How to optimise your LinkedIn profile
Here you are in front of 25 million people on LinkedIn. And you’ve got all your basic information up. How are you going to stand out and present the best version of your working self?
Here’s how to make sure you scrub up well.
Write for the screen
The little one. Don’t assume everyone has the patience to plough through vast wodges of verbiage. Short blocks of text or bullet points give your readers a fighting chance of grasping your message.
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation. Put simply, this means using industry keywords throughout your profile, especially in your Summary and Skills sections. When people are searching for the skills and services you offer, you’ll get a higher search ranking.
Keep making history
Keep your profile up to date with any new accomplishments, skills and experiences.
Check your stats
Numbers tell a story. You know that. Check your profile strength rating. What can you do to get it higher? See above… Check your weekly profile views and search appearances. What can you do to get them higher?
A natural voice
How do you naturally speak to you clients and business contacts? That’s how to write on LinkedIn. Some people write in the third person. Unless your brand has a high degree of formality, this can make you sound a bit up yourself.
What are you like?
Is your job just about the numbers and how clever you are with them? Or do you ever lighten up? It’s fine to let your guard down a bit. Show emotion, show humour. Tell a story. Describe things colourfully using active language. The passive voice is fine in a scientific paper or civil service memo. But not if you want people to warm to you.