how to become verified on instagram

It seems that almost everyone on Instagram has a blue badge, right? Of course, it depends on who you are following. I'm not talking about your friends and family. I'm talking about celebrities, famous people, successful entrepreneurs, sports stars, etc.

It looks fancy, maybe exclusive, right?

The blue badge means authority, credibility, trust… It means that you are someone important. I have good news for you. You don't need to be an American president to get that badge. You don't even need hundreds of thousands of followers.

How to get verified on Instagram

So, the question is – How to get verified on Instagram.

Until recently, there was no way to ask Instagram for verification. You could just hope that some employee finds you and decides you deserve the blue badge.

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Verification was exclusively for stars, celebrities, politicians, etc.

That time is gone…

Now everyone (ok, not everyone) can get their account verified.

There's a simple process you can follow to request a verification of your profile.

Note: Obviously, not everyone who requests verification is successful. I've put together a step by step plan on how to set up your account for a bigger chance to get approved. There are certain criteria you need to meet in order to get verified.

Benefits of Instagram verification

Exclusivity – verified accounts are a part of an exclusive group. It's easy to get that badge on Twitter. Pinterest gives that badge to every business account. Instagram doesn't. In fact, famous people don't need to post a single picture, and they can get the badge. Whereas you can have hundreds of thousands of followers, and Instagram may decline your request. That's how it works.

Avoid brand identity theft – I've seen that a lot of times. You work hard to create an amazing brand, all images, videos or photos are branded, and someone tries to post them as their own. In those cases, if you have the verification badge – Instagram is much more likely going to help you by protecting you against these thefts. The more famous you become, the more copycats will try to copy and steal your stuff. That's a reality.

Trust – Obviously, the blue badge in your Instagram bio is a symbol of trust. When someone visits your profile, even if they never heard of you, they are immediately going to think of you as a real deal.

Authority – It will help you differentiate your account from the competition. It means prestige. It means your account matters, and your following will definitely grow faster.

Get access to 'beta' tools – When Instagram is testing new features, verified users get access earlier than anyone else (most of the time). Remember when the swipe-up feature on Instagram stories became available? Only verified users could use it. It doesn't matter how many followers they have. If you want to get this feature – you have to have at least 10k followers; verified users don't.

How to get verified on Instagram:

1) Go to your settings – tap the 3 line icon in the top right corner and hit 'settings' at the bottom.

2) Hit 'account' and you see the option 'request verification'.

3) Now, you need to submit the following items:

Instagram username (Type the username of the account that you want to have verified)

Your Full name (Type your full name as on your legal identification cards/documents. If you want to get a business account verified, enter the name of your company)

Known As (Again, it's either your name or the name of your company)

Account Category (Make sure to select the closest match)

Valid photo identification (Instagram allows you to choose from driver's license, national identification card, passport, and official business documents such as utility bills, electricity bills, bank account documents, tax papers, etc.)

4) That's all. Simply press the 'send' button and wait… hours, days, weeks… There's no certain time that Instagram has to process your request. Try to be patient. You can do nothing about it. There's no way to speed up the process.

Must-have criteria you need to follow

Fortunately for us, Instagram tells us exactly what it wants and needs to get you the desired verification badge. You can find the four most important factors below.

Authentic – Your account has to represent a real person or a legal business.

Complete – Make sure your account is public and all sections in your profile are filled out. I mean all of them.

Unique – Your page needs to be unique. If you've built a page around topics like cats, dogs, sports stars, or if your account is a repost account (meaning you only repost stuff from other people), your request will be more likely be declined. The same is true for fan pages of famous celebrities and clubs.

Notable – The more followers you have, the more famous you are, the more well-known your brand is – the better chance that Instagram recognizes you as someone important and worth verifying.

Seek and explore verified Instagram accounts

Do your research and look for similar accounts and influencers in your niche that are already verified. You can learn a lot of valuable insights from your competition.

Ask these questions:

● How often do they post on their accounts?

● What type of content do they post?

● What's their most viral content?

● How old is their account?

● Do they have a blog/website?

● How many Instagram followers do they have?

These insights will help you get an idea of what you need to do to receive the verification.

Things to keep in mind before you request the verification

There's no minimum follower requirement – As I mentioned earlier, there's no minimum number of followers requirement. When the president of Germany requested a verification, he had less than a thousand followers. And his request was successful.

IG doesn't provide reasons – When your request isn't approved – Instagram is not going to explain the reasons. But it doesn't mean that you can't edit your profile, follow the instructions above, and ask for verification again.

IG is doing its own research – There's an employee that's doing their own research. Try to do your best to follow all the steps above on all other social media platforms. On your blog or website, etc.

IG has unlimited time for the process – It can take a couple of hours, days, or even months. You don't have any other option than to be patient.