With more than 467 million users, if you are not on LinkedIn, your business is seriously missing out. Rendering it the largest professional network on the globe, LinkedIn is arguably the ideal platform from which to create networks of people that they know and trust. In short, it is a professional playground where professionals can connect, influence, interact and grow their businesses.
Whether you are getting ready to set up a LinkedIn, or you already have one but it’s not rendering the incredible results it could, there are several benefits that you need to be taking advantage of on the platform, including:
As of 2016, 57% of companies had a professional LinkedIn page, and 50% of buyers use LinkedIn to make their purchasing decisions, with that number continuing to grow.
With these statistics in mind, it’s time to guide you through the best practices for creating the ultimate LinkedIn profile that will gain influencers and quality leads, helping your company to soar.
“Having a LinkedIn profile is the perfect way to showcase your company, measure the effectiveness of updates, and promote your most important news.”
– Steve Phillip, LinkedIn and Social Selling Expert
If you are creating a LinkedIn profile with the intention of finding a new career or building a new network, it’s important to remember that people remember faces more than they remember names.
“When we form our first impression of someone else, it’s not a single impression, really. What we do is form two impressions: judging how warm and trustworthy a person is, and trying to figure out what their intentions are.”
– Amy Cudd, Social Psychologist
Having a clear image of your face can affect certain decisions or conclusions that people draw about you, such as competence, reliability, responsibility, and hostility. Having a professional dependence means you need to look trustworthy and dependable – even in a photograph.
Here are some tips for choosing an image that will boost your professional standing:
Here is an example of a great LinkedIn profile picture:
Your LinkedIn headline is the next important thing to capture people’s attention. It is the headline that displays your passion. It’s the ultimate enticement to draw people into your profile to read it properly. It can also help you to maximize lead generation through LinkedIn, which you can learn more about in our blog here.
A LinkedIn headline is one of the most highly regarded elements that influences where you appear when people are looking for you, so, written correctly, it can make you more visible to potential customers, partners, employees, and leads. What’s more, your headline can help to expand your network significantly.
To learn how to construct the ultimate headline, check out our step-by-step blog right here.
Let’s talk about keywords.
It should go without saying that you need to use keywords that are relevant to your business and your industry. A few keywords you may want to consider include:
When it comes to creating a memorable headline, consider these three important pointers:
While you are focusing on getting your headline just right, make sure you avoid these three things:
Here is a fantastic example of a short, concise, headline that explains who the person is, and also uses words that offer solutions to readers:
Next up is the summary – it’s your chance to say what you need to say succinctly and with interest.
Just as with the headline, your LinkedIn summary forms part of that all-important first impression for readers, and profiles with a stand-out summary tend to get more views.
Consider Tim Peter’s summary below – what would you do differently?
Do you think it is perfect as it is? We believe the use of shorter sentences and sub-headers would make a big difference to its readability and would keep reader’s attention.
Why should people do business with you? Why should potential partners consider a venture with you?
Here’s how Tim Peters does it:
The job history in your LinkedIn profile must be more than just a list of paid previous experiences. Just like the summary, it should be written with your target audience in mind and include all the bells and whistles of your previous positions.
You should include the following in your work history section:
LinkedIn is a professional platform and as such your messaging should reflect you or your brand’s professionalism. Use formal language in your posts, summary, work experience, and keep the tone friendly and approachable.
Did you know that you can optimize your LinkedIn profile for the search engines? In fact, if you want to get the right exposure or any exposure at all on LinkedIn and in the search results, you must optimize your profile. That means, adding the right keywords the define your skills, offerings, and experience.
The most important and effective sections to use keywords in your profile are:
Just using the right keywords can double to triple your LinkedIn views.
Don’t see the point of recommendations? The average CEO on LinkedIn has almost 1,000 connections, and there are over a billion endorsements on the platform. These are not figures to be taken lightly.
Recommendations are a highly valuable tool when it comes to building professional credibility. They also help to increase your profile’s visibility, and they can count towards your SEO efforts.
Bear in mind there are two key things that people want to know when looking at recommendations:
An example of recommendations:
If you are asked to give recommendations to others on LinkedIn (and it is certainly polite to do so if they have already given you a recommendation), make sure you can answer:
A recommendation should be about 6 – 8 sentences in length, broken down like this:
LinkedIn Groups are an excellent way to build relationships and network with similar businesses, potential customers, and potential partners who have similar interests. It is a good idea to join as many relevant groups as possible and contribute to the conversation, thereby building your reputation as a trustworthy industry influencer.
Completed profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities on LinkedIn, so you do not want to leave anything blank.
Your staff are your number one brand ambassadors, so do your best to encourage them to add your company profile to their own LinkedIn profile. By doing so, they will automatically receive your messages in their newsfeeds and since they already have a connection with you, they are a lot more likely to interact with your content and share it. In turn, this serves to improve your reach and show off just what an attractive employer you are.
LinkedIn is the ultimate professional networking site used by job hunters, employees, business owners, and potential customers alike.
Just one status update can reach as many as 20% of your followers on LinkedIn. But, everyone who actively views your profile will see your updates, as they appear on your profile page.
Regular status updates are an excellent way to create a distinguished reputation and remain top of mind for customers.
While posting updates in real-time are the most ideal scenario, can you always schedule them for your audience using tools such as:
LinkedIn offers several different profile badge designs that can significantly help you to promote your profile to the world.
Tim’s profile badge looks like this:
We have already mentioned how important a completed LinkedIn profile is, and that includes endorsements. With over 10 billion endorsements on LinkedIn already, why be left out?
Endorsements enable users to validate you for the skills you have listed and even recommend ones you may not yet have listed. The endorsements are displayed on your profile in the Skills section.
Look at the example below. Tim’s endorsements are depicted by the numbers in the blue blocks, next to the skills.
A completed and accurate LinkedIn profile is a surefire way to build an incredible network of partners, customers, leads, staff, and influencers. It is also a great way for you to build your business’s brand awareness and place yourself as a trustworthy and credible influencer in your industry. With the perfect profile picture, heading, summary, and all the details filled in, you’re sure to grow your network at a rapid pace. Don’t forget to optimize your profile for search results and start joining groups and associations and get involved in the conversations.
If you need help with your LinkedIn profile, get in touch with GlobalYogi Labs today.