How to use LinkedIn

The Basics

Firstly, it’s important to determine your channel’s purpose. Will your LinkedIn Page primarily serve as a source of industry news, a place to share company culture, or an educational resource for those growing in your field? Whatever the goal or primary purpose may be, develop a persona and key demographic to which to tailor your content.

Remember that the page is there to share original content and engage with your followers and there are a range of posts that can comprise your content strategy including product and service updates, job openings, brand news, and behind-the-scenes content that introduces your connections to employee life.

 

Optimising Search Rankings

Like any other website or social network, LinkedIn Company Pages rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). Google processes an estimated 3.5 billion searches each day, so to boost your SEO make sure your Company Page includes these key things:

• A keyword-rich profile
  Use your existing keyword research from blogging efforts to ensure that anyone searching for your industry can find your page.
• A variety of backlinks
  Include your website URL on your company page, include links to places like your careers page in your page posts and encourage followers to share your posts that include links.
• Original and relevant posts and articles
  Share thought leadership posts from LinkedIn or Medium from company executives at a cadence that matches with audience engagement.
• A fully completed profile
  Make sure to include relevant career information for potential job candidates and include a strong about section including things like company mission, values, and what you offer.
• Participation in Groups
  Look up industry-specific groups, professional development groups, and local groups to your area and participate, providing helpful information, discussion, and resources.
• Images
  Add high-quality photos to your page showcasing your product, company culture, and mission. Make sure to have an updated logo and cover image.

 

Original Content

When it comes to posting original content on your LinkedIn Company Page, you may be wondering what benefits it has over the blogging you’re already doing on your company website. In terms of publishing, LinkedIn has evolved massively.

While the ability to publish long-form posts was once reserved for LinkedIn Influencers, now that ability is available to the masses. Take advantage of this tool, when you think of LinkedIn as a publishing platform you are opening your company up to a wider, more engaged audience.

 

What to Post

When it comes to the specifics of what content to share with your connections on your Company Page, let the 4-1-1 rule be your guide; for every one original piece of content you share about your brand, share oneupdate from another source, and four reposted pieces of content published by others.

By following this rule, you are fuelling your Company Page with fresh content without having to create original content from scratch every day. Instead by repurposing blog posts, e-books, webinars etc. from other sources you can be strategic about your posting habits instead of off-the-cuff or burning out trying to write new content every day.

 

Best Practice

Images
LinkedIn recommends adding an image to your posts and has found that several high-quality images perform best.

Video
Live video gets 24 x more engagement than other types of posts. Get creative and enable your sales team to start a dialogue with potential customers from their personal page, then share their posts.

Articles Use LinkedIn’s Content Suggestions tool to find the trending topics in your industry or among your audience.

Page status updates without links Publish PDFs or PowerPoints to share educational, informative content with your audience.

Job postings
Include relevant hashtags and publish job postings to industry groups.

 

Posting Cadence

Posting on LinkedIn is an art form. In order to establish your own posting cadence, start with a week of posting at different times to see when you are the most likely to attract engagement—if you consistently receive the most likes, comments, and reposts when you publish original content in the morning then you know to consistently post in the morning moving forward.

Each audience is different, from their degree of engagement to the hour they consume content. Experimenting with your publishing schedule is critical to establishing a recognizable and effective posting cadence.

Another top tip is to intermittently re-share your own best performing content so any new connections who missed it the first time around will get another chance to engage with it.