By bbr

by Kelly Googe Lucas, marketing and social media manager

Hey, guess what? Another social media platform is changing its look. Shocking, I know. LinkedIn has announced via their blog that they will be rolling out a new design and additional features for company profile pages. Currently, it’s pretty much the heavy hitters that are getting first dibs on the new design. These include companies like Philips, Citi and American Express, to name a few. (Please note: you must be logged into your LinkedIn account in order to view the new pages.) The rest of us will gain access to the updated design over the next several months.

The new look was created with the notion of giving visitors a more visually appealing landing page, one that can become an extension of their formal websites. Currently, companies are able to upload a few small versions of their logos, create an About section, post company status updates to followers, add service and product listings and post job openings. These will all stay the same.

The big difference is in the appearance. The look is reminiscent of the updated home page look that LinkedIn rolled out a few weeks ago. Currently, the About section is located at the very top of the profile page and Products and Services are found via tab that is also near the top of the page. Services and Products will now be found over in the right side bar and the About section has been dropped to the very bottom of the page. I’m not so sure these are the best ideas. For many, the right side bar is synonymous with advertisements. It took me a several moments to realize that the box I was looking at was legitimate content on Products and Services and not another tricky advertising banner. Placing the About section at the very bottom doesn’t seem conducive to a quick introduction for someone learning about your company for the first time. Let’s face it – people don’t like to scroll anymore. It may be lazy but it’s the truth, so why make it more difficult for profile visitors to learn about a company?

Companies can now add banner images to the tops of their profile pages. Prior to the update, companies had a small logo box and that was it. Having a banner image will bring many new opportunities for branding. Additionally, there will be more customizable visual elements for the careers sections of business pages, but again, just for a select few for now. To see that new look, visit the Unilever and Expedia business career pages.

Overall, the new look for LinkedIn business profiles is aesthetically more appealing than the bland, fairly unbrandable version that most of us have right now. It’s definitely more inviting, which is what you want if you’re trying to attract new business and referrals. That being said, I think the Products and Services section and About copy would have been better served by being as accessed through tabs across the top instead of relegated to the bottom and the side bar. It’s a small detail, but an important one.

Now that you’ve had a chance to view the new business pages, what do you think? Will you do anything differently with your profile that you couldn’t before? We’d love to hear your feedback.