How to create a LinkedIn business profile

Again a question that has popped up several times \’How to create a LinkedIn business profile\’.

Social media has permeated in our personal as well as professionals way more than we give it credit for. Just the other day I was speaking to a friend who heads a software development startup in the US and wants to set up a small office in India by 2018. I was curious about how she planned on scouting for potential candidates. I asked her whether she intended to partner with a recruitment firm to meet her needs and if yes, then I happened to know just the right one for her.

Her exacts words were, and I quote, “Thanks Atul, but please don’t mind when I say this. I have built this company from scratch and I have always treated it the way I would treat my baby. I understand that the firm you suggest may or may not meet my requirements. But that’s not how I work. I want to search for these candidates on my own”

I have heard this before. It’s almost a cliche but anyone who is this deeply involved in their company wants to make sure they hire candidates who share their beliefs and follow the same train of thoughts. And then it became clear. She wanted to use one of the most recognized professional networking sites – LinkedIn. That’s not surprising as according to a recent study, LinkedIn still retains the top position among social networks that recruiters use for vetting candidates, followed by Facebook and then Twitter. Now here is again a question How to create Linkedin business profile because important to create one wisely.

While I liked the way she approached things, I felt compelled to point out that this process works both ways. It is true that an individual’s LinkedIn Business profile reveals the most important aspects such as his or her past achievements, skills, previous companies worked for, etc. provided they are filled in the right manner* (*watch this section for further details on creating stellar LinkedIn profiles for individuals).

At the same time, these candidates too tend to visit your LinkedIn Business Profile and Linkedin company page. Sure, all the information is available on your company website. But the information that you display on this single company page carries the crux of the entire information. This makes it easier for the candidate to analyze your company and determine whether it is a right fit for them.

Here are a few tips that I recommended to her on How to create a LinkedIn business profile  and maybe they are useful for you as well:

Note: Assuming you have already created the company page and filled in all the basic information such as company name, email address, etc.

Make it visual:

Visuals have a powerful way of grabbing attention from all the text placed around. Make sure that you add your company logo at the top. Invest in designing a cover page that tells your story in minimum number of words.

Here are some Tips how to create a linkedin Business profile. According to LinkedIn’s best practices, “Companies with logo images get six times more traffic to their pages.” It also provides the specifications for this image. Get your cover page created in these exact dimensions so that it does not get distorted. After it’s the very thing they will see, and as they say, first impressions create a lot of impact. You don’t want them leaving in 5 seconds of coming to your company page, do you?

Keep it short:

Write a short but succinct description of your company in the summary section. Usually the visitor has to navigate to the About Us page on your company website or scroll down to the very bottom of your profile page to view this information. Don’t overload this portion with keywords that you deem are necessary. Instead place them strategically so that they aren’t too obvious but at the same can be captured by the search algorithm and your page is displayed at the right time. 

The page also includes a Products and Services tab. You can list your products and services here (obviously) along with their descriptions and images as well.

Pro tip: Be sure to place the important ones at the top of this list as people tend to read the first few and skim through the rest.

\"careersDo you have a Careers page?

How will the candidates know that you are hiring unless you specifically mention it? The Careers tab helps you to gain visibility across the platform. A lot of talented individuals looking for a job change are mostly interested in the section. This section can also be used to display employee testimonials or workplace videos, etc. Let them get a feel of your company.

Leverage your existing followers:

She has always been great at networking and it’s no wonder she reached this stage in her professional life in such short amount of time. Last I checked her number of followers on LinkedIn was approximately 6000+. I advised her to post an update on her personal profile to encourage her existing network to follow her company page as well. It worked wonders! Within 2 days, she already had more than 700 people following her company page. And that number has been steadily growing every day.

\"regularRegular updates keep the page alive

Here is the honest truth: Nobody likes dead pages! How would you like it if the company you wanted to check out hadn’t posted anything in the past 3 months? It appears as if there hasn’t been anything noteworthy of updated and this can a huge red flag. Big or small, every achievement, every milestone or every new product feature needs to be published. It shows everyone that you are making steady progress.  

Make use of the ‘featured’ feature (wordplay!)

Any of the above mentioned updates can be highlighted at the top of your company page using the featured option. In this case, she could highlight the fact that she is actively expanding overseas. Talk big but keep it real.

Almost all the steps mentioned above are without charge. If you want to take this to another level, you can always opt for LinkedIn paid services such as Sponsored Content, Advertising Solutions and so on. For now, you can assess how much impact can these steps create without cutting a hole through your pockets. It helped my friend and I don’t see why it can’t help you as well.

1 thought on “How to create a LinkedIn business profile”

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top