BUILD YOUR PROFILE WITH LINKEDIN
LinkedIn is a professional based social networking service, which can be utilised to promote yourself or business and your expertise within a social workforce network.
Millions of people use LinkedIn and others within the network can see what your personal or business profile looks like, what your professional history is and what you have achieved. LinkedIn is not only good for industry connections but also for matching to employment opportunities.
As LinkedIn is a reflection of your personal brand, it is important to keep your profile updated. If it is time for you to give your profile an update, follow these steps to success and get the most out of your LinkedIn presence.
1. PROFILE PHOTO VISIBILITY
When people search and click to your profile or business page, the first thing you want them to see is your profile photo. The first important step is to make sure your photo is visible to both contacts and non-‐contacts. Simply go to your profile and click on the photo, the following will appear. In the bottom right hand corner you can see an option for visibility.
You may think this is not such an important step but statistics indicate that those who do not have a profile image particularly on their personal profiles are considered less trustworthy connections or may even be fraudulent and not a personal or real company at all. This could mean you are missing out on valuable industry connections or job opportunities.
When considering your photo look for an image that looks clear and smart casual. If you don’t have a recent casual photo of yourself that reflects the image you want to portray, ask if you can use your work professional picture – most workplaces are happy to pass this on, as they want to promote their company as having professional looking employees.
If this is a business profile try to use images of staff or business owners and leave your logo as an addition to your cover image rather than the profile pic.
2. COVER IMAGE
Similar to the profile image is the cover image. The most important thing to ensure here is that you select a clear image that is the correct size. The correct size as disclosed by LinkedIn for a personal profile cover image is 1584 wide by 396 high. This is exactly 4:1 proportion.
For a business Company cover photo size: 1536 x 768 px however, it works best on mobile. On desktop, it can look a little cropped. To avoid this select a simple image over a detailed photo for better clarity when optimising between devises. Ideal LinkedIn logo size is 300 x 300 square.
For my personal background image, I have used a screen-‐grab from my website to further reinforce my branding.
For POPCOM’s company page, I have used a generic but black and white Sydney photo.
3. CONSIDER YOUR HEADLINE
After your profile image, the headline is the second thing the eye sees. Consider sharing some key skills, what you offer or prime services. Keep it short and descriptive.
4. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION FOR YOUR SUMMARY
LinkedIn in ranked highly by Google because of its clean data and non-‐spam approach to networking.
A good profile will rank instantly when searching for your name or business making LinkedIn one of the cheapest and most effective SEO friendly marketing options available.
To increase your chances of showing up in searches for your key abilities or product and service offerings beef up your summary with appropriate keywords that are preferably long tail and detailed in describing what it is you want to present to your market segment.
When using the keywords ensure that you are using them in a natural fashion and not just simply stuffing in as many keywords as you can.
Also, write your profile in the first person, it is you, talking about yourself. I wouldn’t say, “Amanda has a good eye for detail” in a conversation. In saying that, you need to have something in this section, as something is better than nothing. If you really don’t like writing about yourself consider paying someone to help you with it, or use your corporate profile position.
If you are unsure of your keywords a good place to start your research would be with google adwords / keyword planner, this is a free keyword tool and is very user friendly.
5. CHECK YOUR CONTACT DETAILS ARE UP TO DATE
This step may seem obvious, but make sure that you include up to date contact details in a variety of methods so that you can be contacted. Include phone numbers, emails, and a link to your website if you have one.
6. ADD SKILLS TO YOUR PROFILE ASK AND GIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
You may have seen on other profiles that they have a multitude of skills that others have endorsed on their behalf. This is a great way to build credibility and forms a reference to your skills.
To have this on your profile you first need to add the skills and abilities that you feel you have. It is also a good idea to endorse others and ask them to also endorse you. Reach out to fellow staff and well know contacts, most are more than happy to endorse and strengthen your profile.
It is excellent if you have some recommendations on your profile from clients and colleagues.
7. CHECK YOUR PRIVACY SETTINGS
This is where you can select what is private and what is public. You can find this by going to account heading and selecting settings and privacy and then this screen will appear
Select privacy tab and then simply select what you would like visible and what you would like to keep private.
8. EDIT YOUR URL
Under settings on the right hand side you can amend your url and make it more simple and shorter. This makes it easy when you are sharing this link via digital correspondence or via business and marketing materials.
9. POSTS
Make sure you post regularly. Original content is fantastic but your can also share relevant posts by others within your industry, also make an effort to like and comment on any good content you find in your post feed.
10. PUBLISH STORIES
Publishing content on your LinkedIn profile can let others know that you are expert in the chosen content area. It is a great way to promote yourself and your skills as an influencer if you have regular published articles.
Any external publications can be added to the ‘publications’ section underneath the Accomplishments section.
It is also worthwhile to publish LinkedIn pulse articles – which now form part of LinkedIn’s ‘Fresh perspectives’.
To follow the Fresh Perspectives, click on the … of a news story, then on ‘improve my feed’ which is the last option.
You will be taken to another page and will have the ability to follow #hashtags or individuals who publish frequently. This is where you will be featured if you regularly publish pulse articles.
As always, if you need extra help, please just ask. Amanda@popcom.com.au
