Why you Should Have a LinkedIn Business Page – and how to Start one!

It’s widely known that LinkedIn is the online place to be for job-seekers and networkers. A grown-up version of Facebook, LinkedIn allows employees and potential employees to showcase their best work and highest-quality skills in the hopes of attracting that perfect employment match. It allows people to connect with former co-workers and college roommates to whom they might not want to give the full, unfiltered social media access of Facebook, to make new connections, and to get seen on a professional level. With over 133 million users in the United States and 106 million active monthly users, LinkedIn is growing rapidly as a a social network. Each second, LinkedIn adds two new users.

LinkedIn is also a great place to be if you’re a business owner. Approximately 79 percent of B2B marketers view LinkedIn as a valid source of lead generation, with 92 percent of them preferring LinkedIn over all other social networks. More than a glorified job posting device, LinkedIn can help you grow and expand your business, reaching more potential clients than almost any other social network out there.

Benefits of Starting a Linkedin Business Page

Having a LinkedIn business page is an increasingly effective way to reach new customers and, if you put the time and effort into it, become a trusted voice within your industry. Here are 4 reasons you should consider starting a LinkedIn business page today:

It increases your business’s visibility

LinkedIn business profiles are public, meaning anyone on or off LinkedIn can view them since they will show up in search results. Any content you post to LinkedIn from your website is factored into your business’s SEO ranking, helping improve your position in searches. And anytime one of your business page’s followers likes or comments on one of your updates, it shows up in the feed of that person’s LinkedIn connections, broadening your business page’s reach.

Many people use LinkedIn to follow their favorite companies to see what’s new and exciting in a particular industry. This content does not need to be directly from a business’s own website to prove valuable for a company. For example, Company A, a medical supply company, shares a post from their business website’s blog about a new product. It receives minimal interaction, with several click-throughs and a few likes and comments. The next day, Company A shares an article from a major publication about a recent development in the medical supply industry. While the click-throughs all go to that major publication, many of the likes and comments go to Company A. People see the update in their LinkedIn feeds and, intrigued by what they read, click on Company A’s business profile. They follow the page, check out the company website, and poke around a bit at the content. Down the road a few weeks, months, or years, those casual follows convert into actual business for Company A, driving growth.

Your employees become your unofficial ambassadors

Every time one of your employees updates their LinkedIn profile to include his or her position with your company, they are linked to your business page. This link then shows up in all your employee’s connections’ feeds, putting your name in front of people who may have never been exposed otherwise.

You receive analytics on how your posts are doing

If you love data and seeing the numbers of how many people your posts have reached, then a LinkedIn business page will be great for you. Like Facebook, you have access to metrics showing how many users have viewed, liked, and commented on your posts. This helps you learn where your weak spots are and better position you to make strategic content-creation and curation choices in the future.

It increases your credibility as a company

Your website is great. It’s an opportunity to showcase all your products and services, and how you can add value to your potential customers’ lives. But just having a carefully crafted website with great rankings doesn’t give you what you need to gain your customers’ trust – credibility. By creating a LinkedIn business page where you share not only your own content, but also the content of other voices in your industry, you gain credibility with your customers. They see that you are committed to continually learning, and being willing to learn from those with whom you may compete for customers. Credibility is better for your business and your reputation than any website updates, promotions, or dynamic visuals ever could be.

How to Create your LinkedIn Business Page

• Sign into your personal LinkedIn profile and click the Work tab (The square of 9 dots in the upper-right corner of the page).
• Click Create a Company Page (The + sign at the bottom of the drop-down menu).
• Enter your company name and choose a URL. This URL does not need to be unique, but the public URL cannot be the same as one that’s already on LinkedIn. If your company’s name already is a public URL, you will need to choose something different for your business. All URLs are structured as www.linkedin.com/company/[yourcompanyname].

• Check the verification box, confirming that you have authorization to create the page on behalf of your company
• Click the Create Page button. If you haven’t already confirmed the email address connected to your LinkedIn account, you will be prompted to add and verify your email address.
• Click Get Started on the welcome page and begin editing your Company Page!

LinkedIn Business Page Best Practices

Your business page is your own, and your way to cultivate your company’s public persona. Here are some best practices to observe with your LinkedIn business page, cultivated by the Digital Marketing team here at 270net Technologies over our years spent managing LinkedIn business pages for our clients:

1. Upload your company’s logo as soon as possible – Your logo is what sets your business apart from others. This is especially important if you may have a common business name. Making sure your business’s logo is visible so your current and potential customers can find you and connect is crucial.
2. Fill in your company’s profile – Don’t just copy and paste information from your website’s homepage. Get all the important information onto your LinkedIn page, but rewrite it for a new audience.
3. Post regularly – At least once or twice per week. Push content from your company’s website and blog, share industry news you find, post photos of your company picnic or customer open house. Keeping your name in people’s newsfeeds increases your visibility and the chances that potential customers will interact with your page.
4. Think outside the box – Did you have a fun holiday party or team-building event, but an update on it isn’t really suitable for your company blog? Take photos, get quotes from employees, and turn it into a really great LinkedIn post! Customers and potential employees love seeing what goes on behind the scenes at your company, and social media is a great window into this world.
5. Visuals dominate – Even if a post you’re sharing doesn’t have a visual element attached, create one for your LinkedIn post. Posts with images are more likely to catch users’ attention, leading to a better click-through rate and more engagement.
6. Encourage your employees to create personal profiles – If your employees are linked up to your business, you will be seen by their connections. This will increase your overall reach.
7. Engage with your followers – If you have people commenting on your LinkedIn posts, respond to those comments! Even if you simply say, “Thanks for commenting, and thank you for following us!” users will see and remember that. This makes them more likely to engage in the future, and more likely to think of your business.

Let 270net technologies’ experienced digital marketing team handle your LinkedIn page

At 270net Technologies, our Digital Marketing team has years of experience managing business LinkedIn and other social media pages. We know how best to utilize your social media profiles to enhance brand awareness, increase engagement, and grow your audience. Contact us today to learn more about what our Digital Marketing team can do for your business’s social media presence!