Is it free to set up a LinkedIn business account?

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 810 million members worldwide. While a basic LinkedIn account is free for individuals, LinkedIn also offers business accounts with additional features suited for companies and organizations.

Is a LinkedIn business account free?

No, LinkedIn business accounts are not free. There are three paid tiers of LinkedIn business accounts:

• LinkedIn Business Starter: $9.99/month
• LinkedIn Business Plus: $34.99/month
• LinkedIn Business Executive: $79.99/month

Each tier builds on the features of the previous one and offers increased capabilities for managing a brand presence, showcasing products and services, targeting promotions, and analyzing metrics and insights. There is no free version of a LinkedIn business account.

What do you get with a LinkedIn business account?

LinkedIn business accounts come with several benefits not available on free personal accounts. Key features include:

• Company Profile – Showcase your brand, products/services, location, videos, jobs and more.
• Sponsored Content – Promote posts and target them to your ideal audience.
• Job Postings – Recruit talent right from LinkedIn.
• Analytics – Gain data and insight on content performance, followers, page views and more.
• Lead Generation – Collect leads from LinkedIn with lead gen forms.

Higher tiers unlock greater capabilities like more targeted advertising, LinkedIn integration directly in your CRM, and premium support.

What are the key differences between LinkedIn business account tiers?

Here is an overview of what is included at each tier of a paid LinkedIn business account:

As shown, higher tiers unlock more sophisticated advertising tools, expanded job listings, lead gen forms, and premium support.

What types of businesses benefit from a LinkedIn business account?

Here are some examples of businesses that can derive value from a LinkedIn business account:

• B2B companies – Reach a targeted professional audience for your products or services.
• Recruiters and staffing firms – Promote open positions and find qualified candidates.
• Thought leaders/consultants – Establish yourself as an industry expert.
• SaaS and tech firms – Promote your software/apps to the right decision makers.
• Agencies – Showcase client work and attract new business.
• Publishers and media – Expand readership and subscriptions.

Essentially, any business that wants to reach other businesses and professionals can benefit from the marketing, advertising, recruithing, and branding capabilities provided by a LinkedIn business account.

Is a business account required to create a LinkedIn Company Page?

No, having a business account is not required to create a LinkedIn Company Page. Any user can create a Company Page on LinkedIn and get access to basic analytics about followers and page visits. However, only business accounts can unlock additional Company Page features like:

• Showcase Pages – Promote products, services, content, etc.
• Analytics by audience – See viewers by seniority, industry, job function, etc.
• Lead gen forms – Generate leads from your Company Page.
• Spotlight ads – Sponsored profile branding.

So a free personal account lets you create a basic Company Page, but a business account enables more robust options.

Can you convert a personal LinkedIn account to a business account?

Yes, you can convert an existing personal LinkedIn account to a business account. Here are the steps:

1. Go to your LinkedIn Settings and click “Upgrade to a Business Account” under Account Upgrade.
2. Select the type of business account you want: Business Starter, Business Plus, or Business Executive.
3. Enter your business information like name, website, size, and industry.
4. Agree to the LinkedIn Business Services Agreement.
5. Enter your payment details to activate your new business account.

Once these steps are completed, your personal account will now function as a full business account on LinkedIn.

Can you have both a personal and business account?

Yes, it is possible to maintain both a personal LinkedIn account and a separate LinkedIn business account. Some key points:

• You cannot convert your account back from business to personal – you’d have to create a new personal account.
• Business accounts require a separate email address than your personal account.
• You can switch between accounts within LinkedIn by clicking your profile pic > Accounts.
• You must log in to each account separately when accessing LinkedIn from off-site.

So it is certainly feasible to use LinkedIn for both your professional personal networking and your business needs with separate accounts.

Can you create a business account on behalf of a client?

Technically you can create a LinkedIn business account for a client, but it is against LinkedIn’s terms of service. LinkedIn business accounts are intended to represent real businesses and be managed by official representatives of that business. Violating these terms can result in account suspension or termination.

A better approach is to have the client create their own official LinkedIn business account using their work email address. You can then be granted access to manage their account if required.

Conclusion

While personal LinkedIn accounts are free, using LinkedIn for business purposes requires a paid business account. Business accounts unlock additional capabilities for companies and organizations to manage their brand, promote content, recruit talent, generate leads, and gain valuable analytics.

Pricing starts at $9.99/month for the Business Starter tier and goes up to $79.99/month for the feature-rich Business Executive account. Each tier builds on the capabilities of the previous one to meet a business’s specific needs.

Any type of company or organization that wants to tap into LinkedIn’s professional audience and suite of marketing and recruiting tools should strongly consider upgrading to a business account. The investment can yield significant dividends in the form of new leads, customers, talent, and brand visibility.