LinkedIn groups function much the same way basic groups do on other networking sites; you can’t do much more than post messages, reply to them, leave comments and add new stories. However, they are a great way to create a community for your service, website, product or company.

So how do you create a LinkedIn Group? Read on for a step-by-step guide…

1) First, login to your linked in profile. To the left hand side of your profile, you’ll see a tab that says “Groups.”

2) Click on the plus sign next to groups and a list of the groups you belong to/have created will drop down. If you want to edit your group, click on the one you wish edit (you can only edit the ones you created - in this case I clicked on the Authority Domains one I set up for the purpose of this example).

To create a group, click the “Create a Group” tab:

3) After you click the “Create a Group,” you’ll see the screen below (it takes you directly to “Manage”). Simply fill out the information accordingly (its pretty self-explanatory–remember to use your keywords in both the Group Name, Summary and Description). Save the changes:

4) As soon as you’ve saved the changes, you’ll see a page under the Overview tab. This tab does exactly what it says: it gives you an overview of all the activity that’s been going on with your group:

5) Discussion tab - You can see what members of your group are talking about:

6) News tab - You can see the latest news submitted to the group:

7) Updates - You can see what updates people have made

Members - Here is a list of members; only managers can edit this area:

9) Settings - Here you can modify your group settings as needed:

10) Manage - Here you can manage your account and settings, add up to ten people as managers, add , block or delete members, delete the group, pre-approve members, invite them, edit info & settings and change owner:

11) When you first login and click on groups, you’ll see a notification that looks like this when someone has applied to join your group: