It's Time to Optimise Your LinkedIn Profile

Optimise your LinkedIn profile for professional success

As the world is becoming increasingly digitised, it’s more important than ever to start thinking strategically about your digital presence. Networking is no longer about a swap of business cards. It’s all about sharing the all-important LinkedIn profile. 

Now, although a lot of people struggle with self-promotion, LinkedIn is a great opportunity to emphasise your professional skills and position yourself for a successful career.

With a highly polished profile, you’re more likely to:

● Rank higher in search results, creating new opportunities and driving traffic to your personal profile

● Connect with employers who are looking for the skills you have

● Impress others with the style and professionalism of your profile

With all this in mind, it’s high time you give your profile a little loving and optimise it with these top #10 tips for LinkedIn success.

LinkedIn Profile Tip #1 Highlight your professional skills

The best LinkedIn accounts always showcase their top 10 skills based on endorsements. So, colleagues, business partners, and prospective employers alike can get a gage of your skillset. Aka what work experience you have to offer.

The skills section of your profile was created by LinkedIn to help recruiters find people with specific skills, and, as a result, the skills section is highly indexed by search engines.

And so, it’s absolutely crucial that you add all your industry-relevant skills to your profile. To optimise your profile for recruitment searches. So, you can be found in LinkedIn searches and the www. at large.

LinkedIn Profile Tip #2 Fill in the blanks

Okay, so this may feel like a bit of a no-brainer. Nonetheless...actually completing your profile is one of the best and easiest ways to boost your profile. So complete your LinkedIn profile to optimise it!

So, optimise your ranking in search results by playing the platform rules. Run through your profile with a fine-tooth comb and complete every single section:

●  Use a clear, single photo of yourself

●  Polish up your descriptions

●  Include samples and links to your work and professional achievements

All tasks (in business and life at large) achieve the best results when they’re completed. And your LinkedIn profile is no exception to the rule. So by simply completing your profile, you position yourself way ahead of the game.

LinkedIn Profile Tip #3 Use anchor text

In the long line of LinkedIn profile best practices, anchor text is a must. Now, every profile has a ‘Contact Info’ section that can list up to three links. So make this section work for you!  

All you have to do is access your ‘Contact Info’ section by clicking Me > View Profile and clicking the pencil icon next to the ‘Contact and Personal Info’ in the right-hand sidebar. Then add links to your business website, employer’s website, or your personal blog or website.

But don’t settle for the default options of ‘Company Website’ and ‘Blog’. Nothing about these titles screams excitement. They’re not attention-grabbing. They’re not unique. And they’re definitely not SEO-friendly.

Creating a LinkedIn profile that’s eye-catching requires you to get a little jiggy on the creative side of life. So, boost your search clicks by selecting the ‘Other’ option in the drop-down menu. Then add links using a keyword-RICH title that gives an insight into what the link is actually about.

LinkedIn Profile Tip #4 Build your recommendations

When it comes to creating an account that’s a standout-knockout-success, recommendations are vital. Skill endorsements are the best way to strengthen your profile for search results. And, to beat the competition.

Now, it may feel awkward reaching out to past and present colleagues for reviews, but more often than not, people will be happy to help and be pleased that you value their input.

But if you do want to keep things a little more subtle...you can always start by endorsing the strengths of your LinkedIn connections and cross your fingers that they return the favour. This is a great way to boost your LinkedIn endorsements while, simultaneously, keeping in touch with your professional network. A ‘good for you, good for me’ kind of scenario.

LinkedIn Profile Tip #5 Self-Promotion

It might be daunting to promote yourself and your career successes. Nonetheless, it is key to improving your profile’s SEO, engage your network and allow future employers to see your success.

Highlight Industry-Related Coursework

If you’ve taken any courses that would apply to your business, list them in the LinkedIn courses section. Be it university, TAFE, ‘on-the-job’ training or any other recognised organisations in your industry.                                                                                         

Showcase Specialised Certifications

The LinkedIn certification section allows you to showcase your specialised educational achievements. Again, keep it industry specific. And remember this is for any recognised certification in your field.

Share Your Honours and Awards  

In the Honors & Awards section, you can highlight notable lists and mentions you’ve received from your place of work, recognised authorities and publications in your industry.

And for one last promotional profile tip! Include your LinkedIn profile in your email signature, your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any other websites you maintain to create inbound links.

LinkedIn Profile Tip #6 Use keywords carefully

Earlier we touched on the importance of keywords when writing an optimised LinkedIn profile. Yet, beware keyword stuffing. Overusing and repeating keywords does NOT help your profile’s SEO. Plus, it makes it far less compelling to read.

To negate this, try taking the approach of optimising around secondary keywords. That is - related keywords that are still relevant and descriptive of your skill set.

A good way to do this is by researching your desired jobs and making a list of commonly used terms within that field and industry. This can also be achieved through the use of Google Adwords Keyword Tool.

LinkedIn Profile Tip #7 Create a custom profile URL

Okay so this may seem a tad excessive, but the more profile tips the merrier, right? Creating a customise LinkedIn public profile URL allows your real-life connections to find your profile with ease. Plus, it can be a nice touch for resumes, business cards or any other public profiles you have hiding up your sleeve.

LinkedIn Profile Tip #8 Optimise your job titles

Incorporating a variety of relevant keywords to your LinkedIn job descriptions are super beneficial when it comes to boosting your profile’s SEO.

And as a side tip, try formatting your current and previous job descriptions in bullet points rather than full paragraphs. To allow more readability and create a  more polished looking profile.

LinkedIn Profile Tip #9 Interact, interact, interact!

It’s important to remember, LinkedIn is a social media network. And in light of this LinkedIn fact of life, you’ll want to get pretty interactive. Expand your LinkedIn network, participate in groups, make yourself prominent, endorse your connections!

Because at the end of the day, optimising your LinkedIn profile isn’t just about building a great profile. It’s about interacting with your network and staying current.

You should be regularly updating your profile with new skills you may learn or works you have created or published. Staying active will keep you relevant and expand your network!

LinkedIn Profile Tip #10 Group memberships? Highlight them!  

Joining and participating in relevant groups on LinkedIn won’t just expand your network, it will also improve your LinkedIn profile’s SEO performance.

By getting involved in relevant groups, you have the ability to grow your network with like-minded peers. Being engaged in groups also allows your LinkedIn profile to stand out and provide you with another opportunity to get noticed!

Publicly listing your memberships in the ‘Groups Section’ has two prominent benefits:

1.  People who want to get to know you can do so by joining the same groups as you.

2.  If you join groups related to your industry, you can add more keywords to your profile.                                                                       

And if you do belong to professional organisations in your industry, FEATURE THEM! Use the ‘Organisations’ section to highlight your membership and the position you hold.

Final Words

You know the deal. LinkedIn is the ultimate digital opportunity to develop (and maintain) networks, promote your professional profile and skills, and position yourself for a successful career. So, stand out from the crowd. Create a LinkedIn profile that’s optimised for success! And fast. Because the digital space waits for no one.