Linkedin is usually considered the Facebook for business professionals. People generally visit Linkedin not to see pictures of their friends' vacations or to kill time playing games but to actually do business.
This makes Linkedin a potentially powerful tool for you and your business.
That means you need to optimize your LinkedIn profile for search engines, just like you would
optimize your Facebook business page or your
Google My Business page.
Below are some ways you can use
search engine optimization to improve the effectiveness of your LinkedIn profile.
- Fill out your profile completely. Search engines need something to search through. However, many Linkedin profiles remain incomplete, only containing the most basic information. When you log in and visit your Linkedin profile, a status bar in the right-hand column will tell you if your profile is not 100 percent complete, and will guide you in what you have left to fill out. Do not forget that there are also sections for interests, associations and awards; use these wisely by including relevant information that people might be searching for.
- Add a photo. Photos give search engines another item to index, and provide a link to your profile when someone does an image-only search.
- Build your network of connections. Having many connections, especially within your industry or with existing business contacts and clients, will make your profile much more visible.
- Join relevant groups. Similar to building connections, this will provide more links back to your profile. You want to be in groups that tell people (and search engines) how to categorize your profile. That means joining groups relevant to your industry (to indicate what you do) and local groups (to indicate where you do business).
- Use keywords in your headline and job titles. You have to operate within the framework LinkedIn gives you, but that does not mean you cannot utilize SEO keywords. Your headline and titles should give a clear indication of what you do and what sets you apart.
- Make your job descriptions truly descriptive. You don't want to write a novel here, but use bullet points and additional keywords to describe the experience you have or the benefits you can provide.
- Use custom anchor text for your website URLs. LinkedIn uses very generic names for the websites you list, such as "Blog" or "Company Website." But, it also provides an "Other" option that allows you to type in whatever anchor text you prefer. So, instead of using "Blog" as the link to your company blog, you can change it to the name of your blog or some descriptive title.
- Choose a custom LinkedIn URL. Instead of the default string of random letters and numbers in your profile URL, Linkedin will let you choose your own address that is easier for you to share and for people to find.
- Ask for recommendations. These serve as votes of confidence, or positive testimonials, from your clients or associates.
