Easy Tips for Optimizing Your Linkedin Company Page

A few weeks ago I wrote about creating a LinkedIn company page—the page that’s about your company rather than you, as an individual. Let’s talk about optimizing that page so that it’s consistent with your brand and overall online presence and that it’s optimized so it contributes to your Google authority. Here are some easy tips for optimizing your LinkedIn company page

1. Provide comprehensive information in your profile fields 

LinkedIn’s profile and page content is searchable by users from both within and outside the LinkedIn platform. That means that users don’t have to be logged into LinkedIn to find you. This dramatically ups the game. You want to make sure you’re not missing opportunities to promote your business. 

Contact information changes and our business focuses evolves

Make sure your website URL and other information are correct. I try to check my company description every six months or so to make sure this is how I want to be positioning myself. In this section, you can identify up to 20 specialties and three hashtags. These specialties are your keywords, so be thoughtful and thorough. These will help direct the right traffic to your page. 

2. Personalize your LinkedIn Page URL 

All company pages and profiles are given a standard-issue LinkedIn URL, but you can create a vanity URL. In the upper righthand corner you’ll see an “Admin Tools” dropdown. Click on this, then “Public URL”. You’ll be presented with a field to fill in your proposed URL. If someone else already has your URL, you’ll have to get a little creative.  

3. Add or update your background image

If you don’t have a background image, it’s time to add one. It provides polish and visual texture. Choose an image that’s reflective of what your company does. Make this a distinctive banner, perhaps including a call to action. Image specs: jpg or png file, 1536 x 768 pixels. 

4. Make every character in your headline count 

Appearing immediately under your company’s name, your page headline is prime real estate when it comes to communicating your brand message. For both personal and company profile pages, your headline needs to grab readers’ attention and make them want to read more. LinkedIn profile headlines have a 120-character limit. Do test this on mobile to see how it looks.

5. Optimize your page content for both humans and search engines

LinkedIn wants you to think of your company page as a central location where people can find out more about your organization. Create both an overview and accompanying page content which tells your business’s story in a compelling way. Frontload your company’s overview, as this is the content that will be visible to users across devices.

6. Be on the lookout for new features

LinkedIn’s on the move, and they’re providing a lot of value. You may want to sign up for their newsletters to leverage some of their tools—many of them completely free. Next up: Showcase pages.

Do you have questions about using social media for your business? Talk to us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and internet marketing experts.   

9 Months Later: Microsoft Gives Birth to a New Linkedin

In June 2016, mighty Microsoft purchased LInkedin, and it spawned a lot of speculation about how the deep pockets and resources of the sotftware giant would affect this social media platform that’s set itself apart by becoming the preferred social media application for professionals.

Nine months later, we’re seeing the first big change: a new interface

This wasn’t just a little fluff and powder or a reorganization, it was a major overhaul. And guess what? It looks just like Facebook! The formerly awkward design is now much more intuitive, cleaner, faster and easier to navigate. The biggest change is on the homepage. Just like Facebook, the newsfeed cascades down the middle, just below an entry field for sharing articles, photos, and status updates.

• There are now 7 core areas on the navigation bar. Home (Your Feed), Messaging, Jobs, Notifications, Me, My Network, and Search. With one simple click on the “more” icon on the navigation bar you can also launch into other experiences that matter to you, like LinkedIn Learning.
• Richer Feed to keep you informed: Linkedin has fine-tuned your Feed to surface the most relevant content from people and publishers you care most about. We’ll see about this one.
• Powerful search capability. Click on the Search icon and a field opens up that will give you the option to search people, jobs, companies, groups and schools. Coming soon: ability to search posts.
• Who’s viewing your content: You can now see who’s reading and engaging with the content you share—by company, job title and location.
• Suggestions to make your profile stand out: You can more easily see what you need to do to look your best professionally

Stealing from Facebook: blatant and smart

With more than 1.8 billion Facebook users worldwide, Facebook’s interface is the one that people know how to use. Linkedin and Facebook user demographics may vary, but their goals are the same: to get people to connect and share information.

Thoughtful, subtle changes transcend homepage facelift

From a user-experience perspective, it’s clear that Linkedin has thoughtfully implemented these changes. I noticed a subtle difference was when I posted my weekly blog to Linkedin. It was easier to drag and drop an image into the image field, easier to add keywords and publish. I also noticed that I can click on a link on my homepage to view the stats on who’s viewing and commenting on my blogs. In the righthand column, there’s a block that shows who’s been viewing my profile.

Nine months ago there was a lot of speculation about what Microsoft’s investment meant to the social media landscape. This redesign should put to rest to rest any doubts about Microsoft’s desire to own a comprehensive, competitive social network or to suggest that it’s just emulating Facebook. It’s not. And this isn’t a productivity play. The new Linkedin is clearly Microsoft’s attempt to become a bigger player in the social media and digital marketing space.

A little bit boring becomes a little bit cool

Linkedin has always been a little big boring when compared to the newer, flashier social media applications. The new Linkedin is infinitely more accessible with great new features. It may become cool to be using Linkedin. Never underestimate the power of Microsoft.

Thinking about outsourcing your content marketing program? Talk to us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re content marketing experts.