LinkedIn Success: Optimising your profile

These 5 elements are the ideal areas to include relevant, informative content that is rich in keywords. They are all optimised for the best search rankings, so are ready for you to maximise the benefits they offer.

PROFESSIONAL HEADLINE

This one is the most important field in your profile. Not only is it used by Google to identify whether you are relevant to a search, it is also highly visible alongside your name as the two always appear together.

This is a perfect opportunity to let your target audience know what you’re about and to induce them to study your profile in more detail. They’ll be able to see this and make their decision whether or not they’re interested so it pays to make it work!

There’s a secret to making this work though. It’s simply this: don’t just use it for your job title. Honestly, it sounds like a bold, risky move but it actually makes sense. If you have ‘Sales Manager’ or ‘Business Development Executive’ after your name, does this sound a bit cold, standard and ‘me-too’?

Instead, try something like ‘Innovative Customer Advocate, Expert in Office Aqua-Refreshment’.  It immediately sounds intriguing and enticing, doesn’t it?

In addition, you’ve included keywords that your target audience will be searching for and this will boost your Google rankings no end.

SUMMARY

This section is arguably the second-most important for not only keywords, but also visibility. It’s the first port of call for anyone viewing your profile after your photo and professional headline.

So it’s worth making sure this is written in a conversational, welcoming style that will encourage the viewer to keep reading and find out more.

From the very first sentence, you need to show that you personally identify your target’s pain point, communicate your solution and highlight your value and expertise. And while you’re typing, you may as well use up the entire 2000-character word count to maximise your chances of being found.

This is one of your greatest opportunities to include relevant, interesting, keyword-rich content that will not only be attracting your target audience but Google too.

You need to show that you have a clearly identified target audience and appeal to them. Highlight your individual expertise and knowledge in this field and build trust with your heritage and problem-solving abilities. Include product highlights and testimonials, then finish it all off with a clear Call-to-Action and your contact details.

Get this right and you have a strong chance of not only attracting the right audience to your profile, but winning them round too.

CURRENT AND PAST EXPERIENCE

This, like your summary, is another chance to optimise the content for search. Use it in a very similar way to your Summary, but concentrate more on the company and its features.

Things to highlight include: What your company does and the value to the reader, how you’ve helped other clients, any case studies and testimonials and an expansion of your services and products.

You can also add media here which is incredibly powerful for SEO. This includes images, publications (such as catalogues or brochures), video etc.

It’s not worth getting too involved with your past experiences if it doesn’t bear any relevance to your current role; remember that you don’t want to clutter up your profile unnecessarily.

Again, finalise this section with a Call-to-Action and your contact details.

SKILLS AND ENDORSEMENTS

It’s easy enough to focus on your personal skills here, such as ‘Sales Prospecting’, ‘Business Development’ or some other such rather offputting terminology. Remember that your target audience will be scanning the list to see if you have the skills necessary to satisfy their needs. Do they really need to know that you’re a good salesperson?

Far better to use this to display the fact that you are a good communicator, know how to care for customers and also, importantly, are an expert in your field.

‘Customer Satisfaction’ is a great example of a skill which has much more meaning to a customer. You can also use much more specific words that will show your expertise in your industry.

This, again, has the added benefit of being a key element within Google’s search algorithm and will bode well in your efforts to be found.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Whilst you should avoid cluttering your profile, there are some additional elements which will be useful to you, and present an opportunity to introduce more keywords.

‘Interests’ are a great place to include relevant keywords (ideally directly related to the products and/or services you sell). You should also include any of your social interests here so that you still appear human.

Advice for contacting is another useful area to gain traction with a Call-to-Action and to make yourself more accessible to your target audience.

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