Skip to content

Instagram, Facebook, Google: step by step

Created 2026-10-29.

This page is a checklist for creating the salon's Facebook Page, Instagram account and Google Business Profile. The goal for now is to reserve the name @alpformflow: the accounts stay empty until the redrawn logo is ready.

It takes about 45–60 minutes. We do it together on your phone: you tap, and your partner helps with each step.

Before you start

  • Your phone with the Facebook and Instagram apps installed (update them first).
  • Your personal Facebook profile login.
  • The salon's business Gmail and its password. If it does not exist yet, we create it in step 0.
  • The address of the massage room: Dorfstrasse 6, 3792 Saanen.
  • A place to save new passwords safely (for example a password manager).

Facebook and Instagram change their menus often. If a button has a slightly different name on your phone, look for the closest one, or ask.

0. Business Gmail

One Gmail address only for the salon. It is the login for Instagram, Google (Business Profile, Ads, Analytics) and the booking tool, and the business email in Meta Business Suite (ads, Pixel, invoices). Facebook itself is different: you log in there with your personal profile.

Why not your personal Gmail: Google and Meta send many business emails (login codes, review alerts, ad invoices, policy notices). With a separate address nothing gets lost in your private mail, your partner can help with these emails without seeing your private mail, and business and private stay apart.

Already have it? Check that you can log in, then go to step 1.

  1. On your phone, open Settings → Accounts (or the Gmail app → your picture → Add another account) → Google → Create account → For my personal use. Both options create the same free account. "For work or my business" keeps offering the paid Google Workspace, which we do not need: the salon email info@alpformflow.ch comes with the domain at Infomaniak.
  2. Name: Alpform / Flow (first / last name fields). This name shows when the account sends an email.
  3. Gmail address: alpformflow@gmail.com if it is free; otherwise the closest one, for example alpformflow.saanen@gmail.com.
  4. Recovery phone: your phone number. Recovery email: your personal email.
  5. Turn on 2-Step Verification: myaccount.google.com/security → 2-Step Verification.
  6. Save the password and the backup codes safely.

1. Facebook Page

A Page is always created from a personal profile. Visitors do not see whose profile it is.

  1. Open Facebook and log in to your personal profile.
  2. Tap Menu (☰) → Pages → Create (or Create new Page).
  3. Fill in:
    • Page name: Alpform & Flow Massage
    • Category: type "Massage" and choose Massage Service.
    • Bio: leave empty, or write: Anti-cellulite massage in Saanen. Opening soon.
  4. Tap Skip for the address, opening hours, website, profile photo and cover photo. We fill them in later.
  5. Set the username: open the Page → Settings → Username → enter alpformflow → Save. The Page address is now facebook.com/alpformflow.

  6. Add your partner as a second admin: Page Settings → Page setup → Page access → Add new → search for your partner's Facebook profile → turn on full control → Give access. Your partner accepts the invitation on their phone.

    Why: if your profile is ever locked or hacked, someone else can still run the Page.

2. Instagram

  1. Open Instagram. If you already have a personal account, tap your profile picture → your name at the top → Add Instagram account → Create new account. Your personal account stays separate; you can switch between the two in the app.
  2. Sign up with the business Gmail (not your personal email).
  3. Username: alpformflow
  4. Name (the bold name on the profile): Alpform & Flow Massage Saanen (29 characters; Instagram allows 30). Instagram search finds words in this field, so people looking for "massage Saanen" can find us.
  5. Switch to a business account: profile → ☰ → Account type and tools → Switch to professional account → choose Business → category Massage Service (or the closest one).
    • A business account is always public. That is fine: we post nothing for now.

  6. Connect it to the Facebook Page: ☰ → Accounts Center → Accounts → Add accounts → add your Facebook profile. Then in the Instagram professional settings, choose the Page Alpform & Flow Massage.

    Why: ads and one shared inbox for messages need this connection.

3. Google Business Profile

This is the salon's entry on Google Maps and Google Search. We create it now and verify it later: until then it is not visible on Google.

  1. On your phone, log in to the business Gmail and open business.google.com/add.
  2. Business name: Alpform & Flow Massage
  3. Category: type "Massage" and choose Massage spa (or Massage therapist). A second category can be added later.
  4. Location: choose Yes, clients come to us, and enter the address of the massage room: Dorfstrasse 6, 3792 Saanen. Check that the pin on the map is on the right building; move it if needed.
    • Never your home address. Google allows only the place where clients are served; a wrong address can get the profile blocked.

  5. Phone: your phone number for now.

    A separate salon number is better

    After verification the number is public: on Google, and later on the website, flyers and ads. We recommend a second number on an eSIM on the same phone (about CHF 0–20 per month [verify]): work and private calls stay apart, and the number belongs to the salon. The number can be changed in the profile later. See Account setup.

  6. Website: alpformflow.ch (it is not online yet; you can also leave it empty).

  7. Verification: choose Verify later. We verify in December by a short video at the salon, once the sign is up.
  8. Opening date: if Google asks (or under Edit profile → More), enter the month and year we plan to open.
  9. Add your partner as a manager: in the profile → ⋮ (Menu) → Business Profile settings → People and access → Add → your partner's Gmail → role Manager → Invite.

4. Security

Do this for both Facebook and Instagram (Google is done in step 0):

  1. ☰ → Accounts Center → Password and security → Two-factor authentication → turn it on. An authenticator app (for example Google Authenticator) is safer than SMS.
  2. Save the backup codes (they let you log in if you lose your phone).
  3. Save the new Instagram password safely.

5. Check together

  • [ ] facebook.com/alpformflow opens the Page Alpform & Flow Massage.
  • [ ] Your partner has full control of the Page.
  • [ ] Instagram is @alpformflow, a business account, connected to the Page.
  • [ ] Google Business Profile Alpform & Flow Massage exists, with the salon address, status not verified, and your partner as a manager.
  • [ ] Two-factor authentication is on for Google, Facebook and Instagram.
  • [ ] Nothing is posted yet: no photo, no logo, no address.

What comes later

  • When the redrawn logo is ready: profile photo, bio, the website alpformflow.ch, the address and opening hours.
  • December, with the keys and a sign: verify the Google Business Profile by video. See Account setup.
  • When we start ads: a Business Portfolio (Meta Business Suite) with both of us as admins. See Account setup.