A small business needs both, just not in equal measure. The company Page is proof that the business exists and the place your team links to. The founder's profile is where conversations start, because on LinkedIn people talk to people. So most of your time goes into the profile, while the Page stays up to date and connected to it.
What each one is
LinkedIn puts it simply: a profile represents a person, a Page represents an organization. The differences that matter in practice:
| Your profile | Company Page | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is | you, under your real name | the business |
| How people keep up | connections and followers | followers only |
| Who runs it | just you | several admins |
| Messages | direct, person to person | through the Page, if you turn them on |
You can't create a Page without a personal profile, and a profile can't be converted into a Page. So don't set up a personal account under the company name. LinkedIn's guidance asks that the profile you create the Page from use your real first and last name.
Why conversations start with the profile
The owner of a construction company looking for a supplier doesn't message a logo. They message the person who posted a site photo last week with two lines about what went wrong and how the crew fixed it. A profile has three things a Page doesn't:
- connections: up to 30,000 direct connections, with unlimited followers;
- direct messages, with no one in between;
- comments: when you comment on posts by clients or partners, your name and face show up, not a logo.
What you post matters more than how often. Real work, a problem you solved, a question clients keep asking you. We wrote about keeping posts from sounding like ads in our article on Instagram posts. The same rules apply here.
What the Page is still good for
The Page works in the background, but it does work:
- it's the background check: a client who wants to know whether you're legit looks up the Page. An empty Page, or one abandoned in 2021, says something, and not what you want;
- it gathers the team: employees can list it as their workplace on their profiles, so the company shows up with the right logo and name;
- it has several admins: LinkedIn recommends adding more than one super admin, so the Page doesn't get stuck when someone leaves or loses access to their account;
- it looks complete: LinkedIn says fully completed Pages get about 30% more weekly views on average.
Fill it in once: logo, cover image, a two- or three-sentence description, website, address, industry. Then post rarely, but regularly.
How to connect the two
- In your profile headline, say what you do and for whom, and under experience pick the company Page so the logo appears.
- The important post (a finished project, a new hire) goes out from your profile. The Page reshares it.
- Invite relevant connections to follow the Page. Pages get monthly invitation credits, shared by all admins and renewed on the first of the month. When someone accepts, the credit comes back. Only invite people who actually work in your field, so you don't waste them.
- Turn on two-step verification for every admin account, as LinkedIn also recommends.
A realistic pace
For a busy founder, two profile posts a week, ten minutes of commenting a day and one Page post a week is enough to have a presence. More is good; less is still better than a profile with no activity at all.
Sources
- Differences between a LinkedIn profile and a LinkedIn Page, LinkedIn Helpperson versus organization, Page admins, a profile can't be converted into a Page
- Create a LinkedIn Page best practices, LinkedIn Helpreal name on the profile, multiple super admins, two-step verification, about 30% more views for complete Pages
- Network size limit, LinkedIn Helpthe 30,000 connection limit and unlimited followers
- Invitation limits for your LinkedIn Page, LinkedIn Helpmonthly invitation credits, shared by admins and returned on acceptance
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