Instagram Business Account: How to Build a Profile That Brings Enquiries, From Settings to Highlights
An Instagram business account starts with settings, not content: which account type to choose, what to write in the bio, which contact buttons to switch on.
An Instagram business account starts with settings, not with content. A well-organised business profile turns a visitor who arrived from a single Story into a WhatsApp enquiry, while a messy profile sends them off to hunt for a phone number on Google. In this article we go through the choice between a business account and a creator account, the switch to a professional account step by step, what to write in the bio and in the name field, the contact buttons and the highlights, and the connection to the business portfolio on Meta. No promises about followers, and with a checklist you can work through in twenty minutes.
Instagram business account, creator account or personal profile: what suits your business
This decision takes a minute, and most businesses overcomplicate it. According to Instagram's help centre, business accounts are best for retailers, local businesses, brands, organisations and service providers, while creator accounts are best for public figures, content producers, artists and influencers.
| Account type | Who it suits | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Personal profile | Private use only | No performance data, no contact buttons, no advertising |
| Business account | A clinic, a barbershop, a shop, a service provider | Contact details on the profile, insights, advertising and a connection to the business portfolio |
| Creator account | A lecturer, a consultant, an artist, an influencer | The same professional tools, with an emphasis on personal content and collaborations |
Two things worth knowing before you switch. First, Instagram notes that if your personal account is private, switching to a professional account will make it public, and all pending follow requests will be automatically accepted. Second, you can switch back to a personal profile or change your professional account type at any stage, so this is not an irreversible decision. That said, going back to a personal account removes access to advertising and to some tools, and disconnects a linked Facebook Page. Which networks suit your business in the first place, and why being on all of them is a bad idea, we set out in our article on social media marketing in 2026.
How to turn the profile into a professional account, step by step
The route in the app, according to Instagram's help centre:
- Open your profile and tap the "More" menu to reach your settings and activity.
- In the "For professionals" section tap account type and tools, then switch to professional account.
- Choose a category that describes what you do. Note that the category does not determine whether the account will be a business or a creator account.
- Choose business or creator and continue.
- Add contact details, or skip by choosing "Don't use my contact info". You can add them later as well.
- Connect an existing Facebook Page if you have one. This step is not mandatory, but it makes sharing posts easier and enables connected experiences such as ads and shopping tools.
After the switch you get access to the professional dashboard, to insights and to the ability to create ads. What is displayed on the profile is under your control: in edit profile, under "Public business information", you can decide whether the category label and the contact details are shown or hidden. For a local business it is worth showing them. For a business run from home that does not receive visitors, it is worth hiding the address and leaving a phone number and an email.
The profile checklist: ten things to go through after the switch
- A username that is short, without unnecessary dots and dashes, and as close as possible to your handle on the other networks.
- The name field contains the business name as well as what you do and the area. This is the field you can write in Hebrew.
- An accurate category, not a generic "brand".
- A profile picture that is recognisable at a small size: a clean logo or a face.
- A bio of at most four lines, with a single call to action.
- A link to an address you control, with UTM parameters so that you know how much traffic came from Instagram.
- Contact buttons that are live and tested from a phone, not only from a computer.
- Highlights organised around the customer's questions, with consistent covers.
- Pinned posts at the top of the profile: what you do, proof, and an offer.
- A connection to the business portfolio on Meta, so that the account is an asset of the business and not of whoever opened it.
Anyone who has no time to work through the list themselves, and is weighing up handing management over, will find the detail of what is included and at what cost in our article on social media management: what it covers and what it costs.
The bio: what to write in the lines people actually read
The bio is not a slogan. It is the place where a new visitor decides in two seconds whether they are in the right place. The formula we work to: what you do, for whom, what sets you apart, and which action to take now. There is no need to describe the business in three lines of adjectives.
Four example templates, to adapt rather than to copy:
- A clinic: "Facial and aesthetic treatments in Tel Aviv · Free consultation · Book by message"
- A barbershop: "Haircuts and beard styling in Ramat Gan · Book in the app in under a minute · Parking in the yard"
- Real estate: "Guiding buyers and sellers in the Sharon · New and resale apartments · Message us and we'll get back to you today"
- An online store: "Handmade silver jewellery · Free delivery over a certain amount · Orders through the link"
Three notes from the field. First, one or two emoji as separators help readability, while a run of ten makes it harder. Second, in Hebrew it is worth checking the bio on a phone, because numbers and English words tend to jump to the wrong side. Third, the call to action has to match what the buttons do: if it says "send a message", make sure messages are open and that somebody is answering them.
Contact buttons and messages: from the profile to a conversation
The contact details you filled in during setup are what generates the buttons on the profile: phone, email and address. So it is worth filling in only what you genuinely answer. A number nobody picks up is a worse experience than a number that is not there.
- Test every button from a phone. Calling should open the dialler, directions should lead to the exact address rather than to the city centre, and email should land in an inbox somebody reads.
- Set up quick replies for messages. In our experience, a large share of enquiries on Instagram arrive as direct messages, and they are usually the same three questions: price, availability and location.
- Turn an enquiry into a managed conversation. As the volume of messages grows, a bot that establishes what the customer needs, answers repeat questions and hands over to a person when required takes most of the load off. How that works we explained in our guide to chatbots for business.
Highlights: how to order them so they answer the customer's questions
Highlights are the profile's menu. The common mistake is to arrange them by month or by event. The order that works is the order of the questions a customer asks before buying:
- What we do, in three short Stories.
- What it looks like in practice: the work process, the clinic, the workshop, the delivery.
- Happy customers: genuine reviews only, and only with the permission of whoever wrote them.
- Frequently asked questions: price, delivery times, service areas, cancellations.
- How to get here or how to order, with an address or a link.
Keep the covers consistent and the names short, one word, because a long name gets cut off in Hebrew. Refresh the highlights once a quarter. There is no need to film the content again every time: one video breaks down into several Stories and a post, and how to do that on a phone we explained in our guide to Reels and short videos for business.
Connecting to the business portfolio on Meta, and what not to do
Connecting to the business portfolio is what turns the account into an asset of the business. According to Meta, you add a professional Instagram account in Meta Business Suite settings, in the accounts section, by choosing Instagram accounts and then Add, and logging in with the username and password. Three important facts from the same page: you need full control of the business portfolio, an Instagram account can be linked to only one business portfolio, and after the connection new campaigns will automatically include Instagram as an ad placement.
That also dictates the right way to give access to an agency or a freelancer: not by handing over a password, but by giving partner access from inside your own business portfolio, according to Meta's instructions. We covered this whole subject, including the ownership checklist, in our guide to Business Manager and agency access.
And finally, what not to do: do not buy followers. An account with thousands of followers who are not a real audience gets almost no comments, distorts your insights so that you cannot learn anything from them, and produces no enquiries. A profile with a few hundred followers from your area who comment and ask questions is better.
What Simple Web does about it
Simple Web is an AI-first marketing agency from Bnei Brak, certified Meta partners and Google advertising experts, working with 200+ businesses and holding 28 five-star Google reviews. In our social media management service we start in exactly the order set out in this article: the account type, the category, the bio, the buttons and the highlights, and only then the monthly content calendar. The work covers creating posts, Stories and Reels from your material or from a shoot day in our studio, design, and community replies the same day. You approve before anything is published, and you get a monthly report. The price is given as a quote based on scope.
As the volume of messages on the profile grows, we connect a bot that manages the enquiries: a basic bot is ready within about a week, and a custom bot with full training within two to three weeks. Here too, the account and the assets stay yours.
Summary
An Instagram business account is not pretty content, it is a profile people can act from. Switch to a professional account, choose an accurate category, write a bio that says what you do and for whom, switch on only the contact buttons you genuinely answer, and order the highlights around the customer's questions. Finally, connect the account to the business portfolio on Meta so that it stays in the ownership of the business. Want us to go over your profile and tell you what to fix first? Book a free diagnostic call with us.
Sources
- Instagram: Set up a professional Instagram account: who a business account suits versus a creator account, the switching route, the move to a public profile and displaying public business information
- Meta: Add an Instagram account to your business portfolio: the connection steps, the full control requirement, the single-portfolio rule and including Instagram as an ad placement
- Meta: Give a partner access to business assets in your business portfolio: giving an agency partner access instead of handing over a password
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