Benefits Of Using LinkedIn For Business
A quick look at why you should get a LinkedIn company page, do a great job and then network to get new business!
LinkedIn is the world's biggest international online network for business, the place where everyone who is anyone in the business world has a stall. 13 million or so businesses live there, and the network has half a billion users across the world. It costs nothing to set up a page for your company, and there's every reason to do exactly that. If you haven't taken advantage of LinkedIn yet you might as well, even if you're a sole trader or small business. What's not to like? Here's some insight.
Why bother with a LinkedIn company page?
Even if you don't update your company page and just leave it static, people will still see it. The more people you invite to join your network, and the more people you follow, the more chance your page has of being seen. And you never know, it might just contain the exact piece of information, expressed in exactly the right way, to inspire someone to give you a call or send an email.
A person might simply click through to your website, something Google's algorithm will take into account when calculating how visible your site deserves to be in the search results. Every little helps in that respect.. If you are interested in how to use SEO on LinkedIn see this interesting feature from Search Engine watch. And when you get busy and actually post to your profile, there's more chance than ever that someone will share your thoughts, comment on them, strike up a discussion, or 'like' what you've said and remember you as a result.
Stick with it long enough and magic can happen. You don't need to be big. LinkedIn company pages are just as powerful for small businesses, freelancers, sole traders, micro-businesses and start-ups as they are for big and established brands. As one of our freelance business contacts said recently:
“All I do is make friendly, positive comments on other people's posts whenever I have a minute spare, and post interesting things I come across myself. I don't do it regularly, I'm sometimes too busy. I never try to make a hard sell, or any sell for that matter, I just try to be nice, interesting and most of all interested. A few months after starting, I suddenly started seeing flurries of new LinkedIn contact requests and not long after that I started getting new business enquiries through. It takes a while to build up a head of steam but I reckon the network's a reliable place to pick up new custom.”
How to set up a LinkedIn page
Now for the practical bit. It's very easy. First, if you don't have one, set up a LinkedIn account. Then follow these steps:
To create a LinkedIn page, first click the 'Work' icon at the top right corner of your homepage. Then click 'create a company page'
Choose your business type from the list – for a small business it'll either be 'small business' or 'SME'
Complete the identity, company and profile details
Tick the verification box
Then click 'create page' and you're done
If your account is recent or you don't have many connections you'll see a red error message – follow the instructions to find out how to grow your network effectively and quickly. Once your page is created you can go forth and do brilliant things, adding more detail to build a compelling message about your brand, including logos and pictures, an eloquent description, your location and more.
LinkedIn company page hints and tips
Take time over your profile image and banner – they're the first thing people see – in fact company pages with profile pictures get six times more visitors than those without
Profile images for LinkedIn are ideally 300 x 300 pixels in a PNG format, square with a maximum size of 8MB
Banners should ideally be 1536 x 768 pixels, also in a PNG format, rectangular and a maximum of 8MB. We have found that you need to consider mobile viewing when you create your banner – the image below gives an indication of what will be seen on desktop and mobile.
This image shows the exact dimensions of what is shown for the Linkedin banner for both mobile app and desktop.
Your 'about us' section is the meat and potatoes, and it has to be truly compelling. You also need to include the keywords and phrases that people use to search for businesses like yours, so the LinkedIn algorithm can join the dots.
A 2000 character or less paragraph will do the trick, letting people know exactly what they need to know about your company. Write the way you speak, never use jargon or corporate language
Want an idea about the structure? You might like to use this structure to keep things tidy and logical: Who are you, where are you, what do you do, what are your values, how can people contact you
Don't be afraid to blow your own trumpet. People need to know how good you are at what you do. But at the same time focus on what you'll do for your customers. It isn't all about you. It isn't about what you want to say. It's about what your customers want to hear. Say 'you' more often than 'we' or 'I' and you'll know you're on the right track
Complete all the boxes – they're there for a reason, and completing your page makes it work harder. It's interesting to note that fully-completed company pages seem to get twice as much attention as incomplete ones
Always include your website address, your street address, and all your other contact details. Ensure these details are in the same format as they are displayed on your own website as a consistent NAP (name address and phone number) helps increase your online visibility – see this feature from SEO Expert Brad who explains more. If you operate overseas, let people know via your page. It makes sense to let people know what sector you operate in, and it's also useful to know how many employees you have
Think about making showcase pages, where you can give all the fine detail and day to day information you couldn't fit into your company page. You can create as many as ten of them to showcase the best aspects of your business
Post comments, articles, videos, slides, memes, infographics, blog posts, you name it. But always comment on other people's posts more than you post yourself. The more engaged and interactive you get, the better
Give and request endorsements – they're powerful marketing magic
Keep an eye on LinkedIn's annual list of the 10 best company pages, and do everything you can to bring yours up to their standard. The Best Company pages of 2018 includes Cvent’s and Cognixia’s Linkedin business pages.
Ready to go?
It might sound a bit daunting. But the set-up process for a LinkedIn business page is really simple, and you don't have to do it all at once. Steadily build it up into something special, do the decent thing and get networking, and you should ultimately see new business flowing your way.
Do speak to Build14me if you are looking to increase your LinkedIn visibility. Always happy to help!