LinkedIn showcase pages are a great fit for many businesses. For example, a company like Toyota can have its company page and has the resources to manage showcase pages for its lines of SUVs, trucks, sedans and many other offerings. While many small businesses can also benefit from showcase pages, many are not going to have the type of product line needed to take advantage. Small businesses need to analyze the benefits and drawbacks of showcase pages and decide if they’re worthwhile.
LinkedIn defines showcase pages as “extensions of your company page designed for spotlighting a brand, business unit, or initiative.” Showcase pages are not without advantages. If a company is trying to reach out to separate segments of its audience, showcase pages are a great solution. Showcase pages are also a great opportunity to improve SEO. It creates a platform where one’s keywords can again be added, increasing exposure of targeted SEO words. LinkedIn allows for up to 10 showcase pages per company page, and the page owner may also create an SEO-friendly name for the webpage link that does not necessarily include the company name. For example, if one were in the widget making business, one could have a URL for their showcase page as https://linkedin.com/company/widgetmaker.
Despite this benefit, utilizing showcase pages can present a challenge. Even if the small business has different segments, separating the segments out is a challenge. The social media manager must figure out whether the content should be on the company or the showcase pages and has worries that followers who only follow the company or showcase page might miss out on some marketing meant to be seen by all followers. Customers may even think they’re following a company page, when in fact, it’s just a showcase page. With a showcase page, companies have to start over in a sense, as showcase pages are compelled to attract followers separate from the company page. The pages could easily increase the social media workload by double, triple or perhaps more without a corresponding improvement in customer experience.
So, when should a small business utilize showcase pages? If a business needs to increase its web exposure and improve their SEO metrics to appear in a higher place on search engines, showcase pages can help with that. Outside of the SEO benefits, the advantages for small business showcase pages are limited. Any small business who chooses to utilize showcase pages should proceed cautiously, working to improve SEO without confusing their customers.
HEALY WRITING (PROSE 4 SEO) 