LinkedIn is often referred to as the social networking app for business intelligence and business development. And while this is true, LinkedIn is first and foremost about individuals. It is an excellent tool for creating, developing and maintaining connections and business relationships.
It is also the perfect platform to position yourself as an authority in your industry, demonstrate your business acumen and establish the trust upon which business relationships depend. A strong presence on LinkedIn will also reinforce the branding you’re doing on other social networks.
Many of you probably have a profile up on LinkedIn, but are you maximizing its potential?
Here are a few ideas you may not have thought of for optimizing your LinkedIn profile:
1. Personalize Your URL – Change your LinkedIn profile URL from the default setting of numbers to your name. This will help people find you when they search for your name on LinkedIn as well as on Google and other search engines.
2. Email Marketing – add your new LinkedIn URL to your email signature, along with your other social media links like Facebook and Twitter.
3. Improve Your Google PageRank – LinkedIn allows you to make your profile information available for search engines to index. To do this, create a public profile and select “Full View.” Since LinkedIn profiles rank highly on Google, this is a good way to influence what people see when they search for you. Also make sure that you include your personalized LinkedIn URL in various places on the web – your own website, others’ websites, blog commentary, etc.
4. Improve Your Search Engine Results – Your LinkedIn profile allows you to publicize your websites, so make sure you include them. LinkedIn lets you include links to three websites. Once again, make sure your public profile setting is “Full View” so your website(s) will come up in the search engines like Google and Yahoo!
5. Use Keywords People Would Use to Find You – If someone was searching for you, what keywords would they use? Put yourself in the mind of your target audience and build up a list of keywords and search phrases they might use to describe you. Then sprinkle these throughout your profile.
6. Join Industry Groups – Search for and join LinkedIn Groups related to your industry. The icons for these Groups will show up on your profile, letting people know that you are involved in your industry and presumably knowledgeable about it. This will also give you the opportunity to connect with and potentially create partnerships with others in your industry.
7. Connect Your Blog To Your Profile – LinkedIn doesn’t have many apps, but they currently offer two that will enable you to connect your blog to your profile. The WordPress and BlogLink apps allow you to send your posts to your profile automatically, easily generating new content on a regular basis.
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