LinkedIn has proven itself to be the place to do business online thanks to its growing suite of features. More than two million companies have already discovered the value of being listed in LinkedIn’s “Companies” directory.

Company Pages provide a useful way for potential customers to connect with you, and for future employees to follow you. Follow the steps below to make sure you’re using your LinkedIn Company Page to its full potential.

What Are Company Pages?

A LinkedIn Company Page gives you an overview of what a given company is all about, and gives you access to that company’s latest news and statistics.

To find a company on LinkedIn, sign in to LinkedIn.com, and click “Companies” from the site’s main navigation. From the drop-down menu you can search companies, see a list of companies you’ve recently worked for, and a list of companies you’re following.

Company Pages feature a logo, description, and a list of employees in the main area of the page. You may also see the company’s Twitter and LinkedIn activity in this area.

Further details are outlined on the right-hand side of a company’s page. There you’ll find more statistical data, like how you’re connected to that company, statistics from LinkedIn about employees, mentions in the news, type and size of the company, website, industry, when it was founded, a map to its headquarters, and stock prices.

Who Can Edit a Company Page?

Information for a company is aggregated from multiple user’s profiles and populated into a Company Page. However, you can also edit and update the information on these pages if you’re authorized to do so.

In order to have the ability to edit, you must meet the following criteria:

• Be a current employee and have that position listed in your LinkedIn Profile
• Ensure the company name listed in your Profile is associated with the Company Page. To do so, edit your profile and make sure you select your Company from the drop-down menu, instead of simply typing it into the text field
• Confirm your company email address within your LinkedIn Profile. Note that your company’s email domain name must be unique to the company to be able to edit the Company Page

How to Edit Your Company’s Information

Once you’ve met the above criteria, you should now be able to edit your Company Page. At the top-right of your page, you’ll see a blue drop-down menu called “Admin tools.” The drop-down menu offers two choices: “Edit” or “Promote my company.” Choose Edit.

The Edit page allows you to update the company logo, description, specialties, Twitter ID, RSS feed, and choose whether or not you want company news to display. You can update the company’s location or even add additional locations. You can also update the company type, size, URL, industry, operating status, and the year it was founded.

Should you prefer to limit who administers your page, you can do so. There is an option to allow everyone with the company’s email domain name to update the page, or you can limit editing access to specific people within the company.

Additional Functionality: Careers, Products & Services, Ads, and Analytics

A Careers section can be added to your Company Page. You can post a job by clicking the “Careers” tab located at the top of your Company Page. Job postings you create will show up in a “Careers” tab on your Company Page and will also be listed in LinkedIn’s Jobs section. You can post also post a job on LinkedIn from $195 for a 30-day listing.

The next tab you can update is “Products & Services.” You can promote what your business has to offer by clicking the yellow “Add a product & service” button and filling in the form in found in this section. This will add a “Products & Services” tab to your Company Page. The form allows you to choose whether or not you’re promoting a product or service, the category and name of the product or service, an image, description, disclaimer, URL, contact names, as well as a YouTube video.

The last tab on your Company Page is “Analytics.” As an administrator of the page, you can see some statistics about your Page, including page views, unique visitors, how many users have clicked on your Products & Services, how many users have followed your Page over time, and user visits by industry, job function, and company.

Finally, you can promote your company with a LinkedIn ad. From the “Admin tools” drop-down menu in the main section of your Company Page, choose “Promote my company.” You can provide an image, link, and text for a LinkedIn ad campaign. Ads you purchase will show up throughout the ad placement areas on LinkedIn.com.

Adding a Company Page

There may be more than two million companies listed on LinkedIn, but if you run a small business or company you may find that yours is not yet in the directory. If you meet the above criteria that LinkedIn has set out for those who want to edit a page, you can also add a page.

To add a page, go to “Companies” in LinkedIn’s main site navigation.

At the top-right of the page, you’ll see a link that reads, “Add a Company.” You’ll be asked to fill in the name of the company and your company email address. You’ll also be asked to click a check box to verify you’re an official representative of the company.

An email will be sent to your company with further instructions on how to complete your Company Page.

How Do You Use Your LinkedIn Company Page?

If you’ve spent time updating and administering your Company Page, we’d like to hear from you. Share your success stories by posting a comment, below.

[Image credit: Coletivo Mambembe]