Get the most out of your LinkedIn presence online using the following pointers. To edit your Profile go to Profile – Edit Profile – and you will see next to each section there is a tiny “edit” link – use that to make adjustments instead of keeping things as the defaults. There are many opportunities within LinkedIn to maximize the use of targeted keywords geared toward your potential customers, clients, team members or employers. Here are my favorite tips:
1. Edit your Profile Headline. You have 120 characters to tell people what you do, and that shows up anywhere your name and photo shows up – on groups, in listed connections, etc. Use descriptive text that clearly explains what benefits people get from doing business with you and/or uses key words people will be searching on to find you. Try splitting a couple of phrases up with hyphens or separators. Edit this here: Edit LinkedIn Professional Headline
2. Post Status Updates Aggregate/automate very sparingly – once in a while an auto-post is OK but your LinkedIn colleagues want to know what you’re up to and that you’re sharing authentically with them. Once a day or a couple times a week personalize an update just for LinkedIn.
3. Edit Your Profile Click on Edit and fill in every character you can with descriptive and engaging text outlining your past positions, education, accomplishments and more. Every word is potentially found in the searches, so show off!
4. Recommendations Recommend others that you’ve done business with, and LinkedIn will ask them if they would like to write a recommendation for you. Ask for one a couple times a month, and offer to write one at least that often.
5. Connections When you have a business contact, reach out to them as a connection on LinkedIn. This exposes each of you to the others’ network.
6. Edit the Websites List LinkedIn automatically calls your website links “My Website” but instead of choosing ‘website’ choose OTHER. Give it the name of your actual website, or better yet, include a descriptive phrase. This creates a hyperlinked key phrase which is great for leveraging searches.Do this here: Edit Your LinkedIn List of Websites
7. Edit Your Profile URL You are able to edit the Public Profile url – make it something easy to type and remember – either your own name or business name. For example www.linkedin.com/in/karenmarieclark (mine) vs. www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=12345678 (made up!)
8. Edit your Specialties These are key words or phrases people may be typing into the search to find businesses like yours. Be specific to what it is that you do and use phrases.
9. Participate in GROUP discussions. This is where the real magic happens! Read and respond to groups that focus on your target market. Once in a while post your own discussion question or article, or a link to your latest blog post. Use Groups as an opportunity to share your personality as well as your expertise.
10. Participate in ANSWERS. Find the Answers area and search for key phrases around your business topic. Look for questions that people have asked and answer them. Then, when you would like some advice about a certain topic around your business, ask in the Answers section. In either case, people interested in your topic will be exposed to you, and you will have an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise.
Bonus: Add Publications, Certifications, Skills, and More! LinkedIn recently added an enriched profile editor that allows you to voluntarily add additional sections to your profile. If you’ve been published in a book or magazine, list it. If you have a special certification that others should know about, list that. Do this here: Add New LinkedIn Profile Section
Those of you who use LinkedIn, have you discovered any additional methods of maximizing your presence there? Please share in the comments. Feel free to also share your LinkedIn URL so we can check you out!
