Are You Using LinkedIn Properly?
Most of the attention in the social media world is paid to Facebook and Twitter while other sites like Google+ and Pinterest continue to gain popularity. It seems like LinkedIn tends to get lost in the shuffle and only comes up in conversations when people are looking for a job or looking to recruit new talent. Most likely you check in on the other social networks daily or even multiple times a day in order to see what others are up to or share your own recent news with your connections. Why not take the same approach to LinkedIn? It deserves the same care and attention as your other social profiles. Because LinkedIn is so trusted, LinkedIn profiles appear prominently on the search engine results page for a branded search or a search for the name of an individual. Try it out- do a search for some of the well known people in your industry or companies that you’ve done business with. The LinkedIn profile is probably within the top 3 results. Because LinkedIn profiles are so visible it’s important to make the most of them.
Do these 4 things to improve your LinkedIn profile:
Fill out the profile completely
The majority of LinkedIn profiles aren’t filled out completely. This is mostly just due to laziness or not knowing what kind of information should be included. A LinkedIn page is like a professional portfolio and should be treated as such. For an individual page, keep it updated with a current job title, duties, educational history, and recommendations. For a business page, include all of the information that someone would want to know about your business including the company history, products and services that are offered, location, contact information and a link back to the website. A photo also helps to establish more of a connection.
Optimize the content
It’s important to optimize any and all content that you publish on the web. It isn’t just limited to the content on your website. When writing a company description or an overview of skills, be sure to use keywords where you can for SEO purposes. A LinkedIn page will easily show up for branded search but using keywords can help you appear for non branded search or for a search that is conducted on the actual LinkedIn site.
Share
Remember, LinkedIn is also a social network. It’s not just a business profile site or a place for people to post their resumes. Use LinkedIn the same way that you’d use Facebook and share interesting business related content with your connections. This helps improve your profile and provides a lot more information when someone comes across your profile. Share any recent articles, blog posts, or Slideshare presentations that you’ve created.
Join groups
LinkedIn Groups is one of the most underutilized features of LinkedIn. There are thousands of LinkedIn Groups that span across a variety of industries. No matter what industry you are in, there are LinkedIn Groups for you to join. Spend some time doing research and pick out the best ones that are in your niche and get involved by sharing content and commenting on the content that others share. It’s a great way to network and get noticed in the industry.
Categorized in: Social Media
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