LinkedIn is one of the most professional social media networks. It has more than 313 million members in more than 200 countries and territories. Professionals sign up to join LinkedIn at a rate of more than two members per second.
As part of my job, I have had the opportunity to teach a 30 minute LinkedIn 101 class to hundreds of Forsythe employees. Here are my top 10 takeaways that I have boiled down on what every career professional should take to optimize their LinkedIn profile.
1. Update your profile information
Make sure you add all of your basic info such as your full name, title at you company, location, correct industry, and company (linked to your company’s page).
Some key points to remember:
- Add a custom background. The image should not be distracting and should be at least 1400 x 425 pixels in size.
- Include a professional photo: Make sure you take the time to get a real professional picture taken by a photographer. Taking it on a white background is the recommended but it is up to you.
- Your name should ONLY contain your name: Please avoid adding any additional titles, acronyms or credentials. Please keep your name clean and concise.
2. Customize your public profile URL
When customizing your LinkedIn profile, aim to just have your full name without anything else. If you have a more common name (sorry, John Smith) then you might have to resort to a slight modification. If you can’t add your full name consider adding your middle initial or “your company name” at the end of it. If you leave your company, you can always edit it.
3. Add important websites
Add important websites (LinkedIn limits you to three). Make sure you check off “other,” then add the Website title and URL so people quickly understand the website title. It is better to use “Other” than “Company Website” or any other pick list items LinkedIn provides.
4. Add or tweak your Summary section
Ensure your LinkedIn profile Summary section captures your overall career and specifically your current role at your company and how you help others and your company’s clients. This summary section is basically your elevator pitch in written form. Remember, LinkedIn is not your resume so make sure you are always writing in first person.
5. Make sure you have company logos for each of your positions in your Experience section.
Go through your Experience section and make sure you have logos for each of your old positions. Please go to “change company” and find the correct company to ensure the company logo is set up. If your company was acquired by another company, find the acquired company, link it to that and then in Edit Display Name, change to XXX (acquired by XXX).
6. Add articles, blog posts, videos or work samples to your LinkedIn profile
Under your Summary section and past positions in Experience, there is the capability to “add a link” to your profile. Go to your Summary and add articles or blog posts you have written. Or you may want to add videos or samples of your career work.
7. Update your Skills and Endorsements page
Take a proactive approach to editing your endorsements by adding skills you want to be known for with your network. For example, you may want to add “Team Leadership” to your skills. You can’t change the order of these endorsements because LinkedIn has them ranked by number of endorsements for particular skills and orders them accordingly.
8. Follow companies to keep up-to-date with your ecosystem
At the top of LinkedIn in the black header, go to the white search bar and find some companies you want to follow. There are four main categories of companies that you should follow: 1) analysts; 2) partners; 3) competitors; and 4) clients.
9. Connect with “People You Know” to grow your network
Make sure you have at least 501 people but only connect with people you know. LinkedIn will show how many connections you have until you hit 500. Once you reach over 500 connections, LinkedIn will continue to count. It says “500+” connections on your profile. Remember: People like to connect with “connected” people.
10. Update your LinkedIn status at least once a week and/or write via LinkedIn publisher
One of the pillars to social media success and how many people view your profile and that you share content with consistency. Be sure to update your LinkedIn status daily or at least once a week with something that provides value to your network. You may want to put a reminder on your calendar to share an article. You should also think about publishing through LinkedIn.
What steps would you add to this list?
