You may have noticed that LinkedIn looks little different when you have logged in recently. Changes include a new home page with a larger, cleaner news feed, larger images and a greater visibility of trending topics. However, the most significant changes have been to the company pages, making them bigger, better and more interactive.
Businesses can now update their company pages with regular content and stories, enabling their followers to receive updates and insights about job opportunities, company news, employee moves and more. But even better, you can post your fresh content articles and anecdotal stories to your followers much like an individual can update with their regular personal updates.
On top of this, it is important to mention that with these changes, your LinkedIn company page is now getting indexed by search engines so appropriate use of it will increase your web visibility and SEO too.
This week we offer some tips for getting the most out of LinkedIn Company pages.
1. Update, create and complete your company page
Populate your company page using descriptions about whom you serve and how you serve them. Include key specialties of your company and use keywords that will resonate with your target markets. Be sure to pull in your news and blog posts by inserting the URL.
Include your products and services pages on your profile. On these pages you can include an image, description, list of key features, landing page URL to your site and any links to special promotions. You can even embed YouTube videos on the products and services overview page, as well as each individual product and service page.
Once you have completed setting up your LinkedIn company page, you will need to enable the page for status updates. Add in the designated people who will post status updates on the company page within your settings.
2. Build followers
To get the full benefits of your LinkedIn company page and ensure your updates are visible, you will need to get some followers. Increasing your company page followers means that your updates will be seen more widely throughout LinkedIn.
Building followers for your company is an ongoing process and you should constantly be working to build company page followers on LinkedIn in order to expand your reach. Below are some suggestions to quickly build your unique business community for your company page:
- Encourage existing employees to link up with your page. Existing employees can help extend your company’s reach by sharing your status updates with their connections on LinkedIn.
- Follow the company pages of industry peers, vendors, current customers and prospective customers. Many of them will reciprocate the action. Also consider following companies outside of your industry that are in your same geographic location.
- Send an announcement to appropriate LinkedIn connections to follow your company page. Make sure to provide benefits on why they should follow your page. What is in it for them and how will it assist them in their role.
- Post a “call to action” to follow your page within relevant LinkedIn groups.
Keep in mind that the more relevant followers you have in your LinkedIn company page, the more opportunities you have to be visible and build influence with your target markets.
3. Provide interesting and value-adding company page updates
Although LinkedIn suggests that you post status updates to your company page about jobs and breaking news, these types of posts are all about you and your company. If you want to engage followers, make it all about them and provide interesting and value-adding updates that can help them to succeed in business. You can include a company blog, or topical articles that you write for industry publications.
This is your opportunity to establish your company as the industry expert. Don’t forget to include rich media such as an image or video in your company updates to make them stand out and capture attention.
4. Engage and network with people from companies you follow
Do you want to get noticed by a business you would like to work with? Watch for their company updates and engage with them. Just like you can engage with individual status updates on LinkedIn, you can do the same with company page updates.
For example, a company that you follow has a vacancy and is seeking the right candidate. Point them to several professionals in your network who might be a good fit.
If a company posts something that is helpful to you in business make sure to thank them publicly and share it with your connections.
By helping the companies that you care about grow their visibility, you will also expand your influence with the company. Promote and refer the companies that are important to your business by liking, sharing and commenting on their updates. These companies may also return the favor and help to promote your business on LinkedIn as well.
5. Monitor and focus your efforts
On the main landing page of your company profile you will be able to see who has engaged with or commented on any of your company updates.
Make sure you update your company status frequently, check and respond promptly to comments, and engagements to determine what is working, and continue building followers for your page. Remember to keep your LinkedIn company page fresh and interesting.
Regardless of the size of your business, it is important to invest in your LinkedIn company presence. It is a way to set your company apart from your competitors, show your value and provide an ongoing service to your customers. It is also an excellent way to build a community around your business and attract new prospects. If your LinkedIn company page is setup and managed well it will act as sales funnel, and support your business development efforts by providing an ongoing flow of good quality prospects.
