Create an Instagram professional account

Download the Instagram app on your phone, or open instagram.com on your computer.

• If you already have an account in your company's name, log in, it will serve as your base.
• If you don't, create one with the company email address, never with your personal address. The day you hand the account over to someone, you will be glad you did.

One piece of advice that will save you regrets. Do not recycle your personal Instagram account. Your customers and your friends are not waiting for the same posts at all.

This setting now exists on both devices. Here are the 2 routes.

On a phone, in the app. From your profile, tap the 3 lines at the top right, then Settings. Scroll down to the part about professionals. Depending on your version it is called Account type and tools, For professionals or Professional tools and controls. Tap Switch to professional account.

On a computer, in the browser. The direct shortcut is instagram.com/accounts/convert_to_professional_account. Otherwise, click More at the bottom of the left-hand column, then Settings, then the For professionals section, then Account type and tools.

Instagram then shows you a few welcome screens, tap Continue until you reach the category choice.

One difference worth knowing. The journey on a computer does not offer to link your Facebook Page along the way. That is not a problem, the link works perfectly well afterwards, and we set it out in the guide on how to link Instagram to your Facebook Page.

Instagram asks for the category that describes what you do. Type your trade, restaurant, personal trainer, estate agency, tradesperson, and pick from the list.

That category shows under your name. You can hide it if it bothers you, but do fill it in. It is what helps Instagram show you to the right people.

Instagram then offers 2 profiles, Creator or Business. Choose Business. Creator is aimed at public figures and it takes some advertising options away from your account.

Instagram turns your contact details into clickable buttons on your profile. It is one of the few genuine benefits of a professional account.

• Email, the one you actually check.
• Phone, the one that starts a call in 1 tap from a mobile.
• Address, if you welcome the public.

Use exactly the same details as on your website and on your Facebook business Page. An address written 3 different ways muddles your local search visibility.

3 elements decide whether a visitor stays or leaves. Not 10.

• The username, short and close to your company name. It is your address, instagram.com/yourcompany.
• The bio, 150 characters to say what you do, who for, and where. One clear sentence beats a pile of keywords.
• The link, to your website or your booking page. It is the only clickable link on your whole profile, so do not waste it.

One detail that changes everything for a local business. The bold line above your bio is the one Instagram search looks at first, and putting your trade and your town there makes you findable, see our guide on how to be found by your customers on Instagram.

Go back to your profile. 2 new things confirm that it all worked.

• Access to insights, which shows who follows you, when your followers are online and what performed best.
• The ability to boost a post, in other words to advertise.

One last step remains before the whole thing really runs, linking this account to your Facebook Page. Without that link your messages stay scattered and Instagram advertising cannot be managed. It is all explained in the guide on how to link Instagram to your Facebook Page.

The next step. Bring Facebook and Instagram together in Meta Business Suite, and you will have only one place to open for both networks.

Good news, the choice is yours. For a long time switching to a professional account was only possible in the mobile app. That is no longer the case, Instagram has opened it up to the browser. Both routes lead to the same result.

The phone route, the most complete. Open the app, go to your profile, tap the 3 lines at the top right, then Settings. Look for the professionals section, then Switch to professional account. It is the only route that offers to link your Facebook Page along the way, which saves you a step.

The computer route, the most comfortable for writing. Open instagram.com/accounts/convert_to_professional_account. Otherwise, More at the bottom left, then Settings, then For professionals, then Account type and tools. The link with Facebook is then made separately.

If the option does not show. Update your app first, that is the most common cause. And if you are on a computer, try from your phone, or the other way round. One of the 2 always works.

Business or Creator? Take Business. A creator account is aimed at influencers and does not open the same advertising possibilities. You can change later if you need to, it is not final.

What it gives you straight away. Insights on your posts, contact buttons on your profile, and above all the ability to attach the account to a business portfolio, the space where Meta keeps your company accounts.

Worth knowing. A personal account added to a business portfolio switches to professional on its own. Better to make the switch yourself, calmly, than to discover it after the event.

And if a label does not match. Instagram renames its screens several times a year. Trust the meaning of the action, the feature stays the same, and the settings search finds it with the word professional.