LinkedIn isn’t always as fun as networks like Twitter or Instagram, but it’s actually astoundingly popular – with 55 million Company Pages and 500 million members, there 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.
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
- And more!
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:
- On your LinkeIn 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
If you want more details about the requirements for creating a company on LinkedIn check here.
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
There are two main images you’ll need for creating a company LinkedIn page – your logo and a cover image.
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.
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 a 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.
This is what the description on our own page looks like.
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 that don’t have a lot of context about your company. If they say it makes sense, that’s a step in the right direction!
3. Optimize for search
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-com)
- 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.
(Side note: for more on SEO, here’s a primer on how to keep SEO in mind when you’re blogging.)
4. 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!
5. Share engaging content
Post company updates, industry articles, and thought leadership. Ask followers to weigh in on trending topics and get a convo goin’.
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.
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.
(Need more tips on social media planning? We dive into our unique approach here: Our Social Media Planning Routine.)
Long story short, your brand needs to distribute content on LinkedIn. Thoughtful and informative content has replaced antiquated hard-sell techniques.
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!
Okay, your turn! How do you get the most out of YOUR LinkedIn Company Page?
Let us know what you think of LinkedIn in the comments!