Maximizing Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn has more than 875 million members worldwide! That’s a vast network to connect with and grow professionally. LinkedIn serves as both a social media platform and a news source. While the platform primarily focuses on business, personal accounts hold significant value. Often, these personal accounts extend the presence and impact of business accounts.

How to Optimize Your Profile

First impressions are everything!

• Ensure your profile displays your professional side with a clean headshot and cover photo.
• LinkedIn profiles with high-quality and professional headshots get 14% more profile views.
• Everything on your LinkedIn profile should be cohesive with your personal brand.

Have a Strong Headline

• A strong headline is essential for your profile to get discovered.
• The headline convinces people to read the rest of your profile.
• A formula for your headline can be:
  
  • [Current Role/Profession] | [Primary Skills/Areas of Expertise] | [Unique Value] | [Notable Achievement] | [Personal Passion or Career Goal]
• Customize the headline to fit your experiences. 

Use Keywords

• Include keywords in your summary that highlight why you are special in your industry.
• Keywords should explain your background, list your accomplishments, and tell a story of your career trajectory.
•  Always end your summary with a call to action!

Explain Detailed Experiences and Education

• Include every detail in your experience and education sections.
• If you intend to stay local, include your high school to portray a strong community tie.
• List all certifications, even if they do not pertain to the job you are applying for, to show you are well-rounded and knowledgeable about multiple subjects.
• Include all volunteering efforts, especially if you held a leadership role, to add a personal dimension to your professional profile and help hiring agents get to know you better.

Managing Your LinkedIn Profile

Build a Widespread Network

• Start by searching for fellow students or colleagues and asking to connect.
• Connecting with people you know first helps build a strong foundation and can lead to connecting with their network.
• Make sure to accept connection requests.

Follow Relevant Businesses and Organizations

• Follow businesses and organizations that interest you.
• Find leading businesses in your desired area of work and follow their pages.
• Follow client pages to keep up with their posts.

Join Networking Groups

• Join groups to meet people in similar situations who can connect and support you.
• Use LinkedIn groups to find content to share and provide your opinion, showcasing your knowledge.

Engage with Content

• Engage with content on LinkedIn to show you are knowledgeable and willing to converse about community events.
• Engaging with others' posts encourages them to comment on yours.
• Congratulate connections on work anniversaries or new positions to build relationships and increase the likelihood of job recommendations.
• Check who views your profile and start conversations - they may give you a job offer.

Optimize Engagement

• Create a calendar or to-do list to stay on top of LinkedIn activity and algorithm requirements.
• Follow the 80/20 rule for content:
  
  • 80% should entertain, educate, or inform.
  •  20% should foster conversations or promote services.

Daily Tasks:

• Notice and congratulate specific occurrences
• Check profile views
• Share posts with unique comments
• Engage with posts
• Connect with new people

Monthly Tasks:

• Review your profile and make changes
• Post original content

Getting to Know the LinkedIn Algorithm

Do:

• Like (30% increase in reach)
• Comment instead of reposting and sharing (70% increase in reach)
• Add a link in the comments after the post is made
• Ensure your posts can be copy and pasted easily
• Post personal photos (but don’t forget to add engaging text)
• Bring relevant people into a conversation by tagging them
• Include additional links or personal screenshots to give readers more context

Don’t:

• Add a link directly to your post (LinkedIn prefers you stay on their platform; this can cause a 50% decrease in reach)
• Post and ghost
• Solely rely on likes and comments to build your network
• Post videos, as they are the worst-performing content
• Post stock images, as they are the second worst-performing content

The best way to learn how to use LinkedIn effectively is to use it. What you put into it is what you get out. Don’t be afraid to get started today!