Instagram Story highlights are a fantastic way to showcase your top Stories on your Instagram profile page. Your Instagram Story highlights allow you to divide your archived Stories into labeled categories, and you can select specific Stories you want your audience to see when they visit your profile.
What draws viewers to your Instagram Stories in the first place is their temporary nature. They disappear after 24 hours, creating a sense of scarcity and FOMO for followers who don’t want to miss what’s happening in the moment. However, you likely have important Stories you want to keep sharing after they’ve expired.
Instagram Story highlights give you the option of preserving and sharing certain stories indefinitely. Your Story highlights are a great way to add a little extra life to your Instagram marketing. They’re also excellent for sharing critical information about your brand and what you stand for.
When you create highlights for your Instagram Stories, you can add a custom cover to each one. This keeps things looking uniform and organized on your Instagram profile. It also gives new and existing followers the chance to look at past Story content.
Want to know how to make Instagram highlight covers? Keep reading to learn how!
Instagram Highlight Cover Dimensions and Size
Your Instagram Story highlight cover should be 1080 x 1920 pixels with a 9:16 aspect ratio. Even though Instagram displays highlight covers at a 1:1 aspect ratio with a circular crop, 1080 x 1920 will give you more flexibility if you want to post your cover image as a Story in your highlight, or if Instagram changes the highlight cover size in the future.
You won’t be able to include a Story in your highlights until after you’ve posted it, but you can upload a highlight cover from your camera roll or photo library at any time. This means your IG highlight covers don’t need to be made on-platform.
By using an easy design tool like Snappa, you can make custom Instagram highlight covers for free. Let’s take a look at how to make a custom IG highlight cover.
How to Make Instagram Highlight Covers
An Instagram highlight cover is pretty simple to make. Even better, you don’t need to be a professional graphic designer to make an aesthetic highlight cover for Instagram.
You can use Snappa to make a highlight cover for Instagram in minutes. Here’s a quick tutorial to help you out!
Step 1: Navigate to your Snappa dashboard and type 1080 x 1920 under Custom Graphic Size, then click Create.
Step 2: Add a background pattern or a background image to your IG highlight cover design. Snappa has a huge library of free stock photos and background patterns to choose from.
Step 3: Add text, an icon, a logo, or any other graphic to the center of your Instagram highlight cover.
Step 4: Once you’re happy with your highlight cover design, save and download it from Snappa. Then, transfer the image file to your mobile device so that you can add the cover to your Instagram Story highlight.
Now that you’ve finished designing your free Instagram highlight cover and have transferred the image file to your mobile device, you can add the custom cover to your Instagram profile.
To learn how to upload an Instagram highlight icon, we’ve outlined the steps below.
How to Edit Instagram Highlight Covers
Adding an Instagram highlight cover to your IG profile is fairly easy. To do this, open your Instagram highlight, tap “More” in the bottom right corner, and select “Edit highlight.”
From there, you’ll have the option to add or remove Instagram Stories from your IG highlights. But, you’ll also have the opportunity to edit the cover of your Instagram highlight.
Just tap “Edit cover,” and you can upload the highlight cover design from your photo library. Then click “Done” in the top right corner to save your changes, and your new Instagram highlight cover will be visible on your IG profile.
How to Make a Highlight on Instagram
There are two simple ways to make a highlight on Instagram. As a reminder, your Story highlights will be previous Instagram Stories you’ve posted on your account in the past. You won’t be able to upload new videos from your camera roll to the highlight.
To create a highlight on Instagram, click the “+” sign in the top right corner of your Instagram profile. Then select “Story highlight,” and you’ll be able to choose archived IG Stories to add to your highlight. Once you tap “Next,” you can add a highlight title and edit your Instagram highlight cover.
Alternatively, if you already have existing Story highlights or archived Stories on Instagram, just tap the circular “+” icon that says “New.”
Best Instagram Highlight Icons & Covers
Many brands on Instagram have created custom IG highlight covers by using brand-aligned graphics and colors. It’s always fun and super easy to get creative with your IG highlights. For some inspiration, take a look at some of our favorite highlight cover examples from Instagram.
HubSpot
HubSpot’s Instagram Story covers are brightly colored, simple, and eye-catching. Each IG Story highlight cover matches the brand’s color palette.
The highlight name directs users to the specific information they’ll learn about when they tap. For example, “Our Products” will tell users about the products available from HubSpot.
Drunk Elephant
For their IG Story highlights, Drunk Elephant skincare uses neon graphics with fun, energetic visual branding. Unlike HubSpot, Drunk Elephant doesn’t stick to a solid color background. Instead, they use more detailed textures and shapes in their Instagram highlight icons.
Foundr
Creating IG Story covers doesn’t always have to involve graphic design. Some brands and IG users choose to use photographs or still video captures from their previous Stories. Take Foundr, for example. You’ll notice that while one of their graphics is a logo for Foundr+, the rest are screen grabs from their Stories.
Instagram Story Highlight Best Practices
Now that you know how to make IG Story highlight covers for your profile, there are some best practices and guidelines to make note of. You want to get the best results possible to engage your followers, so let’s take a look at how to maximize your highlights.
Center Your Highlight Icons
When you use a design tool like Snappa to create a highlight cover for Instagram, make sure your icon graphics are centered. If the icon is meant to be the focal point of your highlights, such as HubSpot’s, you’ll want to make sure everything is aligned for maximum impact.
Avoid Busy Images and Backgrounds
A basic graphic design rule of thumb is to be cautious about choosing busy images. If there’s too much going on in your images, your viewers may not know what they’re looking at. Keep things clear, simple, and straightforward.
Use Images That Fit Your Visual Brand
Make sure your Instagram Story highlights fit your brand’s visual design. Whether they’re graphics, photos, or video stills, they’ll need to compliment the other visuals you’re posting across your social media profiles.
Final Thoughts
Instagram highlight covers add a professional touch and can help optimize your Instagram profile. IG highlights give you an opportunity to share Stories that you wouldn’t normally show on your feed, but more importantly, they help your followers stay engaged with your brand!
Creating new IG highlight covers is really easy, and only takes a few minutes with Snappa, so click here to get started today.
