Imagine someone visits your Instagram profile for the first time. Right below your bio, they see a row of small round images. These images often decide whether they keep looking or close the browser again. That is exactly what Task 5 of this tutorial is about: You create at least one story highlight and design a cover image that makes people curious.
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You don't need any design experience for this. What matters most is that you understand why a good cover makes people click, and that you dare to simply get started. The following guide takes you through the task step by step.
Key Takeaways
- A story highlight stays permanently visible on your profile as long as you don't delete it.
- Nicely designed covers get clicked significantly more often than careless placeholders.
- The cover should make visitors imagine that something interesting is waiting behind it.
- Topics such as fitness, fitness recipes, or nutrition plans are a good starting point.
- You can delete highlights again at any time. Experimenting is explicitly allowed.
- Regular practice and adjustment will get you the furthest over time.
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Understand the Task
Your goal is clearly defined: You should create at least one story highlight and give it a cover image that appeals to visitors. To do this, open your profile in the Instagram app and keep in mind that the task is mainly about the appearance of your highlights. So you don't have to rebuild your entire profile right away.
Step 2: Create a Story Highlight
The next step is to develop a highlight. For this, you first need a story that you can add to your highlight. Tap the plus icon below your profile description and select the option for new highlights. Don't let it unsettle you if you don't yet know exactly what content you want to collect at first. That will sort itself out as you experiment.
Step 3: Understand Why the Cover Is So Important
The cover image is the first impression your highlight makes. People click much more often on highlights whose covers look appealing. A clean motif, clear colors, and a easily readable title signal that it's worth a look. A blurry or random image, on the other hand, seems arbitrary, and that is exactly the feeling you should avoid.
Step 4: Spark Curiosity with an Exciting Topic
The art lies in making the viewer assume that something interesting lies behind it. So think about which topic you want to cover, and present it on the cover in such a way that people immediately sense added value. A short, concise term in an easily readable font is often enough to spark curiosity.
Step 5: Find Suitable Topics for Your Highlight
Good examples are fitness exercises, fitness recipes, or your personal nutrition plan. Such topics are concrete and promise a clear benefit. Choose one of them or come up with your own idea that fits your interests. The clearer the topic, the easier it will be for you to design a suitable cover later.
Step 6: Approach the Task Sensibly
This exercise is definitely worthwhile because you get to know the entire concept of highlights. You learn how titles, covers, and content work together. Take your time with the task and look at how other profiles design their highlights. This often produces valuable ideas for your own implementation.
Step 7: Delete Highlights You Don't Like
If you don't like your first result, you can remove it again without any problem. Open the highlight, tap the three dots, and select the delete option. Your content remains in your stories or in the archive; only the compilation in the highlight disappears. Feel free to use this option to test different variants.
Step 8: Accept mistakes as part of learning
With Stories, you can hardly do anything wrong. No one will be upset if a cover doesn't turn out perfectly or a highlight looks different from what you imagined. This very approach to mistakes helps you move forward. Try out several colors, fonts, and designs until you find a result that suits you.
Step 9: Stay consistent
As with advertising, the same applies here: the more often you engage with your highlights, the better they get. Update your covers regularly, add new highlights on new topics, and observe which cover images get clicked most often. In this way, you gradually get more people to discover your profile and follow you.
Summary – Designing Story Highlight Covers: More Followers with Instagram
With Task 5, you lay the foundation for an Instagram profile that sparks curiosity. You have learned how to create a story highlight, why an appealing cover is so important, and which topics such as fitness, fitness recipes, or nutrition plans are well suited. You also now know that experimenting is expressly allowed and that you can remove any highlight at any time. Keep at it, test different variations, and adjust your covers as soon as you notice what appeals to your visitors.
FAQ
How many story highlights should I create at minimum?To get started, a single highlight is completely sufficient, but it is important that it has a clear topic.
Can I still change a highlight cover later?Yes, you can edit the cover image of a highlight at any time and replace it with a new design.
Do I lose my stories if I delete a highlight?No, when you delete a highlight, the original stories are retained; only the compilation in the highlight disappears.
Which topics are well suited for getting started?Fitness exercises, fitness recipes, or a personal nutrition plan are concrete topics with clear benefits for your visitors.
How can I tell whether my cover is well received?Pay attention to whether visitors click on the highlight more often, and compare different variations with one another.
