Being able to block or hide people on LinkedIn can be useful for controlling your network and who you interact with. Here are some quick answers about blocking on LinkedIn company pages:
Quick Answers
- You cannot directly block someone from viewing or interacting with a LinkedIn Company Page that you manage.
- As a Company Page admin, you can ban/restrict someone from posting or commenting on your Company Page.
- You can block someone’s personal profile so you don’t see their activity, but this doesn’t prevent them from viewing your Company Page.
- The best options for limiting someone’s engagement with your Company Page are adjusting settings, banning them from the page, and using the flagging and reporting tools.
In more detail, LinkedIn does not have a feature to completely block a person from seeing or engaging with a Company Page you manage. The privacy and visibility settings on Company Pages are different than user profiles.
However, as the admin of a Company Page, you do have some options for controlling someone’s ability to interact with that page:
Ban or Restrict User from Company Page
As a Company Page admin, you can ban or restrict a user from posting or commenting on your page. Here is how:
- Go to your Company Page and click “Manage page” at the top.
- Select “Settings” from the menu.
- Go to the “Visitor posts” section.
- Under “Visitor restrictions”, click “Ban visitors”.
- Enter the profile name or URL of the person you want to restrict.
- Select the restriction type: Hide all posts from this visitor or Completely ban this visitor.
- Click “Ban visitor”.
This will prevent the banned person from being able to comment or post on your Company Page. However, it does not stop them from being able to view the page or interact with content in other ways.
Block a User Profile
While you cannot block someone from a Company Page, you can block their personal profile. This means you will not see their profile activity or be notified if they follow you or your Company Page. To do this:
- Go to their LinkedIn profile page.
- Click the “More” icon (three dots) at the top right.
- Select “Block or report”.
- Choose “Block”.
After blocking them, their profile and activity will be hidden from your view on LinkedIn. However, blocking their personal profile does not prevent them from viewing or interacting with your Company Page.
Adjust Company Page Settings
There are some Company Page settings related to visitor posts you can adjust to moderate interactions:
- Pre-moderate posts – Require you to approve all visitor posts before they are visible.
- Restrict commenting – Limit commenting to only followers of your page.
- Turn off visitor posts – Completely disable the ability for anyone to post on your page.
Adjusting these settings can help limit unwanted or irrelevant posts. However, it applies to all visitors, not specific individuals you want to restrict.
Flag or Report Inappropriate Content
If someone is posting inappropriate, offensive, or spammy content on your Company Page, you flag or report the content:
- Click the “More” icon (three dots) on the post.
- Select “Flag as inappropriate” or “Report”.
- Choose the reason for reporting.
- The content will be reviewed by LinkedIn and removed if found to violate guidelines.
Repeated violations could get the user banned from LinkedIn entirely.
Page Visitor and Follower Lists
While you cannot see exactly who is viewing your Company Page, you can see some information about visitors:
- Page Insights shows recent visitor demographics and companies.
- The Followers list shows people who follow your page.
This can help you get a sense of who is engaging with your page. But there is no way to view or control exactly who can access the page.
Conclusions
In summary, LinkedIn does not offer Company Page admins the ability to fully block specific people. The privacy and access settings for Pages are different than for user profiles.
The key takeaways are:
- You can ban a user from posting/commenting but not viewing the page.
- Blocking someone’s profile means you avoid seeing their activity but doesn’t limit their access to your Page.
- Adjusting Company Page visitor post settings can moderate interactions.
- Reporting inappropriate content can get posts removed and users banned.
While not perfect, using these tools in combination gives Company Page admins some control over limiting unwanted activity and interactions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I hide my Company Page from someone?
No, there is no way to hide or block your Company Page from being viewed by specific people on LinkedIn. Company Pages are public profiles meant to be visible to all LinkedIn members. The privacy and access settings for Pages are different than for individual user profiles.
What happens if I block someone on LinkedIn?
If you block someone’s personal LinkedIn profile, it prevents you from seeing their profile, posts, or being notified of their activity. However, it does not stop them from viewing your Company Page or interacting with it from their profile.
Can I prevent a former employee from interacting with my Company Page?
As a Company Page admin, you can ban or restrict a former employee from commenting on or posting on your page. But you cannot fully block them from accessing or viewing your page since Company Pages are public.
How do I deal with a disgruntled customer or employee on LinkedIn?
The best approach is to ban them from posting/commenting on your page, report any harassing or inappropriate content, and avoid publicly engaging with the situation on LinkedIn. You can also document details and consult legal counsel if you feel threatened or harassed.
Visitor Demographics for a Company Page
LinkedIn Page Insights provides data on the demographics of visitors to your Company Page over the past 30 days. This can help give a sense of who is engaging with your page. Here is an example data table:
Demographic | Percentage |
---|---|
Job Title | CEO: 18% |
Director: 12% | |
Manager: 28% | |
Job Function | Operations: 34% |
Engineering: 19% | |
Marketing: 12% | |
Industry | Computer Software: 39% |
Higher Education: 17% | |
Internet: 12% |
This table shows a breakdown of the job titles, functions, and industries of people visiting the page. Company Page admins can use these insights to better understand their audience and tailor content.
Most Common Visitor Companies
In addition to visitor demographics, Page Insights shows the top companies your page visitors are from. Here is an example data table:
Company | Percentage of Visitors |
---|---|
ABC Corp | 18% |
123 Technologies | 16% |
MyBiz Consulting | 12% |
Acme Retail | 9% |
Others | 45% |
This table shows the top companies represented among visitors to your Company Page over the past 30 days. It can give useful insight into what organizations are interested in or engaging with your brand.
LinkedIn Follower Growth Over Time
Analyzing how your LinkedIn Company Page followers grow over time can show the impact of your content strategy. Here is a sample data table of follower count over a 6-month period:
Month | Follower Count | Net Follower Growth |
---|---|---|
January | 2500 | 0 |
February | 2800 | +300 |
March | 3000 | +200 |
April | 3250 | +250 |
May | 3500 | +250 |
June | 3750 | +250 |
Tracking follower growth shows patterns and the impact of content. In this example, follower growth was steady at 250 new followers per month after an initial larger growth in February.
Engagement with Recent Company Page Posts
Analyzing how followers engage with your page content can inform your LinkedIn strategy. Here is a sample data table tracking interactions on recent posts:
Post Topic | Post Date | Likes | Comments | Clicks |
---|---|---|---|---|
New Product Launch | 1/5/2023 | 523 | 205 | 1862 |
Office Expansion | 1/18/2023 | 328 | 109 | 1092 |
Awards Recognition | 1/22/2023 | 127 | 42 | 512 |
Sustainability Efforts | 2/1/2023 | 642 | 332 | 2415 |
DEI Initiatives | 2/15/2023 | 511 | 215 | 1876 |
Analyzing post engagement shows what topics resonate most with your followers. In this example, the sustainability and DEI posts saw the highest levels of engagement.
Benefits of Blocking on LinkedIn
While you cannot completely block someone from accessing a Company Page, blocking profiles does offer some benefits:
- Avoid seeing unwanted or negative activity from that person in your feed.
- Prevent them from following you or interacting with your posts.
- Stop unwanted connection requests or messages from that person.
- Reduce chances of heated exchanges or arguments.
- Improve your LinkedIn experience by customizing who you interact with.
Blocking is a good option for limiting a person’s engagement with your individual profile and network, even if it does not restrict their access to Company Pages.
Key Reasons People Block Others on LinkedIn
There are many reasons people utilize LinkedIn’s blocking feature. Some of the most common include:
Reason | Description |
---|---|
Harassment | Blocking someone who is harassing, threatening, or making unwanted advances. |
Spam | Blocking someone who repeatedly sends unwanted messages or connection requests. |
Ex-employees | Blocking former employees to limit contact and confidentiality risks. |
Competitors | Blocking competing brands who may monitor your activity. |
Toxic connections | Blocking people whose negative attitudes or drama can be detrimental. |
Blocking can help distance yourself from these harmful or undesirable connections on LinkedIn.
Best Practices for Professionals
Here are some best practices on LinkedIn blocking for professionals:
- Be selective about connections – only accept requests from people you want in your network.
- Be proactive about removing inactive or dormant connections periodically to declutter.
- Use blocking judiciously for harmful connections – avoid overuse.
- Be thoughtful about airing grievances publicly – handle conflict professionally.
- Focus conversations on positive networking and opportunities.
Following these tips can help professionals maintain a quality network and productive relationships on LinkedIn.
Best Practices for Companies
Here are some top tips for companies using LinkedIn blocking on branded pages:
- Establish clear comment policies – set expectations for visitors.
- Ban users who repeatedly violate policies from commenting on your page.
- Promptly remove offensive, aggressive, or spammy remarks using moderation tools.
- Publicly respond to negative posts politely and take conversations private.
- Analyze follower demographics and interests to optimize engagement.
Adopting these best practices helps convey professionalism, engage your audience, and sustain a constructive Company Page environment.
The Future of LinkedIn Blocking
Some potential future blocking and privacy developments on LinkedIn could include:
- More granular options for controlling page visibility like friend lists or private pages.
- Ability to remove yourself from another user’s network.
- Options to limit visibility of your own activity and connections.
- Enhanced moderation and restrictions specifically for Company Pages.
- Integration with parent company Microsoft’s access management tools.
Overall, demand for better blocking and privacy controls is increasing. LinkedIn will likely continue enhancing tools to balance open networking with user control over their engagement.