Your name and username are the two most important factors of your Instagram presence. These are the only two things that are searchable on Instagram. In other words, your username is not only how your audience will remember you, but, also, how your potential audiences will find you. Today, we’ll look at creative ways to come up with unique Instagram ideas. Additionally, we’ll also discuss how to claim an inactive Instagram username. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
What is an Instagram Username?
Your usernameappears at the top of your profile and at the end of your profile’s URL. Your username is unique to you. It can be 30 characters long. And a username, once registered to a user, cannot be used by another user. In other words, usernames are given out on a first come, first serve basis. However, there is a workaround on this, and we’ll discuss that later in this topic!
Tip #1 – Use Initials
For personal and individual profiles, a great ideally would be to use an initial in case the username you’d like is taken. So, if you’re looking to get @chandlerbing but it’s taken, you can use your middle name initial and go for @chandlermbing.
In a similar way, you may use initials for your first and/or last name. For example, if you’d like @markzuckerburg – you could go with @mzuckerburg
Tip #2 – Morph Your Name
Another creative way to come up with a unique name for both personal and brand profiles is to morph your name into something fun and memorable. So, if you’re a travel blogger and your name is Rachel, you could go with @RachelTravels. If that is unavailable, you could morph it to @RayTravels or @theTravelingRay or @TheTravelingStingRay
Another example would be if you wanted @michaelgray, you could go with @mikegray or @thegraymike
Morphing would typically work better for personal profiles and content creators. For brands, this could potentially cause confusion for the audience. For brands, clarify works better than creativity. So, if you have a domain name and a matching business name, it’s always ideal to get the exact usernames on all socials as well.
Tip #3 – Add Niche Relevant Suffix and Prefix
The next way to come up with a creative username would be to add fun and memorable suffix or prefix. For a brand, if you’re @sonorus and you deal with audio, you could go with @sonorusaudio. As another example, you could also go with @thesonoruscompany or @wearesonorus
If you’re a brand, and you’re looking to have a consistent identity on social media, you may want to consider how to claim an inactive Instagram username that we’ll discuss in Tip #6.
For content creators, this could be a niche relevant addition. For example, if your name is Ross and you’re a chef, you could go with @chefross or @dinnerwithross or @cookwithross.
Tip #4 –Niches, Niches, Niches
One of the other ways is to build a name around the niche. For example, @theblondetravel or @thebucketlisttraveler. Such names do not necessarily have your name in them. But, rather, they are very descriptive of what your page is all about.
Another example would be @themommyblogger or @mylifeandkids for parenting content creators and bloggers!
Tip #5 – Abstract
This one is a bit tricky. You may do well by going with a completely abstract username that has no relation to either your name or your niche. For example, @champagnepapi. This would be more useful and relatable for personal profiles and not business ones of course.
Another example would be @badgirlriri or @aplusk, the usernames for Rihanni and Ashton Kutcher.
Tip #6 –Claim Your Name
If you have your eyes set on a username that is inactive but taken, you can have it claimed. Users can hire social media boutique agencies to get inactive Instagram usernames. So long as the username you’d like has been inactive for over a year, you can have it re-assigned for you. Wonderful, isn’t it?
Got a username that you’d like but it’s taken and inactive? You don’t have to settle for a random suffix or prefix, or worse compromise with special characters. You can get the exact username to match your brand name, domain, or personal identity via a username claim service. Best part? You can claim usernames on virtually all social networks. And this allows you to have a consistent username across all social media channels.
Tip #7 – Surrender to Special Characters
While not our favorite by any means, you may consider adding special characters. For example, if you’re looking to get @RachelGreen and it’s taken. You could go with, @r.green or @rachel.green.
For a brand, this could be adding the domain extension at the end of the username. For example, if you’re looking to get @shopify but it’s taken, you could with @shopify.com. Similarly, if you’re at visitdubai.ae then you could go with @visitdubai.ae if @visitdubai is taken
Conclusion
Instagram is a big part of our lives and is here to stay. Your username is perhaps the most important factor your Instagram presence. Having the right username can make or break your Instagram journey! We hope you enjoyed our tips to come up with a creative name. And we hope you have a better idea on how to claim an inactive Instagram username! Remember, your username is one of the two things that is ‘searchable’ on Instagram. Having a clear, easy to remember and easy-to-spell username means, more people will find you. For brands, having a username that matches your domain exactly would be the most ideal. And this would mean, the people, your customers, who are looking for you are quickly able to find you without any confusion whatsoever. Imagine a customer looking for @sonorus because they are aware of sonorous.com, but they are greeting with 3 options for Instagram search that are @sonorus, @sonorus1 or @sonorus_ – what do you would happen if the actual brand was named @sonorus1? Not a great look for the company, isn’t it? And that is where going via an agency to claim your username would be the most ideal way forward!
