How do I make my personal Facebook profile look professional?

Updated 23 July 2026 by Chanelle Segerius-Bruce

Whether you have thought about it or not, your personal Facebook profile is already forming your personal brand, and it is often the first thing someone checks after meeting you in a group. This guide covers how to professionalise every part of it, from your profile picture and cover image to your about section, your posts, your friends lists and what you allow into your own feed, so it attracts the clients you actually want.

Why your personal profile is doing the selling

Whether you meant it to or not, what you post already forms your personal brand. Facebook in particular rewards attraction marketing, and if you are authentic, deliberate and doing it for the right reasons, it brings you the right people.

Some of my biggest clients arrived this way, by me being me. One I met online, connected with, then had a call with. That relationship ended with her flying us to the Seychelles to build her entire brand from the inside out, filming all the videos for her group programme. Two years later she flew us to Bali and Lombok for the rebrand.

Another was a corporate client in the US, through someone I had been connected with for about ten years. We simply stayed in touch. She held a senior position and pitched me to their vice president. Being featured in Forbes, Thrive Global, Stylist and Entrepreneur did no harm.

Creating genuine relationships and content that speaks to your ideal client, over a long stretch, is what makes people associate you with your niche.

Your profile picture

• It needs to be you, not your cat and not your child.
• Clear and well lit. A professional photographer is ideal, and a good phone selfie will do in the meantime.
• Eyes to camera, so it connects with whoever is looking.

If you run a business, a personal branding shoot every six months is worth budgeting for.

Your cover image

Your banner should be professional and relevant. Mine carries the name of my group and a photograph of me, so it represents how I actually live, along with a few brand elements.

If you are launching, put the name of the programme on it along with the cart open and close dates. You can also add copy with a call to action pointing at your opt-in or sales page.

If you have been featured anywhere recognisable, the banner is a good place for it. It builds know, like and trust before anyone has read a word.

Your about section

Your intro

This is your elevator pitch. Do not put links in here, because they are not clickable.

Your information

Facebook shows a pile of irrelevant things by default, like where you went to school. Edit it so only what is current and relevant shows.

The business you want to grow right now goes front and centre, not every business you have ever owned. Think about what you do now, who you want to reach and what you want to be known for. A confused mind does not buy. This is where your website, group or opt-in link belongs.

This matters most when you are active in other people's groups, because hovering over your name is how people decide whether to look further.

Your featured images

Facebook lets you add five featured photos. Add one. It displays larger and does not get lost in a row of thumbnails.

Make it a branded graphic, then open it and add a description with a link, so you can move people from your profile to your group or your freebie.

Your posts

Audit your last five to twenty posts and ask whether they reflect who you are and what you do. If it is not clear, you are losing people who would otherwise have been interested.

You do not need to fill your timeline with sales graphics and links. Show what working with you is actually like.

• Share what happens behind the scenes, and take people along with you.
• Break the ice with humour that fits your brand.
• Link your latest blog post with a short extract, so the click is a choice.
• Talk about the experience that makes you the right person for this.
• Invite people to your live videos, then give them something worth watching.

Friends and lists

Be intentional about who you add. Facebook is a free network of up to five thousand people, so think about who you would genuinely like to work with or collaborate with, and add a handful a day.

Message new connections to say hello and introduce yourself. Do not pitch. Never add someone and immediately ask them to like your page, join your group or buy something.

If you hesitate to talk shop because of what an aunt or a cousin might think, use lists. Separate family from everyone else and choose who sees what. Keep lists by location or industry too. Then you can share with everyone except a given list, and it becomes your default. I add people to a list the moment I accept them, because going back to do it later is miserable.

Clean up what you consume

If you feel bombarded and cannot produce anything meaningful, look at what you are taking in. Unlike pages that no longer fit. Unfollow people you never interact with. Tidy your own page and group as well.

This improves your engagement, and engagement is what the algorithm reads. If you are building a buying audience, people who never engage actively work against you.

If you lose too much time there, a news feed blocker extension replaces the feed with a quote. Then be deliberate: write your posts in a document first, schedule them, and decide in advance when you will come back to reply.

Key takeaways

• Your personal profile is already your personal brand, whether you manage it or not.
• In groups you appear as yourself, so hovering over your name is the first impression.
• Profile picture: you, well lit, eyes to camera. Not the cat.
• Lead your about section with the business you are growing now, not everything you have ever done.
• Use one featured image rather than five, so it displays large, and put a link on it.
• Friends lists let you talk shop without an audience of relatives.
• Unfollowing people you never engage with improves how your own posts perform.

Frequently asked questions

Should I use my personal profile or my business page?

Both, and do not neglect the personal one. When you take part in groups you appear as yourself, so that is the profile people actually look at.

What makes a good profile picture?

You, clearly lit, eyes to camera. A professional shoot is ideal, and a good phone photo will serve until then. If you run a business, a branding shoot every six months is worth budgeting for.

Where should I put my website link?

In the information part of your about section, not the intro, because links in the intro are not clickable.

How many featured images should I use?

One. It displays much larger and does not get lost among thumbnails. Add a description and a link to it once it is uploaded.

How do I stop family seeing my business posts?

Use friends lists. Put family in one list, then share with everyone except that list, and it becomes your default setting. Add people to a list as you accept them.

Does unfollowing people actually help my reach?

Yes, indirectly. Engagement is what the algorithm reads, and connections who never interact with you drag that down. Cleaning it up improves how your posts perform.