LinkedIn is a valuable platform for small businesses, offering a professional space to connect with potential suppliers, partners, and even employees. It is also a great recruitment tool and can help make the often challenging task of filling job vacancies easier, by helping you target people who are the right fit for your business.
It can be tough to know how to start using LinkedIn and its various professional-focused features but it doesn’t have to take long at all to get things set up correctly, and once you’ve got the foundation of a business page in place it can become a hugely useful resource for your business!
Here is the fast and effective way to get your business set up on LinkedIn:
1. Create a Company Page: Sign in to your LinkedIn account. If you don’t have one, sign up at linkedin.com using your business email (you need a personal account before you can have a business page). Once you’ve done this, go to the LinkedIn homepage and click on the “Work” icon in the top-right corner (next to your profile picture). Then, simply scroll down and select “Create a Company Page”.
2. Select Your Page Type: Choose the appropriate option for your business.
TIP: This will usually either be “Small Business” or “Medium to Large Business” and it is based on how many employees are in your business.
3. Enter Your Business Information: For your “Page Identity”, input your business name as you want it to appear publicly, and create a unique LinkedIn URL for your business page (e.g., linkedin.com/company/YourBusiness). Then, for “Business Details”, choose your business industry, company size, and company type (e.g., private, public, nonprofit).
TIP: Keep your “Business Name” and “LinkedIn URL” the same as (or as close as possible to) your brand name on other social media sites. This will help your digital presence consistent and help your business get in front of more people online.
4. Add Your Logo and Tagline: Upload your business logo and add a brief tagline (up to 120 characters) summarising what your company does.
5. Verify Your Identity: Confirm that you have the authority to create this business page by checking the verification box.
6. Preview and Create: Review the information you've entered and click “Create Page” to finalise your business page.
TIP: Don’t worry if things don’t look complete yet – the editing options allow you to customise the page after it has been created
Now the page has been officially created, there are one or two simple things you can do to get it fully up and running:
7. Complete Your Profile: Add a visually appealing cover image.
TIP: You can use the Facebook cover image at first, just make sure the key visuals can be seen when you preview it.
8. Overview Section: Write an engaging “Company Overview” that highlights you’re the key things your business does. You can adjust this at any time.
9. Website URL: Add a link to your website.
10. Contact Details: Input your business phone number, address, and other relevant details.
11. Specialties: List your business specialties or areas of expertise (up to 20).
TIP: This is optional and can be edited at any time. However, once done, these will help LinkedIn categorise you better and place you in front of a more curated audience.
Now you’re up and running with a LinkedIn profile you might want to consider what content you’ll post and how regularly, for some businesses this is once a week or less, for others they’re communicating with their current or potential customers daily. Why not check out the link below to listen to Bira's High Street Matters podcast all about AI and how small businesses can use it to boost their social media output.
To see our other quick step-by-step guides for setting up Facebook and Instagram business pages, click here.
AI (or Artificial Intelligence) is the buzzword of the moment, but how can small businesses use it to help promote their business? Are there cost effective solutions? Can AI actually be easy to use?
This High Street Matters Podcast episode provides answers to all these questions!
Find out how Bira is working with Maybe* to explore the power of AI and help independent traders increase their profile, increase customer footfall and improve revenues.
Click here to listen to all episodes of High Street Matters.
Create engaging content on social media with Maybe* AI
After you've set up your social media business pages, what comes next? That's where Maybe* comes in.
Maybe* is an AI-driven social media marketing platform. It takes care of everything—from crafting engaging content to adding relevant hashtags, generating suitable emojis, translating copy, adjusting tone, summarizing content, and even building audiences. It shows you all your social media activity in one user-friendly place.
