With more than 810 million users, LinkedIn is the number-one spot for members to network professionally, ask and answer questions, post and find jobs, and demonstrate thought leadership. As a marketing tool, LinkedIn is one of the most effective places to find and engage with decision-makers who could be interested in your products and services. In fact, users rank LinkedIn as the number-one platform for lead generation, making it a powerful (but often overlooked) tool for marketers to connect with an extensive pool of potential customers.

Whether you are looking to build your personal or business following, LinkedIn can help you amplify your brand, make meaningful connections and position you as a leader in your industry. But all of this is possible only if your page gets seen. A strong following is the key to organically growing your LinkedIn footprint. The more followers you have, the more they will interact, and the more followers you will gain in turn.

Tips for Growing Your LinkedIn Following

Here are some activities to help you grow your LinkedIn profile’s visibility and performance.

1. Complete your LinkedIn page. Before doing anything else, make sure your LinkedIn page is complete, unique and appealing to your target audiences. Pages with complete information get more than 30 percent more views, so be sure to flesh out your page with a logo (or headshot), banner image, overview with searchable keywords, and organization information including URL. For maximum impact, add a call-to-action button and track engagement statistics in the administrator’s view.

2. Optimize your page for search engines. A few simple tweaks will increase the chances of your page showing up in a user’s web search. Include a tagline that incorporates keywords and conveys your “elevator pitch.” Create a strong “About” section to communicate your organizational mission, values, product and services overview, and corporate distinction. Again, make sure your profile is complete and includes all relevant contact information, company details and a link to your website. By reviewing and updating your page regularly, you will keep it relevant to visitors and appealing to search engines.

3. Post frequently. Maintaining a steady flow of fresh content will give your page increased visibility on follower feeds. Pages that post at least twice a week see as much as two times the engagement of less-active pages. When you post a blog on your website, add that post to your LinkedIn page. Do you have articles by company thought leaders that published in magazines or media outlets? Post those to your page as well. LinkedIn can support a variety of content types including infographics, videos, webinars and podcasts, so leverage various mediums on the platform to keep users engaged.

4. Encourage and respond to comments. The LinkedIn algorithm favors posts that earn large numbers of likes and comments, increasing the reach of your post. While not every comment warrants a response, it’s good practice to reply to questions or contributions to posts. To get a conversation started, tag strategic partners with the @ sign and ask them to weigh in on a topic that could benefit from their expert opinion.

5. Encourage employee interaction. A company’s team members can be its strongest allies on LinkedIn. Whenever you post content, select the option to notify employees. When they share that post within their networks, and their followers become your followers, it can provide a big boost to your page.

6. Join and participate in relevant groups. LinkedIn groups can be an excellent place to find and interact with other thought leaders, clients and prospects. Identify and join groups relevant to your target audiences. Share meaningful posts within those groups and comment on posts from others. Some posts may require review by a moderator prior to being shared with the group. Review group activity levels regularly and leave or join groups as dynamics change.

7. Invite connections to follow your page. Content administrators can invite their first-degree connections to follow their company’s page. Using the admin tools, select “invite connections” and choose contacts to receive an invitation request. LinkedIn does limit the number of follow requests allows each month. Here’s a breakdown of how the credit system works.

8. Add a “follow” button to your website, blog and newsletters. To make it easy for users to follow your page, install the Follow Company Plugin to your website and include it on your home page, blog and other pages.

Grow Your Brand’s Influence and Impact

An individual’s or brand’s LinkedIn page is one of the most influential elements of their social media community. While many brands choose to focus on Twitter, Instagram and even Facebook, LinkedIn represents the world’s largest professional network and an ever-growing source of leads and information. Investing just a little time and energy into its success will go a long way to organically establish brand presence, build a following and create meaningful interactions with target audiences.