Blog

About

Careers

Contact

Solo's blog provides the resources that microbusinesses, solopreneurs, freelancers, and other super-small businesses need to start, operate, and grow.

Blog for starting, running, and growing your business | Solo.co

Blog - All Posts

In this article:\nClaim your Google My Business listing\nRespond to reviews\nWays to encourage more online reviews\nDon’t incentivize reviews\nTry reputation management software\nOnline reviews are crucial in today’s digital world. They are a huge conversion factor for new customers because they help to set you apart from your competition. Even bad reviews can help you convert more customers to your salon—depending on how you handle them. \nGetting new reviews doesn’t always come easy though. Even though some bad reviews can be good, you don’t want those to be all you get, and happy customers just don’t think to leave reviews as often. So, what can a salon owner do to get a good review?\nLet’s take a look. \nClaim your Google My Business listing\nYou can’t get Google reviews without a Google business listing. It’s also going to be difficult to get new customers without a Google business listing, so this should be an important first step in any business’s digital marketing strategy.\nIf you’re not sure where to get started, check out \nhow to claim your Google business listing\n.\nOnce you have a Google My Business listing for your hair or nail salon and have full access to it, you can then receive and respond to customer reviews. \nRespond to reviews\nAnother important step into getting more reviews and converting new customers is responding to your reviews. This is especially crucial for a business that helps its customers to look and feel better about themselves, whether that’s a barbershop, nail salon, or all-in-one beauty salon. You don’t need bad reviews going without responses. You should always respond to a review within a day or two of receiving it, so make sure your notifications are turned on. \nWhen you get a good review, leave a personalized thank you message for the customer that left it. This will help them feel appreciated and more likely to come back as well as show future customers how friendly and responsive you are. \nWhen you do get a negative review or two (and you will), it’s just as important—if not more so—to respond to them. Let’s say a customer leaves a review about a hairstylist royally messing up their new look. This is your chance to respond and invite them to come back to get it fixed on the house or try to smooth the problem over another way. \nLeaving a professional and friendly response on a negative review helps you look good and shows that you’re willing to resolve issues if they come up. \nEncourage customers to leave reviews\nOkay, here’s the step that shows you how to actively acquire new reviews for your hair or nail salon. Now that you have your listing set up and you’re in the habit of responding to your reviews, it’s time to ask for more. Here are a few ways that we’ve found impactful. \nAsk for reviews\nNot always the most effective, but asking for reviews is still a good way to get reviews on Google. Invite your customers to leave you a review on Google when they are grinning from ear to ear and in love with their new look. This plants a seed in their mind and the next time they’re on Google, they might just take you up on that ask. \nNever ask for a “good” or “positive” review, though. Just let customers know you value their feedback.\nStrategically place “Rate us on Google” signs in your salon\nAdd a visual reminder that your salon is on Google and that you’d love for your customers to leave reviews and engage with you online. A sign on the way out the door or on the mirrors at each booth are a good place for these. \nSend links to customers\nMany salons interact with their customers via text or some other messaging platform. Take advantage of that relationship and use it to ask your customers to leave a review for your salon. This invite should come from their stylist or nail tech and should be appropriately timed. \nSimilar to asking for reviews in person, you want to time the invitation at the opportune moment for your customer, like shortly after they leave their most recent appointment.\nYou can include a short link that directs the customer directly to your Google reviews. Many reputation management solutions offer review invitation features that are well worth considering, too. \nShould I offer rewards or buy positive reviews?\nNever buy reviews or offer incentives for customer reviews. For example, offering to put a customer into a raffle or giving them a gift card for leaving you a good review on Google is a bad business practice. \nThe reason for this, other than it being against Google policies, is that it discredits all of your positive reviews, even if they weren’t all bribed. If people learn that you “paid” customers for reviews, then how can they trust that those are real experiences?\nAlso, if Google does get wind that you’re using these “black hat” practices to get your reviews, they can penalize you by deleting your reviews or removing your salon from its search engine entirely. \nThe best way to get reviews is to provide excellent customer service and to encourage your customers to leave reviews in the ways that we mentioned earlier. 

How to get more Google reviews for your hair or nail salon

In this 5-minute read:\nCheck the timing of the reviews\nWatch for repetition\nLook for generic comments and keyword stuffing\nAre the profiles real people?\nFalse information in reviews\nOnline reviews help us as consumers to sort out reliable businesses, with the best products and services, from those that might provide less than desirable experiences. But with all of the fake profiles and anonymity online, how can you tell if a review is real or fake?\nBoth positive and negative reviews get faked by customers, paid reviewers, competitors, angry former employees, and even businesses themselves. So, to help you sort out the false reviews from the legit ones, we have a few tips that may come in handy. \nWhen looking for fake online reviews, check the timing\nThis first tip can be helpful for catching both positive and negative fake reviews. Check the timing of the reviews. \nDid a bunch of positive reviews all come in within the same 30-minute timeframe, or were there hundreds within a week? This could happen for a couple of different reasons. The business could have paid someone to post a bunch of reviews to promote a new product or service (so check to see if that’s the case). Or maybe the business held a raffle or giveaway in exchange for positive reviews. \nEither way, this screams “fake reviews” and makes it hard for customers to trust the business. Also, practices like this are grounds for businesses to get their online review site accounts removed from most legitimate review platforms.\nOn the flip side, is there a large amount of negative reviews that came in around the same time? Sometimes, even if the first complaint is legit, a disgruntled customer will get their friends and family to all leave negative reviews—even if they’ve never stepped foot in that business. Or that same customer might also create a bunch of fake accounts from which to leave false reviews. \nWatch out for these red flags, and be skeptical of the timing of reviews as you’re researching which companies to do business with. \nWatch out for repetition in fake online reviews\nRepetition is especially common in fake positive reviews. Look at for similar phrasing among reviews, especially those that occur around the same time. See if any words or phrases have been repeated. These could be reviews that were bought and given instructions for, or even a template to use when writing the reviews. \nGeneric comments and keyword stuffing in fake reviews\nThings like generic comments and keyword stuffing are definitely more common among fake positive reviews. Users that leave super-generic comments and/or common keywords related to the business’s services or products give off spammy vibes. \nWhen a business pays someone to leave reviews, especially someone that’s never used their products or services, the reviewers will often post some flowery comments that sound nice but don’t give any real detail as to what they were satisfied with. So look for specifics relating to a particular visit, date, or product to help you sort the fake from the real reviews.\nAlso, keywords in reviews can help businesses show up better on Google for related searches. So reviews with unnatural-sounding keywords could have been orchestrated by the business or their marketing team. \nAnonymous profiles are common in fake online reviews\nSure, some people like to keep their online profiles anonymous for reasons of privacy, but that can make it harder to identify if a review is fake or not. When in doubt, look for the reviews that have photos and names of real people. One of the best ways to weed out the fakers is to check that person’s reviews about other businesses and see if they are identical, or if the person appears legit.\nFake accounts typically don’t upload a photo, or if they do, they’ll use an emoji or cartoon to make it seem more personal. This paired with an obviously fake name is a bad sign.\nAnonymous profiles can be used to write good and bad reviews, so pay attention to the reviews that seem like they are from real people to avoid being misled. \nLook at reviewer profiles \nBeyond fake names and unidentifiable photos, you can look at individual reviewer profiles to help determine if they are a credible review source. \nPeople who have only ever left 5-star reviews could very well be getting paid to leave those reviews. That’s not to say that none of their reviews are legit, but it’s easier to trust reviews that come from someone with a more diverse star rating profile. \nFalse information (read the business owner’s response)\nFalse information in reviews is usually found in negative reviews and is definitely a good indicator of a fake review. There are a few different types of false information we’ve encountered in fake reviews:\nFalse customer.\n Sometimes a competitor or “random” person will post a bad review for a service they’ve never used. The business owner can check their name with their customer database to see if the review came from one of their customers. \nLying about an overcharge.\n Some customers exaggerate how much they were charged for a service when they are upset. \nReviews that don’t make sense.\n Sometimes a customer will leave a review for the wrong business by accident. Their intended recipient of the review may have a similar business name.\nIn any of these cases, check to see if the owner left a response. They can usually provide a little more clarification into situations like these, and can help you determine if the complaint is legit, or just a lie intended to hurt the business.\nResearch the reviewer\nIf you’re feeling especially ambitious and have some time on your hands, you can research the names of the reviewers that you are skeptical of. \nDoes their name match up with an actual person? \nDo they have Facebook profiles, Twitter or LinkedIn accounts, or other social profiles? \nDo they interact with other people on their social accounts?\nDo they have real pictures?\nIf you answer no to these questions, it can get tricky to tell if the review is real or not. Put your trust in the reviews that you know come from real people.\nReport fake reviews you find online\nIf you are highly skeptical of review or have definitive evidence that one is fake, most online platforms have a way to report or flag reviews. Just be careful about doing this too often, because your account can be suspended if you are unjustly flagging reviews. \nGoogle, Amazon, Yelp, and other review platforms will look into these reports and determine if the review is fake. If they decide that it is, they will remove it. This can take several weeks, so don’t expect the review to disappear immediately.\nGo deeper: read our complete guide to \nremoving fake reviews\n

How to spot fake online reviews

In this article:\nFree local advertising ideas for your salon\nClaim your online listings\nCustomer reviews\nSocial media\nWebinars and videos\nShare your knowledge\nAnd much more!\nEvery business needs advertising in order to gain new customers and increase profits. But it isn’t always an easy or inexpensive task to take on. \nWe know how important marketing and advertising is, and we want to help you get started. So, we’ve come up with a list of several free and effective ways that you can advertise your hair or nail salon.\n1. Create and claim your online directory profiles\nTo improve your online visibility and take advantage of the power of online reviews, you first need to create and claim your online directory profiles on Google, Bing, Yelp, and so many others.\nAdding your salon to these directories not only helps you get found by customers who are searching those directories, but it also helps the search engines to verify that your information is accurate across multiple trusted sources.  \nCheck out these tutorials to get started:\nHow to claim your Google My Business listing\nHow to claim your Yelp business listing\nHow to create and claim your free business listing on Yahoo\nHow to create and claim your Bing business listing\nHow to get your business listed with the BBB\nHow to add your business to Citysearch and claim your listing\nHow to create and claim your free business listing on Manta\n2. Get and respond to customer reviews online\nWhen you have your online profiles set up, you can start getting customer reviews on those profiles.\nCustomer reviews are crucial for gaining even more customers for your salon. And the quality of your reviews can really make or break your business. \nHere are a few ways you can encourage your customers to give your salon an online review:\nAsk them for one. After you provide a great service and your client is just thrilled with their new look, ask them if they’d be willing to share their experience with others in a Google or Facebook review. \nPut up “Rate us on Google” signs throughout your salon. These can be on the front door, at the checkout desk, or even cute stickers on the mirrors. This will remind customers that you would love to hear from them. \nText your customers an invitation or reminder to leave your salon a review with a direct link to your Google listing or Facebook page. \nWhen you do start getting reviews, be sure to respond to all of them within a day or two of receiving them. Say “thanks” to those who leave good reviews, and if you ever do receive a bad review, respond politely and professionally.  \nGo deeper: \nHow to respond to negative reviews\n\n3. Set up a free website for your salon\nBeyond your free directory listings, you should absolutely have a website for your salon. And you can totally create one for free!\nSome free sites that we like to use include the following:\nWix\nSquarespace\nGoogle My Business\nKeep in mind that if you do want to have your own domain for your website or will have a web hosting service, you might incur some small fees. But you definitely need a website. Read \nwhy every small business needs to have a website\n.\n4. Improve your local SEO\nSetting up a website and adding your salon to online directories are both key steps to improving your SEO (search engine optimization). This is how you show up higher in the search engines. \nThere are several other free ways that you can improve your SEO:\nWrite awesome content on your website about your staff and services\nStart a blog\nOptimize your website for specific key phrases\nGet other websites to link back to yours\nOnce you’ve done those, check out our guide: \n15 free tips for better local SEO\n \n5. Create a blog on your website\n\nStarting a blog\n is a great way to provide more content that you can use to advertise your salon, and, as we mentioned, it can help improve your SEO too. Adding fresh, new content to your website on a regular basis sends great signals to the search engines. \nHere are a few ideas that you should definitely steal for your blog:\nHow-to articles and videos\nNew trending styles\nHair/nail care tips\nBest new products to try\nNew products you are selling\nAsk your employees if they’d be willing to contribute one or two blog posts every few months and you’ll have plenty of regular content to share. \n6. Get on social media\nWe cannot stress the importance of social media enough. Hair and nail salons can really capitalize on so many opportunities from these free channels. \nMany people are reaching out to salons directly on their social media channels, particularly Facebook and Instagram. \nFor such a visual profession, social media is the perfect place to show off your work and gain new customers who are looking to mix up their style. \nHere are a few tutorials to create your social pages:\nFacebook\nInstagram\nLinkedIn\nTwitter\n7. Partner with local businesses\nPartnering with other businesses in your community can be a powerful strategy for obtaining referrals and new business. You could partner with local bridal boutiques, wedding planners, or even florist shops to offer combined deals on your complimentary services. \n8. Try some email campaigns\nGive email campaigns a try and see how they work with your clientele. Be sure to write a really compelling subject line and keep your email short and to the point. \nThe most successful email campaigns usually offer some kind of promotion or deal for your customers to get it on. \n9. Get in contact with your chamber of commerce\nYour local chamber of commerce is a great resource to take advantage of. They want to help small businesses in their community succeed, so typically they will offer marketing resources and add your salon to their website to help get the word out. \n10. Participate in community events\nVolunteering in your community is the perfect way to get connected with new customers and spread awareness of your salon. People like to see local businesses getting involved and giving back to the community they live in. \nHere are a few ways you can do that:\nVolunteer at a 5k\nParticipate in holiday parades and events\nHelp with city cleanup projects\nProvide free haircuts to veterans\nThere are so many ways you can get involved. Just find the right opportunities for your salon and go for it!\n11. Host webinars and Q&A sessions online\nWebinars and online Q&A’s can help you provide value to customers and non-customers alike. Start a Facebook Live video to share tips about hair care, answer common questions that customers have, or show viewers how to do a certain technique that everyone should be able to do. \nThings like these videos and blog posts that offer some value to others are great ways to show that you know your stuff and that you are passionate about what you do. \n12. Offer fun deals\nEveryone loves a deal. Tap into this reality and get attention. \nOffer cool and fun deals. You could do back-to-school specials, bridal deals, or any number of discounts that work for your client-base. Get creative and start a new promotion to catch people’s attention and get new customers. \n13. Start a referral program for your salon\nLet your current customers advertise for you by creating a referral or customer loyalty program. Offer a discounted service for a current customer if they refer a new client to you, and offer that new client the same deal. \nLearn more with this article: \nThe 6 elements of an effective customer loyalty program\n14. Create short promotional videos \nPeople are visual. That’s why we spend so much time scrolling through social media apps. We like pretty pictures and cool videos. Take advantage of that by creating some promotional videos for your salon that show off your work. \n\nBiteable\n is a popular (and free) video software that we like to use. \n15. Start a YouTube channel for your salon\nCreate a YouTube channel for your salon where you can share all of the cool new videos that you just produced. Tutorials, promotional pieces, webinars–all of those are great for sharing on your YouTube channel. \nLots of people love to look up hair and nail tutorials, so you may even produce a video that goes viral and gives your salon a lot more attention. \n16. Share your salon’s testimonials online\nWhen you get new reviews online, share them. You can share reviews across social media channels or put a review feed on your website. \nYou could also create videos of customers sharing their testimonial of your salon. These appeal to that visual side and help add a more personal touch to your salon by allowing customers to see someone sharing their experience, rather than just reading about it. \n17. Put up flyers\nFlyers still have their place in the advertising world. Create your own flyers to advertise your new promotions or openings at your salon. Place these in high traffic areas like grocery stores, college campuses, and even your own shop. \nCanva\n is a great free resource to use for creating professional flyers. 

17 free local advertising ideas for your hair or nail salon

In this article:\nDo I need a restaurant feedback system?\n3 easy ways to get restaurant customer feedback\nTexting simplifies immediate feedback process\nThe importance of online reviews\nRestaurant customer satisfaction survey\nHow to get useful restaurant customer feedback is an age-old problem for restaurateurs. The operative word here is “useful.” Every restaurant will have some grumpy customers who love to complain and make their opinions heard, and today these diners trumpet their criticisms through reviews on Yelp, Google, TripAdvisor, and OpenTable.\nWhile you can’t (and shouldn’t) ignore these detractors, you need a more comprehensive view of how patrons are experiencing your restaurant. So, how can you get inside your customers’ heads to know what’s working and what isn’t?\nYou don’t really need a specific “restaurant feedback tool.” Here are three easy steps you can implement to know what your customers are thinking.\n1. \nAsk restaurant customers to text you their feedback\nYour customers have opinions about what you’re serving up, and they want to be heard. But, are you getting the message?\nReceiving feedback via text is one of the lowest-lift, simplest ways to interact with your patrons. Consider this: Research shows that 92% of people will stop visiting a restaurant after just one bad dining experience, but 90% say they’ll return to that restaurant if they are able to speak with management.\nToday, most people prefer to communicate via text, particularly if they have anything that might be somewhat negative to say.\nThat’s why texting is a great way to get more restaurant feedback. It gives your patrons the unique opportunity to converse with you directly, which means they’re more likely to tell you exactly how they feel—the good and the bad—so you can improve the customer experience and keep more customers loyal.\nafrican american woman texting customer satisfaction review restaurant\n\n2. \nRemind restaurant customers to post online reviews via Google My Business, TripAdvisor, etc.\nOnline reviews can make or break a restaurant. In fact, research shows that 95% of people look at review sites when choosing a place to dine.\nBasically, online review sites are your new homepage if you run a local restaurant.\nOnline reviews are great sources of customer feedback, and the more you have the more likely it is that new diners will find your business.\nAnd, getting regular reviews is vital, so you need to find a way to encourage customers to share their feedback about your restaurant online. If you don’t have reviews, start taking matters into your own hands. Research shows that 70% of people will leave an online review if asked — so, ask!\nYou might also like: \n4 steps of an effective marketing strategy for your restaurant\n3. \nAsk restaurant customers to complete a feedback/satisfaction survey\nIf you want to delve a little deeper inside of your customers’ minds, creating a restaurant feedback survey is the way to go. Conducting a survey gives you the opportunity to pick a specific area that you want to examine—your customer service, your menu, etc.—and ask your customers questions about it.\nSurveys are also a great way to discover customer trends that you can use in marketing material and to help you make strategic changes. But, it’s not always easy getting customers to complete surveys. Here are a three keys to consider:\nMake it short and sweet.\n No one wants to spend more than a couple minutes responding, so make the survey short and easy to complete.\nMake it accessible.\n Provide a link to the survey on receipts, the menu, your website—put it everywhere. You can also send out an email or include a “leave us feedback” box on your website or app.\nOffer incentives. \nEveryone likes a free drink or dessert. Offer your customers a special reward if they complete the survey, and they’ll be more likely to do it.\nIn the end, customers want to be heard. If you pay attention to what they’re saying, you can improve your business and build a loyal customer base. 

3 easy ways to get restaurant customer feedback

In this 4-minute read:\nDon’t be afraid of skepticism\nHow to tell if a review is fake\nWhy do people post fake reviews?\nWhat’s being done about fake reviews?\nThe most common way to determine whether to shop at a new business is to look at their online reviews, whether those are from Google, Yelp, Facebook, or any other review platform. Sometimes, however, it can be difficult to tell if the reviews we read are real.\nWe’ve all heard of businesses paying for positive reviews, and many people create fake profiles online. So, how do you know if you can trust online reviews for the local businesses you research? \nSkepticism about online reviews is good\nFirst, don’t feel bad if you are skeptical of a particular review or set of reviews. \nFake reviews\n do exist, so you need to trust your instincts, and skepticism is constructive for helping you sort out the trustworthy reviews from those that aren’t. \nThere are all kinds of sketchy practices that businesses use to game the review system, so if you feel that something is off, it’s probably because it is. \nHow to tell if a review is fake\nIt can be difficult to tell is a review is trustworthy, but it all comes back to that skepticism. Be smart and trust your instinct. Pay attention to these signs to see if something feels off about the reviews you are reading:\nAfter not receiving reviews for months, there are suddenly 20 reviews within the span of 30 minutes\nA huge influx of new reviews at the time a new product is released\nRepetitive phrases throughout different reviews\nAnonymous profiles with no image or with images that aren’t of real people\nFalse information about the company\nRead \nhow to spot fake online reviews\n for a more in-depth look. \nYou can also try browser extensions like ReviewMeta and FakeSpot to see what trust ratings they give to the reviews you read. There are tons of resources created to help consumers like you to find good, honest reviews.\nWhy do people or businesses post fake reviews?\nOnline reviews have a powerful impact on businesses. They can help local businesses rank better in the search engines (so they can show up in front of customers like you), and they also have a huge impact on converting new customers to their products and services. \nMost of us read reviews before opting into a new service or committing to a new product. And this is why there is such a huge emphasis on online reviews. Some companies will do anything they can to get your business, even to the point of buying or creating fake reviews. \nWhen a company posts fake reviews or pays someone to post fake positive reviews on their own listings, they are just trying to get you to buy what they’re selling. It’s a “black hat” tactic that goes against most search engines’ guidelines. \nAnother type of fake review is when business owners or employees post fake negative reviews on their competitors’ listings to influence potential customers. This is also against most review platforms’ policies, and can create more confusion about the legitimacy of online reviews. \nWhat is being done about fake reviews?\nWith the amount of false information on the internet, is there even a way to trust \nany\n of the reviews that we read? Fortunately, the search engines and review platforms are dedicated to providing authentic experiences and they each have their own way of handling review scammers. \nYelp and Google both have the ability for any of their users to report suspicious reviews for possible removal by the platform administrators. To learn more, see our \ncomplete guide to removing fake reviews\n, and help report false reviews when you come across them. \nIn addition to the popular search engines and review platforms cracking down and trying to provide the best customer experience for their users, law enforcement and regulatory authorities are taking this type of false information seriously and have put laws into place to protect people from unjust review practices. \nPurposely misleading customers violates federal law and can be grounds for a lawsuit under the Lanham Act, which was enacted by Congress in 1946. The Lanham Act was put into place for trademark registration and protection, but it also covers deceptive advertising practices. \nIn recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) brought a case against fake paid reviews in which a company posted fake reviews on Amazon for a weight-loss supplement. This led to an investigation into their product and huge financial obligations. \nIt is the goal of the FTC to protect and educate consumers, so there are guidelines and laws in place that require these online review platforms to subject to trustworthy practices. As the problem of fake reviews increases, the attention from regulatory authorities and review platforms is also increasing.\nShould I just ignore online reviews?\nDefinitely not. Don’t discount all reviews because of the few that may be misleading. While it may seem there is a huge amount of deception out there, there are a lot of genuine reviews, too. You just need to know the signs to look out for and pay attention to the reviews that come from real profiles, with full names, and photos of real people. \nPay attention to business owners’ responses on Google and Yelp reviews. These can offer you more insight into fake negative reviews and give you more information about how businesses treat their customers. \nOnline reviews can tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly about the businesses you are researching, and that research is important for making sure you get the best customer experience possible. \nReal reviews are valuable to consumers and businesses\nWith more and more news coming out about the FTC and other organizations fighting fake reviews, most local businesses are trying to adhere to trustworthy review practices and provide their customers with feedback from real people. \nYou can help contribute to the solution by sharing your own honest experiences with the businesses you come across.

Can you trust online reviews for local businesses?

In this article:\nWhy use LinkedIn for your business\nHow to set up a LinkedIn business profile\nHow to use LinkedIn to grow your business\nLinkedIn has more than 645 million members worldwide. That’s a lot of people to connect with to help grow your business. \nThe best part is, any business can set up a free LinkedIn account. With the many opportunities that LinkedIn offers to connect you with potential employees and other professionals in your industry, it’s a great tool to utilize for your business. \nWhy use LinkedIn for businesses\nBeyond just the sheer number of people who use LinkedIn on a regular basis, this professional network can provide your business with tons of opportunities, from spreading the word about a new job to connecting with industry leaders and staying up to date on industry news. \nThe three main benefits your business can get from Linked in are as follows:\n1. Build your professional network\nLinkedIn is a powerhouse for connecting with other like-minded professionals. You can follow industry leaders, trending topics for your industry, and gain valuable insight into what other business owners are doing to thrive in their businesses. \n2. Increase your company’s exposure to attract quality employees\nWhen you create a company page on LinkedIn, you have more opportunities to attract quality employees to your business. You can post job opportunities to gain interest from qualified applicants all over the place. \n3. LinkedIn increases your business’s credibility\nWhen customers and potential employees see that your business has a LinkedIn account, that adds another level of trust to your business. LinkedIn is widely known as a professional network, so simply having a company page can boost your trust and help others learn more about your business. \nHow to set up a LinkedIn company page\nNow that you know why LinkedIn is a good idea, let’s get started on creating an account. \nStep 1: Sign up for LinkedIn\nIf you don’t already have a LinkedIn account, you will need to create one. In order to create a company page, you must create a personal LinkedIn account from which to manage your page. \nGo to \nLinkedin.com\n and click “Join now” to sign up for an account. If you already have an account, sign in and proceed to step 2 to create your company page. \n(Image)\n\nStep 2: Create your company page on LinkedIn\nWhen you get logged in to LinkedIn, navigate to the top menu bar and click the “Work” dropdown menu next to your profile picture. \nFrom there, go to the bottom of the new window and click “Create a Company Page.”\n(Image)\n\nYou’ll then be given the option to select the type of page you wish to create. \nThe options include:\nSmall business (for fewer than 200 employees)\nMedium to large business (for more than 200 employees)\nShowcase page (a sub-page for an existing business page)\nEducation institution (for schools and universities)\nSelect the appropriate page for your business–for most of you, this will be the “small business” option. \n(Image)\n\nNext, you need to add all of your company information. This includes:\nBusiness name (make sure this is the same name you use across all of your company’s online listings)\nA unique URL (you can put your company name here if it’s available)\nBusiness website\nYour industry\nCompany size\nCompany type\nCompany logo (for profile photo)\nTagline\nWhen you have filled out all of your information and added a photo, click “Create page.”\n(Image)\n\nStep 3: Complete your profile\nNow that your company page is created, there are a few things you can do to really round out your LinkedIn profile. \nFirst, add a cover photo. A picture of your location or something that represents your business well should go here. \n(Image)\n\nNext, let’s add a little more information about your company. Click the pencil icon below your cover photo to edit your business info. \n(Image)\n\nIn the next window that pops up, you can first update “Page info.” This is your profile picture, the name of your company and a tagline. You would have entered all of these when creating the page, but if you want to switch anything up, you can do that here. \n(Image)\n\nThen move down to “Buttons.” This allows you to add a custom button to the header of your company page. Click the toggle from “Off” to “On,” select a button name, and enter the URL that you want your button to go to. \nThis could be a contact page on your website, a careers page, or whatever you feel is relevant for the goals of your LinkedIn account. Click “Save” and move to the “About” section. \n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nUnder “Overview,” you can and should enter a description of your company to help others know what you do. Add your website too if you haven’t done this already and enter your business phone number. \nYou’ll see that your industry, company size, and company type are all filled in from when you created the page. Now you can add the year your company was founded and up to 20 specialties–these can be unique services you offer and the qualities that your company exudes. \n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nOn to locations. This is where you can add your address to help potential employees and customers find your business easier. \nClick “Add a location” and then fill in the fields for your address. \n(Image)\n\n(Image)\n\nNext, add community hashtags to your profile. This will help you see when others are posting about your interests, industry, and brand. Stay in the know by adding relevant hashtags and sharing the content you find with your community. \n(Image)\n\nFinally, add featured groups to your page to show your followers what groups you are involved with and/or interested in. This can say a lot about your company and will help convey the right messages to your connections. \n(Image)\n\nNow your profile is complete! The only thing that’s left it to start posting. Read on to learn more about how you can utilize posts and other features to help grow your business. \nHow to use LinkedIn to grow your business\nLinkedIn has some pretty cool features that your business should definitely take advantage of. We’ve listed a few to help you get started on improving your LinkedIn profile and growing your business. \n1. Content suggestions\nWhen you are on your LinkedIn company page, there’s an option near the top that says “Content Suggestions.” This feature is great for when you aren’t quite sure what to post or share on your page. \n(Image)\n\nClick this and then add filters based on industry, location, and employee level to find the kind of content you’d like to share. Click “View content suggestions,” and LinkedIn will generate a list of content that others have already posted. \nBrowse through this list and share the content that speaks to you and your business. \n2. Job postings\nYou can create job listings from your company page, and LinkedIn will help put your post in front of the most qualified candidates. \nThis feature is not free, but it is so helpful for finding the best job applicants. You need to pay a small daily fee in order to put your job post in front of candidates on LinkedIn. LinkedIn will provide a recommended daily budget based on the type of job you post. The average job post budget ranges from $10-$30 per day. \n3. Analytics and activity reporting\nLinkedIn shows your page’s analytics and the actions that people have taken on your page. With analytics, you can see how many page views, unique visitors, and followers you’ve had and filter these by dates and demographics. \nThe activity reporting will tell you how people have engaged with your company profile and content. If they’ve mentioned your brand, shared or reacted to your content, or commented on your posts, you’ll be notified of it. \nThese reports can help you to know what you’re doing right and where you can make improvements with your page. 

62 articles found in “Reviews”

How to get more Google reviews for your hair or nail salon

How to spot fake online reviews

17 free local advertising ideas for your hair or nail salon

3 easy ways to get restaurant customer feedback

Can you trust online reviews for local businesses?

How to create a LinkedIn business account

Recommended

How to spot fake online reviews

25 free business listing websites every small or local business should be on (Updated for 2022!)

How much does it cost to rent space for a small business?

The 6 elements of an effective customer loyalty program

Important market research questions to ask before starting a new business