LinkedIn isn’t always as fun as networks like Twitter or Instagram, but it’s actually astoundingly popular – with 55 million Company Pages and over 900 million people using LinkedIn, it’s a platform your business can’t afford to ignore. Here are a lot of companies vying for the attention of a lot of people!
Whether you’re creating a company page on LinkedIn for the first time or your existing one needs a little love, a well-executed page strategy can help you stand out (and thrive!) on a very crowded network.
So if you’ve recently found yourself wondering how do I create a LinkedIn page for my business? We’re here to teach you how. First things first, let’s dispel a common misconception about LinkedIn Company Pages.
Your page IS NOT simply an extension of the “about us” section on your website or a corporate version of a Wikipedia page.
Your Company Page is a lean, mean marketing machine that, when approached correctly, can help you:
- Recruit talent
- Drive brand awareness
- Engage your audience
- Attract customers
- Promote events, products, and services
- Prove your expertise
- Pump up your SEO
- Help connect you with the right people
- Establish you as a leader in your industry
How to set up a LinkedIn company page
Before we dig deeper about how to make a LinkedIn company page that wows your followers, let’s go back to basics. How do you create a LinkedIn company page in the first place?
Follow these steps to create a LinkedIn page:
- On your LinkedIn homepage, click on the ‘work’ section in the top right hand corner
- At the bottom, you’ll see the option for creating a LinkedIn company page
- You’ll then choose which type of business you have and will be asked to fill in your credentials
- You’ll need to make sure you are currently listed as an employee at the company on your personal LinkedIn profile
- Once everything is filled out, click confirm and your page is good to go
Creating a company page on LinkedIn that wows
Just as you would with any marketing vehicle, take a step back and consider what you want to achieve and who you are trying to reach. (You have those audience personas hashed out, right?)
With every addition or modification to your Company Page on LinkedIn, ask yourself, does this appeal to my target audience, and how does it help me achieve my business goals?
Ok, now that we’ve established some ground rules, let’s talk about how to create a LinkedIn company page that gets you noticed.
1. Improve visibility with images
Posting on your LinkedIn company page weekly can double your audience engagement with that content and adding images to your posts can get you double the comments. But before you begin to post, you’ll want to make sure the following things are clear, complete, and compelling.
There are two main images you’ll need for creating a company LinkedIn page – your logo and a cover image.
These images are the first thing a visitor will see and will engage them before they ever read a word on your page.
Let’s start with the logo.
Your logo is visible on the upper left side of your page, when members search for your company, and on employee profiles.
The logo is pretty straightforward. Just follow the recommended image specs, and you should be good to go.
Your cover image requires a little more pizzazz. First things first, use a custom cover image, just like you would on Twitter or Facebook. Because LinkedIn doesn’t reserve a ton of real estate for visuals, this is one way you can capitalize on the branding opportunities that do exist.
But be aware: Great LinkedIn cover art is typically simpler and cleaner than Facebook. So you’ll want to opt for something that conveys your company or brand culture or message without a ton of text or busy visuals.
Greenhouse Software is a perfect example of how to use a stunning visual that communicates the brand but isn’t cluttered.
Stick with cover images that are
- Spec compliant: Just like with your logo, if you don’t follow the recommended image specifications, LinkedIn will auto-crop your image, and it might end up looking a little funky (and unprofessional).
- On-brand: Whether it’s a corporate ethos or even just a color palette that your brand is supposed to evoke, carry that through in your cover image.
- Simple: Avoid detailed designs and heavy text that could get cut off by the profile section (it overlaps a portion of the cover image) or on a particular device or screen size. This is what the specs are for, but seriously – don’t overwhelm people with too-busy designs or a zillion words.
- Easy to create: You can pull in Photoshop or Illustrator Pro, but we love tools like Canva for quick and easy design work. Plus, you can select a template that’s prebuilt to the exact cover image specs!
2. Write a clear company description
Some LinkedIn company pages have descriptions that read about as easily as a microbiology textbook written in Egyptian hieroglyphics.
(In other words, totally un-awesome and super complicated.)
Think of your company description as your elevator pitch, or the quick and simple explanation of what you do and why your audience cares.
Within 30 seconds, the reader should understand what the heck you’re talking about.
Cater your description to your audience, but make it approachable and easy for practically anyone to read and understand. Avoid jargon, long-winded value props, and convoluted statements – say it straight and say it simple!
We recommend showing your description to a few outsiders who don’t have a lot of context about your company. If they say it makes sense, that’s a step in the right direction!
The Nature Conservancy clearly states its mission and references major accomplishments in its Overview.
3. Include your organizational information
Be sure to add your website URL as well as your industry, company size, and where your headquarters are located.
Your Call-To-Action
LinkedIn allows you to personalize this button so that you can track goals and see whether visitors are interacting with the call to action you’ve selected. You can change your call to action button to reflect your goals for the quarter or to explore which CTA your audience engages with the most.
Your Company Life Section
This is your chance to share your company’s culture. Don’t miss the opportunity to give viewers a sense of your values, how daily life looks in your organization, and why you’re not just another company in your industry.<
Ripple uses its Life tab to showcase their company leaders and give some insight into their company culture.
This section is a great place to share what sets you apart from other companies that do what you do and can be especially helpful when you’re hiring.
4. Optimize for search
When it comes to how to create a LinkedIn page, you should keep in mind that Google and other search engines index LinkedIn pages in their search results, giving you yet another way to be discovered!
Give yourself some extra search engine love with these strategies:
- Use keywords naturally: Incorporate relevant keywords in your company description and throughout your page. Remember to sound like a human!
- Fill out everything in your company profile: Whether it’s your address, featured groups, or your company size, populate every single field. The more info you can give search engines, the better.
- Claim your custom URL: Company page URLs default to a URL ending in a string of random numbers, but you can also create a vanity URL that’s easier for search engines to find. (For example, ours is https://www.linkedin.com/company/meetedgar)
- Backlink to your Company Page: Include a link to your page on your website and encourage employees to keep their experience section on their personal profiles up to date, as this creates a link back to your Company Page. Get your page a little link love!
- Optimize for LinkedIn searches: Add up to 20 areas of expertise within your company profile under the “specialties” section. When members search for your company on LinkedIn by words or phrases that describe your business, expertise, or focus, you’ll have a fightin’ chance at popping up.
Use your keywords as you explore your mission, vision, and the work you do in the world. Adding keywords is essential in your overview because LinkedIn users can search this section and you’ll want to ensure that you come up when they search for the industry and expertise that your company can bring to them.
(Side note: for more on SEO, here’s a primer on how to keep SEO in mind when you’re blogging.)
5. Create mini Company Pages (aka Showcase Pages)
Does your company have sub-brands, initiatives, services, or products that could benefit from a dedicated page? Do you have aspects of your business that appeal to a unique audience?
If so, Showcase Pages might be just the ticket.
Showcase Pages are free extensions of your Company Page that allow you to highlight an aspect of your business that falls under a larger company umbrella.
Let’s say you’re a fitness company named Gigantor.
That’s the parent company, but you also have a clothing division, robust training services, and a protein powder line, each of which appeals to different audiences.
You may want to consider launching a Showcase Page for each extension to highlight the individual brands and services that roll up to Gigantor.
And while that can be a big benefit, don’t go all willy-nilly launching Showcase Pages. First, make sure your Company Page is movin’ and groovin’ any you have the time to dedicate to any others.
Your pages, Showcase or Company, are anything but stagnant. You need to invest time and energy engaging with your audience and building a strong presence for your brand.
Which leads us to our next topic!
6. Share engaging content
So now you’ve nailed how to create a business LinkedIn. While a solid foundation and getting that basic information on your page is vital, what you post each day or each week is what will really attract viewers to engage with you on your LinkedIn company page.
Post company updates, industry articles, and thought leadership. Ask followers to weigh in on trending topics and get a convo going.
So let’s dive into what you should be posting for those viewers to check out.
Industry-focused pieces
One thing to look out for when posting on LinkedIn is the potential to make connections with industry leaders. By sharing posts from industry professionals and thought leaders (don’t forget to tag them in those posts) you can create opportunities for engagement while also sharing content that your audience will benefit from in the process.
Creating your own industry-specific posts is a great way to position your company as a trailblazer or to create a sense of expertise in the field.
And be sure that you reshare posts where you’re mentioned by another related organization or person so that you can highlight that connection to those who view your content. Whether it’s a key customer, a colleague, an employee, or another company, these re-shares help both companies “boost their signal” to the LinkedIn community.
Your resources
Sharing your lead magnets, free resources, and other pieces your company has created to help your customers or clients helps you generate leads and develop chances for visitor engagement.
This type of content also shows your company’s expertise by offering a helpful resource to those who land on your LinkedIn company page.
From PDF documents to slide presentations to audio or video pieces, you can vary the types of content you share and create a multi-layer experience for the people who follow your company. For example, Active Campaign created a PDF of their holiday cookbook.
Engaging Questions
One of the biggest questions we get is, “How can I get people to engage with my page?” and the answer is this: Ask questions.
There’s a double benefit to asking your audience questions because it not only increases engagement on your LinkedIn company page, but it also allows you to do some market research in the process. Michaela Alexis, a LinkedIn consultant, shares how you can do this. She provides value in her post, offered a poll and then asked a question to her audience so she could learn how she can best help them.
Question-style posts also allow you to mix things up when it comes to your content calendar because you’re not just sharing a link or a resource, you’re asking for input and feedback from the people who you want to continue connecting with in the future.
So take some time to develop a set of questions around your services or products, your culture, challenges in your field, or even simply fun and interesting topics your audience will care about.
Once you have your list you can begin sprinkling these question posts throughout your LinkedIn company page content.
Blog Content
If your website has a blog, be sure that you’re sharing links to blog content on your LinkedIn page regularly.
Just like sharing resources gives you a chance to be seen as a thought leader, sharing your company’s own blog content allows you to show up and add value for your customers and page visitors.
This also has the added benefit of transporting your visitors to your website and can become a helpful part of your sales funnel as well.
Your Day-To-Day and Special Events
Not all content on your LinkedIn company page has to be educational. If you or your team are attending a conference or other related event, or if you’re hosting one of your own, be sure to take visitors to your page behind the scenes.
This gives page visitors a chance to really connect to your company beyond the work you do each day and this type of content is “out of the ordinary” so you may find engagement increases when you add this to the mix.
When you’re not at an event, you can use LinkedIn to share culture-focused pieces on what life is like within your organization’s day-to-day, like Freshbooks sharing their virtual Halloween celebration.
And whether it’s a special occasion or your typical Monday, because video gets 5 times the engagement that other types of posts capture, make sure at least one post from that event is a video post if you want to see that type of boost.
Staff spotlights are a great way to highlight your team in a fun and celebratory way. You can select a different team member each month or each week, highlight someone who’s celebrating a milestone with the company, or shout out a team member who has gone above and beyond in a noteworthy way.
Spotify does an employee spotlight video giving its audience an inside look at the people who build their business.
Highlighting employees is a great way to attract new potential employees and to showcase how your company culture is encouraging growth each day.
Your Successes and Your Story
Just as you’ll want to celebrate your employees’ big wins, it’s also important to highlight your company’s accomplishments.
Whether it’s a big win for a client, your 15th anniversary, or just a record-setting year, these types of posts establish your credibility and humanize you as a company that has been on a journey to get where you are today, like HackerEarth did when celebrating their 8th anniversary.
Speaking of the journey, don’t miss a chance to highlight your brand and company story. From your humble beginnings to overcoming challenges, these posts resonate with your audience because they can connect with that sense of resilience and get a better understanding of why you do what you do.
Liking, commenting and engaging as your brand takes a little more finesse than just posting as yourself.
However, if a guest comments on one of your posts, you can respond as your company. If you post something, you can also like that post as your company. However, only individuals (under their personal profiles) can participate in LinkedIn Groups and comment on other individuals’ posts. Of course, there is a strategy for leveraging your employees and advocates to drive company engagement (we talk about that in this blog post), but you also need a brand presence that is rooted in quality, engaging content.
Ultimately, if you’re putting energy toward driving people to your LinkedIn Company page, make sure you have some content for them to check out.
(There’s nothing like showing up for a super-duper hyped-up shindig, only to be disappointed by a lack of substance.)
Your posts will also show up in your followers’ feeds, so make the content relevant to your desired audience.
We recommend keeping a social media calendar so you can plan out your publishing schedule and initiatives.
Long story short, your brand needs to distribute content on LinkedIn. Thoughtful and informative content has replaced antiquated hard-sell techniques. While these content ideas will get you started, the key to running a great LinkedIn company page is consistency.
To Summarize
Get the most out of your content with these handy-dandy tips:
- Be consistent: Post-discussion-worthy content on the regular. Save yourself time and energy by using an automation tool (like Edgar!) to schedule and recycle your posts.
- Grab that attention: Think in headlines. What snappy lead-in will get your audience’s attention? What questions and topics will generate community conversation?
- Remember visuals: Stand out from the crowd by including an image or rich media with your post.
- Target your posts: Whether you are posting content on a Showcase Page or your Company Page, it must appeal to your audience. You can target posts by language, geography, job function, university, or degree.
- Experiment with format: Whether it’s a case study, white paper, poll, discussion question, blog post, or informative video, play around with the type of content that your audience needs. Heck, don’t be afraid to ask ‘em what they’d love from you!
How do you get the most out of YOUR LinkedIn Company Page?
LinkedIn has the potential to connect you with so many different audiences, from potential employees to collaborators to current clients and even future ones. You may even find that competitors visit your page or maybe industry leaders who are ahead of you on your trajectory take time to check you out.
So you have all the knowledge for how to create a page on LinkedIn, but above all, remember to stay consistent. Pages that post weekly see far better engagement and this means that you can connect with the right potential clients, employees, and collaborators as you use LinkedIn to grow your business.
Let us know what you think of LinkedIn in the comments!
And if you need some help planning your LinkedIn company page content calendar and staying organized you can try Edgar for free for 7 days and see how simple it can be to manage your social media.
1 Comment
Great content! Keep up the good work!