Interactive checklist

Social Media Account Setup Checklist for New Brands

Every step from picking a handle to publishing your first post — with priority labels so you know what's non-negotiable and what can wait. Tick items off as you go; your progress saves automatically in this browser.

Setup progress 0 / 0 done

Start by opening every signup page at once

OpenAllTabs opens X, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Threads, Reddit, Discord, Snapchat, and GitHub signup pages in parallel — skip the tab-hunting and get straight to this checklist.

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Phase 1 — Before you register anything

Handle strategy

Test your handle on X first X's 15-character limit is the most restrictive. If it fits there, it'll work everywhere. If not, decide on a short form now rather than mid-registration.

Must

Choose a consistent fallback format If your exact name isn't available everywhere, pick ONE fallback style (e.g. yourbrandhq) and use it on every platform where the primary is taken.

Must

Decide on a separator convention Underscore or period — pick one and stick to it. Note: X doesn't allow periods, so if you use them elsewhere you'll need a different convention there.

Should

Prepare 3 fallback handle variations Have backups ready before you start so you're not improvising mid-signup: primary, with suffix, with category word.

Should

Assets to prepare

Profile photo ready (square, high resolution) Minimum 400×400px. Should be recognisable at 32px (tiny favicon size). Test it by shrinking it before uploading.

Must

One-line bio written and ready to paste Under 150 characters (Instagram's limit). Describe what you do, who it's for, and one call to action. Write it once, paste it everywhere.

Must

Website URL confirmed and working Every profile will ask for a URL. Have it ready, and make sure it actually loads before you paste it into 10 different forms.

Must

Dedicated email address set up for social accounts Using a dedicated address (e.g. [email protected]) means all verification emails go one place and you won't lose access if a personal email changes.

Should

Cover / banner images prepared for each platform Different platforms need different sizes. See the size reference below.

Nice

Profile image sizes by platform (2026):

Instagram

320 × 320px

Displayed at 110px on mobile

X (Twitter)

400 × 400px

Header: 1500 × 500px

400 × 400px

Banner: 1584 × 396px

TikTok

200 × 200px

Displayed circular

Facebook

170 × 170px

Cover: 820 × 312px

YouTube

800 × 800px

Banner: 2560 × 1440px

Phase 2 — Registration (do this in one sitting)

Phase 3 — Security (do this before anything else)

Enable 2FA on every account — authenticator app, not SMS SMS-based 2FA is vulnerable to SIM-swap attacks. Use an authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Authy) or a hardware key. Do this on every account before you log out for the first time.

Must

Save recovery codes somewhere offline Every platform generates one-time recovery codes when you enable 2FA. Download or write them down. If you lose your authenticator device, these are your only way back in.

Must

Use a unique password for each account Never reuse passwords across platforms. A password manager (Bitwarden, 1Password, or the built-in generator in OpenAllTabs) makes this straightforward.

Must

Log all credentials in one secure place Platform, username, email used, password reference, and 2FA method. You'll need this when you can't remember which email you signed up with in three months.

Must

Phase 4 — Profile completion

Upload profile photo to every account A blank avatar signals an abandoned or spam account. Even a placeholder is better than nothing.

Must

Write and paste the one-line bio to every account The bio you prepared in Phase 1. Adapt the character count per platform but keep the core message identical.

Must

Add your website URL to every profile The most important link on every social profile. Verify it resolves correctly before pasting.

Must

Switch to Business / Creator account where available X, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest all offer business or creator modes with analytics. Switch on day one — you can't retrieve historic data you didn't capture.

Must

Upload cover / banner images LinkedIn, X, and Facebook show a banner behind your profile photo. A blank or default banner reads as incomplete. A simple brand-coloured image with your tagline is enough.

Should

Link accounts where platforms support it Instagram and Facebook can be connected (required for Meta Ads). LinkedIn and your website should cross-link. This improves discoverability and trust signals.

Should

Phase 5 — First posts (within one week of registration)

Don't skip this

Most platforms can reclaim inactive accounts — especially X. Posting once within the first week, even something minimal, establishes the account as genuinely used. You don't need a full content strategy yet. You just need to not look abandoned.

Publish one introductory post on each platform "We're here" is enough. One sentence about what you're building and a link to your site. Repurpose the same post across platforms — you don't need unique content at this stage.

Must

Pin your most important post on X and LinkedIn Pinned posts are the first thing visitors see on your profile. Use them for your key message or a link to your product or waitlist.

Should

Cross-post handles in your bio everywhere Add your primary social handles to every other bio. "Also on Instagram: @yourbrand" in your X bio helps new followers find you across platforms.

Nice

Add social links to your website footer Your website should link to all your active accounts. These links also help Google understand your brand's presence across the web.

Should

Set a calendar reminder to log in to inactive accounts every 3 months For platforms you're not actively using, a quarterly login is enough to prevent inactivity reclamation. Set the reminder now while it's fresh.

Should

Need to go back and set up missing accounts?

OpenAllTabs opens every platform's signup page simultaneously — use it to register on the ones you've still got ticked as incomplete above.

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