Optimising your LinkedIn profile
10/07/12
LinkedIn is an essential tool in today’s market for generating business leads but are you optimising your profile to maximise your visibility. If you’ve already gone through LinkedIn’s own profile builder and have achieved a 100% profile rating then here are a few advanced tips.
Do you know your keywords?
The very first thing you need to do some is some basic research into the keywords that potential customers are using to find you. How you describe yourself and how your customers search for you can very greatly. You may think of yourself as a talent acquisition professional while your customer are looking for recruitment consultants. Try to find a niche that doesn’t position you outside your market and leverage it your advantage.
Get a professional headshot
You should have a clear, professional, friendly looking picture of you without a distracting background as your headshot. LinkedIn is a network for professionals and your picture should reflect this.
Your headline should mean something
By default LinkedIn will use your most recent job title as your headline. You may want to change this to a more appropriate headline that expands on who you are and what you offer. Your headline strongly effects where you rank in search results so try and fit in a few keywords.
Use all your website links
You can add up to three links to your profile so make sure you use all three. Your links should be call to actions like the example opposite rather than generic text. Linking all three back to your company website is also good SEO.
Create a detailed summary
Use your keyword research to structure your summary. Make sure it reads like its written by a human rather than just a string of bullet points and I do statements. Include a definitive call to action at the end so viewers are encouraged to either connect with you or get in touch.
Use Apps to provide viewers with extra information
Apps are a great way of making your profile stand out from others. At Yolk Recruitment we use slideshare to display our marketing literature allowing our viewers to see our full service offering. On our IT Divisional Managers page, Mohammed Ahmed, we’ve included a video introduction.
Fill out your job history in detail
The more you put into your job history the more you will come in search results. You may no longer be a sales and marketing assistant but LinkedIn recognises similar position and your progression to Sales Director.
Add projects
Projects are a recent addition to LinkedIn that lets you expand on your work history and your connections with colleagues. Projects are a good place way of presenting recent case studies and showcasing clients you’ve worked with.
List your skills
Skills are another new feature added by LinkedIn that are linked to talent filters in advanced search settings. Pick just you’re top skills, listing twenty plus skills doesn’t look realistic and won’t give you any credibility.
Add all your contact details
The more contact details on your page the more ways prospective clients can find you. Make sure to include your full business address to boost your local search ranking.
Wrapping Up
The more complete your profile the more credible you will look to prospective clients and the higher you will rank in your competitive search terms. Keep your profile up to date, add new projects over time and continually assess your keywords to ensure you’re ranking above your competitors.