LinkedIn company pages have become an essential tool for businesses to establish their online presence, showcase their products and services, attract talent, and connect with customers. However, not just anyone can create a LinkedIn company page. LinkedIn has specific requirements that must be met in order to create an official company profile.
LinkedIn Company Page Requirements
To create a LinkedIn company page, you must be an official representative of the company and be able to prove it. Here are the basic requirements:
- You must use a business email address associated with the company domain (e.g. [email protected]). Personal email addresses are not permitted.
- The business email address must also match the website domain. For example, if the website is company.com, the email should be [email protected] or [email protected].
- You must be able to verify ownership of the company website and domain. LinkedIn will send a verification email to the website contact address with instructions on how to confirm ownership.
- The website must be publicly accessible. Private or “coming soon” pages cannot be verified.
- Your personal LinkedIn profile must accurately represent your position and role at the company.
Additionally, to maintain an active company page on LinkedIn, the company must have at least one employee with a LinkedIn profile associated with their business email address. Company pages without any employee accounts linked to them will be marked as unclaimed.
Why LinkedIn Has These Requirements
LinkedIn has put these requirements in place for a few important reasons:
- To maintain trust and credibility – By requiring verification, LinkedIn ensures company pages are created by real organizations and not impersonators.
- To establish authenticity – The verification process validates that the company page creator genuinely represents the business.
- To prevent abuse – Requiring a business email and proof of ownership prevents fake or spammy pages from being created.
- To connect employees – Employees linked to the company page establish its legitimacy and help generate engagement.
Overall, LinkedIn’s goal with these requirements is to provide a trusted platform for professional networking and only allow official organizations to create branded pages.
How to Verify a LinkedIn Company Page
The process to verify a LinkedIn company page includes these essential steps:
- Sign up for a LinkedIn account using an official company email address (e.g. [email protected] or [email protected]).
- Go to LinkedIn’s admin center and select “Create a Company Page”. Choose to create a new page.
- Enter the company name, website URL, business email address, and your contact details.
- Agree to LinkedIn’s terms of service.
- LinkedIn will send a verification email to the website contact address. Open the email and click on the verification link.
- On the website, place the HTML verification tag provided on the contact or “About Us” page.
- LinkedIn will detect the verification tag and confirm ownership of the domain.
- Once verified, customize the company page with a logo, images, products, and detailed company information.
- Publish the page and ensure employees link their profiles to it in their work experience section.
The verification process usually takes 2-3 business days after placing the HTML tag. LinkedIn will notify you once the company page has been officially approved and verified.
Maintaining the Company Page
To keep your LinkedIn company page active, be sure to:
- Regularly log in and engage with the page. LinkedIn may remove inactive pages.
- Promptly respond to any messages or comments from followers.
- Update the page with new products, content, jobs, events, and company news.
- Keep employee profiles connected and their employment status current.
- Monitor follower growth and analytics to optimize the page.
Well-maintained company pages demonstrate an active presence and genuine interest in connecting with customers and talent.
Type of Organizations That Can Create Pages
LinkedIn allows pages to be created for these main organization types:
- Companies – Well-established corporations, small businesses, startups, agencies, retailers, manufacturers, etc. Must have an official registered business name.
- Nonprofit organizations – Charities, foundations, associations, social enterprises, cooperatives, etc. Must be a registered legal entity.
- Government agencies – Local, state/provincial, or federal government departments and institutions.
- Educational institutions – Accredited universities, colleges, vocational schools, training centers, and other places of learning.
- Health organizations – Hospitals, medical centers, clinics, healthcare providers, and medical associations.
Unincorporated groups or individuals cannot create company pages. There must be an official establishment with a business registry profile.
Who Can Publish Content on Company Pages?
Only authorized organization representatives who manage the LinkedIn page can publish content through the official admin account. Other employees can engage and share posts, but they cannot directly post unless given admin access. Here are the typical roles:
- Admins – Marketing managers, social media strategists, recruiters, executives, communications leaders, etc. Have full access to post, manage settings, analyze data, and add admin roles.
- Employees – All staff members who have Linked profiles associated with their company email address. Can engage with posts but cannot publish unless made an admin.
- Followers – LinkedIn members who follow the company page. Can comment and share but not post or manage settings.
The admins control the messaging and content strategy for the company page. All posts either need direct approval from an admin or be authored by them.
How Many People Can Manage A Page?
There are no set limits on the number of admin users who can manage a LinkedIn company page. However, it is recommended to keep the admin team small for consistency. Here are some best practices:
- 1-2 admins for small businesses
- 3-5 admins for medium-sized companies
- 5-10+ admins for large enterprises
With multiple admins, it is important to:
- Define admin roles and responsibilities clearly
- Coordinate posting schedules to avoid duplicating content
- Maintain brand voice, messaging, and content strategy
- Leverage each admin’s unique expertise and networks
More admins allow you to share the workload and tap into diverse skills. But too many admins can dilute the messaging and content quality. Find the right balance for your needs.
Can Partners or Investors Create A Page?
Partners, investors, stakeholders, or other external entities cannot create or directly manage the official company page unless given admin access. However, they can:
- Suggest or provide content assets like articles, images, infographics etc. for admins to publish after review.
- Repost and share content published by the admins to extend its reach.
- Comment and engage with followers, driving further engagement.
- Provide input on content strategy and ideas on how to improve the page.
While partners can add value in many ways, the core control of the company page should remain with internal organization employees who are officially accountable for it.
Should Each Location Have Its Own Page?
For multi-location businesses like retailers, restaurants, hotels, etc. LinkedIn recommends having a single unified company page versus separate pages for each location. Here are the reasons why:
- A unified page allows followers to get a full overview of the company vs. just one local branch.
- Content reaches followers across regions vs. just one area.
- Overall engagement and follower growth increase with one robust page.
- Easier to maintain one page with centralized admins vs. many pages.
The single page can still highlight key regional information like location-specific jobs, events, contacts, and localized content. Having sub-pages for each location divides the audience. A unified page Build your audience in one authoritative destination.
Should Each Brand Have Its Own Page?
For companies with multiple brands and business units, creating separate LinkedIn pages for each prominent brand can make sense. Potential reasons to have independent brand pages:
- Brands operate independently and need unique messaging.
- Brands sell to different target audiences and segments.
- Brands want to establish their own identity and following.
- A single combined page would be too confusing or diluted.
However, the brands must be clearly distinguished divisions with their own websites and domains. Small offshoot products or brands should remain under the master corporate page.
Should I Merge Duplicate Pages?
If your company inexplicably has multiple LinkedIn pages, merge and consolidate them as soon as possible. Reasons to merge duplicate or redundant pages include:
- Prevent confusing followers by directing them to one destination.
- Focus engagement on a single authoritative page.
- Combine followers so content reaches a bigger audience.
- Eliminatecompetition between duplicate pages.
- Present a clear, consistent brand image.
Find the page with the most followers and activity to be the master. Redirect all other pages to the main page and notify followers. Consolidate any unique content from alternate pages onto the master page.
Can I Rename My Company Page URL?
LinkedIn allows company page admins to change the unique URL of the page if needed. Reasons you may want to rename the page URL include:
- The company name has changed (e.g. due to rebranding).
- The current URL uses an outdated company name.
- The URL contains words you want to remove.
- You want a simpler or shorter URL format.
To rename the page URL on LinkedIn:
- Click Admin tools > Company Page URLs.
- Select your current page URL.
- Click the Edit button.
- Enter up to 100 characters for the new custom URL.
- Save the changes.
The updated URL will go live immediately. Redirects are put in place from old URLs to the new one. All existing links will still function. But any new shares should use the new URL.
Can I Transfer A Page to Another Account?
LinkedIn does not have a direct way for admins to transfer a company page from one account to another. But you can request ownership to be switched using these steps:
- Have the current owner remove all other admins from the page.
- The owner makes the new admin the only account associated with the company email and domain.
- The owner deactivates their LinkedIn account.
- The new admin logs in and can now claim the page through verification steps.
- Verify domain ownership again when prompted.
Essentially, control has to be fully relinquished by the old account and verified under the new one. Coordinate with the current owner before they deactivate their account.
Can I Delete My Company Page?
LinkedIn pages can be permanently deleted if required. Some reasons you may need to remove a company page include:
- The business has closed down.
- Merging duplicate pages.
- Creating a new page due to rebranding.
- Removing unofficial pages created without authorization.
To delete a LinkedIn page:
- Click Admin Tools > Company Page URLs
- Select the page you want to delete.
- Choose Delete page and confirm again.
The page and all associated data will be immediately and permanently removed. The action cannot be undone so only delete pages if absolutely essential.
Creating Company Pages on LinkedIn – Benefits and Best Practices
Here is a summary of the main benefits of creating an official LinkedIn company page and some best practices to optimize it:
Benefits | Best Practices |
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Creating a company page on LinkedIn provides many benefits, but only if you put in the work to optimize it. Follow best practices to maximize the value of your branded presence on LinkedIn.
Conclusion
In summary, while any LinkedIn user can create a personal profile, only official company representatives can create branded business pages on the platform. LinkedIn has requirements and a verification process in place to validate authentic organizations. This prevents impersonation and maintains the integrity of company pages. Any type of registered business, government entity, nonprofit, or educational institution can create a page, as long as they prove ownership of their domain and website. With the right strategy, actively managed LinkedIn company pages become valuable marketing assets that engage audiences.