Your company’s LinkedIn page offers an unparalleled opportunity to put your brand in front of the platform’s 800 million members – any one of which could be your next hire, customer or brand ambassador. And to boost your company’s visibility among the 57 million companies with a LinkedIn page, it pays to regularly review your profile to make sure it’s optimized for gaining a following among the audiences you want to reach.
Why optimizing matters
When your page is optimized, the people who are interested in learning more about your company can easily find the information they’re looking for on the LinkedIn platform. It also helps you rank higher in online search results in general, which exposes you to even more potential customers. The most important way to optimize your profile is by improving the content.
Optimizing basics
To optimize your company’s profile, start with the basics. If you don’t have a profile, you’ll find step-by-step guidance on the LinkedIn platform. Review your page to make sure all the essential pieces are in place and up to date, including your company name, website URL, industry, company size and type, location and contact info. Include your logo and a cover image that conveys what your business is about. Your profile also should include a brief description of your business and high-quality images of your company’s products or services. Add videos, articles and other content that tells your brand story to enhance your profile.
Beyond the basics
There are a variety of ways to optimize your LinkedIn company profile. A social media marketing agency can recommend and implement a strategy that optimizes your brand on the LinkedIn platform. If you’re taking on the task of optimizing your profile on your own, here are nine tips that follow LinkedIn’s best practices.
1. Think SEO.
Your LinkedIn profile can do more than help you gain exposure among the platform’s users; it can help your ranking in organic search online. That’s where optimizing your profile for SEO comes in. Be sure descriptions of your company, products and services in your profile align with descriptions on other platforms, such as your website. Being consistent, including with the keywords you use, will improve your online search ranking and make it easier for people to find you.
2. Make connections.
LinkedIn is designed for making connections. For individuals, the platform provides a means of connecting with other professionals to share career information and resources. It’s much the same for companies. Join LinkedIn groups that are relevant to your business and participate by engaging in conversations to help establish your company as a thought leader. There are dozens of active groups on the platform related to technology, marketing, social media, entrepreneurship and other current topics. Before joining a group, take a look at the group’s members and the topics of discussion to assess whether it’s a good fit for your business. You’ll want to regularly share relevant content with the groups you join to build and engage a community of followers and establish your company as an industry expert. In addition to joining existing groups, you can create your own group, which can boost your status as an industry thought leader. As a group leader, it is even more important to post relevant, timely topics to keep group members engaged.
3. Showcase your brand with high-quality media.
First and foremost, LinkedIn is a platform for engaging with professionals. That means the photos, videos and other visual elements you use to tell your brand story need to reflect what your company is about both in quality and content. You’ll find guidelines for images, including your logo, photos, and videos on the platform. Be sure every element you post is consistent with your company’s brand guidelines to tell a consistent story across all online platforms. Video is a great way to help audiences better understand your company and its products or services. Explainer videos, profiles of people and departments in your company and product demonstrations are just few of the many types of videos you can incorporate. LinkedIn videos can range from 30 seconds to 10 minutes, depending upon the content you’re sharing. Remember, LinkedIn users turn to the platform to learn and connect, so they’ll spend more time with content than users on other social media platforms.
4. Optimize for mobile.
Each month, there are 63 million unique mobile users on LinkedIn (https://foundationinc.co/lab/b2b-marketing-linkedin-stats/). That means making sure your profile looks good on smartphones and tablets is vital. Consider using a design resource such as Canva, which offers templates for designing for big screens (desktop) and small (smartphones and tablets) on every social media platform. Although the appearance of photos and other visuals is important, also make sure text looks good as well. Be on the lookout for awkward line breaks and big gaps within copy.
5. Don’t overlook the “About” page.
If users aren’t familiar with your company, it’s likely they’ll click the “About” tab for an overview. This gives you an opportunity to present a concise overview of who you are and what you do, targeted to a professional audience. Think of it as an elevator speech for someone meeting your business for the first time. In addition to the overview, this page includes spaces to add your url, location (with a map), number of employees and more.
6. Post consistently.
The more consistent you post, the more likely it is that your content will appear in the feeds of the users who follow your company. As an added bonus, it can help boost your organic ranking online too. Posts with images or videos get more traction. Best practices are to post at least once a week but no more than twice in a day and never less than three times every two weeks. Consider developing a content calendar to ensure posting to LinkedIn doesn’t get pushed aside by other business priorities. Although LinkedIn targets business professionals, content related to holidays and events are still viable, provided the posts include content that aligns with your business.
7. Host online events.
Hosting online events is a great way to connect with potential customers and partners on LinkedIn. Online events are live-streamed meetups, workshops or seminasr that you host. This is a great way to connect with LinkedIn users who want to network with your business and learn new information or skills. LinkedIn offers guidance on creating and promoting your live event. Use the other social networks you’re active on, such as Facebook and Twitter, to promote the event as well. Following the event, post the video to your YouTube channel.
8. Keep up with trends.
LinkedIn is a business-oriented social network. Users are looking for fresh ideas to help them succeed. That’s why it’s important to stay on top of trends not only affecting your specific industry, but business in general. If you’re seeing consistent themes on the platform, staffing shortages or supply chain challenges, for example, look for opportunities to address these broader topics in a way that’s specific to your industry and its members. Be sure to engage with content posted by others as well.
9. Take advantage of the ‘jobs’ section
With the seemingly never-ending competition to attract and retain top talent, LinkedIn can showcase your job openings to a talent community tailored to your industry. Be sure the positions you’re trying to fill are posted on the page. It’s a great way to attract candidates who have already demonstrated an interest in your company by visiting your page.
Need help optimizing your presence on LinkedIn?
Beyond your profile, LinkedIn offers numerous opportunities to elevate your brand in the business world. Because “salesy” posts are discouraged and don’t fare well in general on the platform, consider sponsored content and paid advertising to draw attention to products, events and staff openings you want to showcase. For businesses without a dedicated social media staff, optimizing your profile and employing the features of LinkedIn to your best advantage can be daunting. That’s where Fresh Creative can help. We’re a leading social media marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses achieve greater visibility on social media platforms — and ensuring that your brand is consistently represented wherever you post online. We have years of experience creating successful campaigns on LinkedIn and other social media platforms. Contact us today to learn how we can put that expertise to work for you and your business.
