Spring Tune Up: 8 Tips to Maximize Your LinkedIn Profile
Spring is here and it’s time to clean out, update and start anew. One place to start is with your LinkedIn profile.
Inc. Magazine recently had an article about making your profile more marketable. They call LinkedIn the best social media platform for entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals. Here are some tips to maximize your profile:
1. Goals: Your profile should be marketing you or your company. Unfortunately, many profiles just contain resume information. Like a resume, your LinkedIn profile should be written as a document to get you to your next objective. It should not be a chronological history of where you’ve been. So think about your goals.
2. Keywords: Keywords are how people find you on LinkedIn. So once you have your goals, convert them to keywords. Don’t immediately go with the obvious keywords. Think about terms as they are used in your industry. Use a keyword tool to find general terms that could attract a broader audience and then try to find identifying keywords industry leaders might search for. Search your competition. How can you one-up them?
3. Headline: Your headline is a major factor in search results. Your most important keyword should be in your headline. “Creative,” “senior,” “professional” are not major search words. What is the one key word to describe you?
4. Layer: Now go through the rest of your profile and substitute keywords for those meaningless, descriptive words you’ve used. Don’t worry about repetition. The more keywords, the more search results.
5. De-clutter: What you have in your profile is only relevant when it relates to your goal. Take out what doesn’t. Everything in your profile should support your business or professional goals. You can keep a list of all your previous jobs but, if they are not relevant, you don’t need descriptions.
6. “You”: Now go back and introduce “you” into your profile. What do you love, what do you hope to accomplish? Share some specific projects you worked on or share best practices/experiences.
7. The Photo: Your photo is your logo. A great photo won’t get you a job or business but it can lose it for you. Is your photo professional? Or is it casual? Your photo positions you. It’s how you will look when you meet. It should make you look professional, yet approachable.
8. Recommendations: Testimonials add depth and color. Everyone knows they are solicited, but they should add to your story and help you each your goals.
Resumes take a lot of work, but so do online profiles. If you are “looking” for business or a new opportunity then your online profile is just as important. Update them and align them to your goals to maximize the potential results.
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Published: March 27, 2012 By:
