

But what makes a good Twitter bio? Here’s a couple points to get you started.

Just filling it out is a great start!

Just picture this: you (as an individual or business owner) put together a Twitter account to get the word out about you, your business, or your product. You genuinely post content, try to engage with the community. Problem is, your account looks like this:

Yes, this is my dad’s attempt at Twitter. Bless his heart.

Riddle me this: would you follow you? Of course you wouldn’t. This blank, faceless account looks sketchy and fake as heck! Probably fake. Studies show that 48 million Twitter accounts (15%) are fake. Everybody has seen them or experienced them and users are extremely distrustful of most Twitter accounts.

Just simply taking the time to upload a photo and write out a complete bio is all you need to set minds at ease that, no this isn’t spam. After that, it’s up to you. Your content and your engagement efforts will make them stick around and help you grow.

Use appropriate images and avatars

No Twitter account should have a bio and not an image (or vice versa). A good Twitter image is just as important as the Twitter bio itself. That means choosing your image demands thought and planning.

No matter where it appears on Twitter, your image will always appear in a little circle. For a personal account, your head shot or photo of choice should fit easily within this circle, ideally right in the middle. So, no photos of you leaning on a wall or just poking your head into the frame.

This is important to keep in mind for business accounts as well. Unless your standard logo lends itself to a circular frame you’ll need to design an avatar version of your company logo that will fit without having any edges or parts of the logo trimmed off. This is one reason you see logo redesigns that are more minimal and simplified.

This message also applies to LinkedIn and recently Facebook, so this is a good discipline to apply all across your social media accounts.

Tease what followers should expect

Just like you wouldn’t normally strike up a conversation with someone on a dating app who didn’t fill out their bio (hopefully not, anyway), nobody is going to follow you unless they know what to expect and are interested in your content. Tease what new followers should expect to see in your timeline. If you are in content marketing, include that. If you are a plumbing company in Indianapolis, include that. No matter what your “thing” is, make sure it is included in your bio. Think of this as your pitch to potential followers.

Not only is having your bio filled out with relevant information helpful for attracting followers, this area also acts as a space to do a little bit of SEO work. How? Well, when a Twitter account appears in a Google search, it’s the bio that is pulled for the meta description. The relevant terms and words you use will help you appear in Google searches.

Don’t be afraid to express yourself

People don’t always just follow someone for the content they share. Sometimes they follow someone for them. Let some of your personality shine through in your Twitter bio. Granted, you only have 160 characters to work with, but there are simple ways to do it.

Tell people about your hobbies or passions. Insert a line like “Avid (insert hobby here).” It may be a little cliche, but it’s actually effective. Consider yourself a class clown or like to have a little fun on Twitter? Toss in a one-liner. Self motivator? Toss in an inspirational quote for flavor.

There isn’t one answer on what to include to express yourself, but just be you! Your picture or avatar is another way to show your personality as well. A picture is worth a thousand words, after all.

Include important web addresses, accounts or hashtags

A nice finishing touch on a Twitter bio is to use it to introduce followers to a larger picture or brand. If you tweet a lot about your company, include a link to your company’s website in your bio or to your own website or portfolio if you are a freelancer or looking for work. Twitter actually includes a section where you can do so when you are filling all this out. How thoughtful.

You can also link to other relevant accounts, like your company’s account, the accounts of your coworkers or maybe a similar account to yours. If you or your company have an important hashtag, consider including that too. From your bio, folks can follow the hashtag link which will expose them to much more of your content, your company content or content they would find relevant.