What happens when you deactivate a company page on LinkedIn?

Deactivating a LinkedIn company page removes the page and all of its content from public view on LinkedIn. However, deactivating does not delete the page entirely. The page can be reactivated at any time to restore all of the previous content and followers.

It is a reversible way to temporarily remove the page from LinkedIn if a business closes, rebrands, or wants to take a break from maintaining a LinkedIn presence. It’s a good option for hitting the pause button without losing everything that’s been built up on the page.

Here’s an overview of what happens when a LinkedIn company page is deactivated:

• The page and all content are hidden from public view on LinkedIn
• Followers will no longer see updates from the page in their feeds
• The page URL will return a 404 “page not found” error
• The page can be easily reactivated to restore all previous content and followers
• Analytics data is retained and restored if the page is reactivated

Deactivating a page does not:

• Delete the page or any of its content
• Remove followers or employees
• Transfer assets like the customized URL to a new owner
• Prevent the page name from being used again in the future

In most cases, deactivating is preferable to permanently deleting a LinkedIn company page, since it provides the flexibility to pick up where you left off if circumstances change. However, there are a few scenarios where deletion may be warranted instead.

When to Consider Deactivating vs. Deleting a Company Page

Here are some guidelines on when deactivation or deletion may be the best fit:

Consider deactivating when:

• The business is closed temporarily for renovations, seasonal closures, or other short-term reasons
• The business is going through a merger, acquisition, restructuring or rebranding
• You want to take a break from managing the company page for a period of time
• You need to do a revamp of the page content and want to hide it during that process

Deactivation allows the page to lie dormant but remain ready to be picked back up when needed. All historical content and followers are retained.

Consider deleting when:

• The business has closed permanently
• The page has been irreversibly damaged by fake reviews, spam comments, or hacking that can’t be removed
• You want a fresh start with a new company page unconnected to the previous one
• The business has been acquired and you need to transfer assets to the new owning company’s page

Deleting removes the page for good and is best for situations where maintaining any connection to the old page is undesirable.

How to Deactivate a LinkedIn Company Page

Deactivating a LinkedIn company page is a simple process that can be completed in just a few clicks:

Step 1) Go to the LinkedIn company page while logged in as an admin. Click “Edit Page” at the top right.

Step 2) Scroll down and click on “Manage” next to the Page info section.

Step 3) On the next screen, click the button to “Deactivate company page”.

Step 4) Confirm that you want to deactivate the page.

Once these steps are completed, the page will become deactivated and hidden from public view.

To reactivate the page in the future, simply follow the same steps but click “Activate company page” instead. All of the previous content and followers will be restored.

What Happens to Content When a Page is Deactivated

When a LinkedIn company page is deactivated, all of the content that had been published will be retained and restored if the page is reactivated. This includes:

• Page posts and articles
• Photos and videos
• Employee lists and profiles
• Followers and engagement metrics
• Customized URL
• Company information like description, locations, website links, etc.

In effect, deactivating a page acts like putting all of its content into offline storage. Everything remains intact behind the scenes even though it’s removed from public access.

Some specific things to note about how different types of content are handled:

Posts: All previously published posts will be restored in the original order and with engagement metrics preserved. Any posts that were actively promoted will need to be boosted again.

Media: Photos, videos, presentations, and other media will remain hosted on LinkedIn’s servers and will be put back in place if the page is reactivated.

Employees: Lists of employees and their profiles stay connected to the company when deactivated. Profiles retain their connection to the company on the experience section.

Analytics: Graphs, metrics, follower counts, and other analytics are saved and restored after reactivating. However, no new data will accumulate during the deactivated period.

Company URLs: Customized company URLs pointing to the page, like linkedin.com/company/yourbusiness, will return 404 errors until the page is reactivated.

In summary, deactivating a page provides a convenient way to temporarily remove content while keeping it ready to bring back at any time.

What Happens to Followers When Deactivating a Page

Followers of a LinkedIn company page will remain connected as followers when the page is deactivated. However, they will no longer see content updates from that page in their feed.

Here’s what happens from the follower perspective:

• They stay connected as followers of the deactivated page
• The page disappears from their list of followed companies
• Updates stop appearing in their feed immediately
• Direct messages can no longer be sent to the page
• If the page reactivates, the follower connection is restored

Follower counts, demographics data, and lists are retained to pick up where they left off if the page becomes active again.

Deactivating essentially puts engagement with followers on hold temporarily. It does not require the followers to take any action or refollow the page later.

However, since followers may forget about the inactive page over time, companies often see lower follower growth versus staying continuously active. Periodic promotions may be needed to reengage followers when reactivating a page that’s been dormant for a while.

What Happens to Ad Campaigns When Deactivating

Active ad campaigns associated with a LinkedIn company page also get paused when the page is deactivated. Here’s what advertisers need to know:

• Active ad campaigns are automatically paused and stopped spending budget
• New ad campaigns can no longer be created for the deactivated page
• Performance data is retained for paused campaigns
• Ads may need to be edited before restarting campaigns after reactivating
• Unspent ad budget remains available for when campaigns resume

Essentially, deactivating a page acts like pressing pause on any of its active ad campaigns. Performance data leading up to that point is preserved, but ads stop running and spending budget until the page is reactivated.

Advertisers will need to manually restart any paused paid campaigns after reactivating a page. The campaigns may need to be edited if they are out of date. Unused ad budget will be applied when restarting.

Creating new campaigns tied to a deactivated page is not possible. Only existing campaigns can be resumed.

Can a Deactivated Page Transfer Assets to a New Page?

Unfortunately, many company page assets like the customized URL do not transfer over if you want to delete the old page and build a new one from scratch.

Here are some key points on what does and doesn’t transfer:

• The customized URL (linkedin.com/company/yourbusiness) does NOT transfer or redirect to a new page
• Followers do NOT carry over automatically to a new page
• Status updates and social engagement do NOT transfer to a new page
• Historical analytics are NOT associated with the new page
• Company-job seeker messaging threads are NOT retained
• Advertising assets like creative and audiences can be exported from ads and transferred manually

Building up a new page from scratch avoids any associations with the previous page. However, it also loses the SEO value of an established URL, requires rebuilding an audience, and lacks historical data.

Deactivating the old page preserves assets to transfer if desired but also allows fully separating from it if needed. Overall, deactivation provides more flexibility depending on the situation.

Best Practices When Deactivating a LinkedIn Page

Here are some best practices when deactivating a LinkedIn company page:

• Export key data like follower lists, page analytics, and company page admin lists while still active
• Notify followers to expect the page to become inactive and when it may reactivate
• Redirect company website URLs pointing to the LinkedIn page to a new destination
• Cancel any scheduled updates using social media management tools connected to LinkedIn
• Document all login credentials needed to access the page when ready to reactivate
• Consider adding an updated company description mentioning the deactivated status
• Rotate company page admin roles if current employees may depart before reactivating

Taking these steps helps preserve important data, keeps stakeholders informed, redirects traffic, avoids sending irrelevant updates, and ensures admin access in the future.

Having a plan around deactivating and eventually reactivating the page helps maintain relationships with followers and maximizes the chances of successfully picking up where you left off.

Conclusion

Deactivating a LinkedIn company page provides an excellent way to temporarily remove it from public visibility without permanently deleting all of its content and followers.

The page remains dormant in the background and can be seamlessly restored when the time is right to resume actively managing and promoting the LinkedIn presence. It avoids losing the SEO value of an established profile.

In most cases, deactivation is preferable to deletion for taking a break from a LinkedIn company page. It gives flexibility for the future while still allowing a fresh start if needed. Just be sure to export key data and notify stakeholders before deactivating.