With digitisation and technological advances spreading through the market like wildfire, the internet is not only a place for start ups and high profile businesses but also plays a vital role in the growth and development of small businesses that exist in our society. These businesses have often been mistaken to have existed solely in the local networks and are based on physical transactions of goods, services and commercials but little do we think about how the digital world can help these small timers grow and expand to new heights. Today, let us look at one of the most prominent mediums of growth and expansion for small time businesses, the online social media platform, LinkedIn and how it can benefit these groups.

SEO optimised company pages- Your LinkedIn company page profile should comply with the latest SEO Trends to attract more customers to your profile. About 87 percent of all the sales start off a search engine so it becomes a necessity to plan your small business page in such a way that search results lead to your LinkedIn profile. This ensures your presence on the internet and adding a PPC(pay per click) campaign to your company page will only lead your consumers to finding you online. This affects your online presence and increases your findability on the platform. Adding keywords in you content such as headlines, blogs and status updates is necessary.

LinkedIn Groups- While. It is pretty obvious that your company already has a local network and market, becoming a member of local groups in LinkedIn expand your reach and help you connect with more local clients. So, joining all relevant LinkedIn groups and being an active member without any promotional approach can help you connect with customers, dealers and competitors. While this grows your network, this also increases your accessibility to the customers, hence, leading to better sales than expected.

LinkedIn as a blogging platform- Blogging has become a prime medium to convey the message to a wide audience. People are influenced by blog posts, hence, it is necessary to not only blog and post on you company pages and websites but also use LinkedIn as platform to blog and tell the consumers about your services and products. Being the new content networking tool, blog posts not only increase your credibility as a company but also spread your outreach and get more people to find you through shares and views.

Stay active- Being a medium of reaching to your audience, LinkedIn needs a planned approach to get more people to visit your small business company page and learn more about your products. This can only happen through a constant supply of content and status updates to strengthen your presence and increase the communication between the company and its consumers. An average of 6-8 status updates are advised per day and the best time is between 6AM to 12AM.

So, it is pretty clear that a medium like LinkedIn can provide great results for small businesses and help them expand their network. A few simple rules and one can see the effects of the same.