Looking for optimizing your LinkedIn profile for more visibility?
Actually, it’s not easy to know which sections of your profile are most important and so, we are here to help.
Here, in this article you’ll learn how to optimize and use your LinkedIn profile to establish a solid first impression with connections. Let’s take a look:
#1 Complete Profile Basics
Discussing your professional brand online, LinkedIn Profile works as the centerpiece.
Rather than presenting a list of your professional experiences in a simple way, ENSURE to convey your personality.
How to do it?
#Optimize Your Profile Photo, URL, and Headline
To begin with, display an optimized professional photo. It will make your first visual impression count. Use a high-quality, well-lit headshot that’s at least 200 x 200 pixels. Don’t use a photo with dimensions smaller than 200 x 200 as it will appear blurry and pixilated.
An example of a great profile photo:
#Customizing your profile URL
By doing it, you let individuals find you online.
How to customize your LinkedIn Profile URL?
Click the “Me” icon at the top of your LinkedIn home page and select View Profile. On your profile page, click Edit Public Profile & URL on the right. Then under, Edit URL, click the Edit icon next to your public profile URL. Enter your name without spaces and click Save.
Next is, optimizing your headline. Appearing under your name, it’s highly visible and searchable and so, is really important.
The headline is limited to 120 characters; make sure you use valuable keywords your target audience prefers to use.
How to add or edit your headline?
- Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn home page and select View Profile. On your profile page, click the Edit icon, and an Edit Intro dialog box appears where you can enter new content for your introduction. When you’re done, click Save.
#Customizing Your Contact Information
Filling out your contact and personal information on LinkedIn helps you gain increased visibility.
To further optimize this section, change the default contact labels and use keywords your target audience might use to find your product or service.
Further, you can introduce yourself and your work with Video.
When you introduce yourself in a video with your own face and voice, you are introducing yourself personally. So, add video to your introduction and other areas of your LinkedIn profile.
Additionally, get Endorsements and Recommendations. Mention all of your skills and order them as it ends up endorsing the most important keywords for you. For instance, when you use “content writer”, it appears more likely in searches than “Thoughtful Wordsmith.”
How to do it?
To add a skill, click the “Me” icon and select View Profile. Scroll to the Skills & Endorsements section of your profile and click Add a New Skill. After you type the name of a skill in the text box, click Add. To reorder your skills, hover your cursor over the three-line icon on the right, and when the cursor changes to a Move icon, click and drag a skill to reorder it.
#Share Your Education, Certifications, and Awards
It’s a core criterion on LinkedIn, so you must complete this field.
#2 Sharpen Your Content & Be Personable
You are not here to let people see your profile in form of a resume. Make sure to write in the first person and let people know your personality i.e. your values and passions. To those who you want to interact with, talk to them directly in your writing.
Additionally, when you post regular updates on LinkedIn, it helps you optimize your profile. So, so update your LinkedIn status daily with something that provides value to your target market.
You can also boost your visibility by writing long-form articles. You can share your articles in groups as well and can get featured in LinkedIn’s Daily Rundown, which is shared via the LinkedIn company page and other platforms like Twitter.
#3 Simply add more connections
Your search results on LinkedIn vary based on your network. So, in a course of expanding your reach, add connections.
How to grow your network?
There are several ways to do it. You need to reach out to your previous employers, teachers, mentors, colleagues, clients, and school friends. Also, include a link to connect to your email signature, blog, and website. Next, you can use the search feature to find people in your target audience.
Further, you can sync your email contacts with LinkedIn. It can be done by importing customer emails or email marketing lists.
LinkedIn groups are another great method to grow your network. The platform has all kinds of groups and here, the strategy should be to find groups related to your target audience. Find people who matter to your business.
How to search them?
To search for groups by name or keyword, use the search box at the top of your LinkedIn home page. Type keywords or group names of interest and click Search. On the search results page, click the Groups tab.
You can also add connections from groups recommended by LinkedIn itself.
To browse these groups, click the Work icon on the far right of the toolbar at the top. In the panel that appears, select Groups. Then click Discover at the top of the page to view suggested groups.”
#4 Develop good-quality Inbound Links
Profiles with healthy inbound links are seen as more credible and popular profiles by Google. And, actually, it helps your LinkedIn profile appear higher in the search results.
How to increase inbound links to your LinkedIn profile?
Link your other social media sites back to your LinkedIn profile. Whenever publishing articles or blog posts on other sites, link back to your LinkedIn profile in your article or your author bio. On your website, include a link to your LinkedIn profile on your “About Page.”
What are your views on the usefulness of these tips? Do let us know LinkedIn strategies that have helped you perform and build up leads? Please share your thoughts in comments below.
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