Most people use LinkedIn to connect to a business, form a partner or for employment. Not only is LinkedIn an incredible digital platform to showcase your career history, it’s one of the great tools to increase your professional network. Studies have reported that users with more than twenty connections are thirty-four times more likely to be contacted for a job opportunity than users with less than five. It’s more effective because it is an online platform of more than 8.5 million experts from all over the globe representing 130 industries. Below are few tips that help you kick your LinkedIn presence up a notch.
Think about your goals
First you need to think about the reason for being on LinkedIn. It may be in search of new employees, business partners or a mix.
Increase your visibility
By increasing your connections, your profile is likely to be seen first when people are searching for someone to deal with their business. It not only helps you in getting displayed at the top of LinkedIn search results but also help people do their business with people who their friends know and trust.
Keep your professional headshot up to date
If you want people to recognize you, an image is worth a thousand words. Post your recent pictures probably a close up with a smile to keep your headshot up to date. If you’re not comfortable in sharing your photo with recruiters or prospective clients, then, you have the option of changing your privacy settings so only a group of people can see your picture.
Make the most of your headline
Make sure your headline communicates your current position and your expertise. It does not have to contain your job title alone. For instance, if you are hunting for a job you can make the headline as “Talented Seeking Fresh opportunity” instead of “unemployed.” If you’re a student, then your headline can have something like “Aspiring Seeking Internship” in place of “student at…” You can also use it to represent your future plans.
Treat your LinkedIn profile like a website
Create your LinkedIn profile as a word document, so that you can format, check for spelling and grammatical errors. It also gives you a clear idea of how your profile will appear on the LinkedIn website. In some sections, you can use bullets and special characters but never use bold or italics.
Know your keywords
Like any website, keywords are important to get your website listed in LinkedIn’s internal search engines. Make sure to incorporate the frequently searched keywords throughout your LinkedIn profile. It would be beneficial if you use them in headlines, interests, title fields, specialties, recommendations and education.
Join and participate in groups
Join relevant groups and discussions in your own market or industry. Use the search tool to find relevant groups of your niche, join them, post good content and participate in discussions.
Limit the invitations you send out
Although LinkedIn allows you to upload up to 3000 invitations in a lifetime, make sure you send the invitations to those who already exist on LinkedIn and don’t send to more than 2500 people. Reserve a few invitations for the future so that you don’t have to face shortage of invitations. Also, when you are inviting someone to connect with you don’t forget to tell them how you know them.
This Post is written by Kelly. She is a writer/blogger. She writes articles on Technology, social media, wordpress, Gamification, travelling and health etc. These days she contributes on celebrities luxury homes
