How To Be More Visible on LinkedIn
/17 million people joined LinkedIn in the last three months. SEVENTEEN MILLION PEOPLE. That’s like the whole population of Holland deciding to sign up for the professional social network. For years, LinkedIn has been the most useful social media platform for recruitment, prospecting clients and showcasing your business online. Is your business taking advantage?
Why Use LinkedIn?
Over 660 million people use LinkedIn worldwide. It is surely the world’s preeminent social network for professionals. It’s basically an online CV. Users can list their current and previous job roles, their skills, and their education. LinkedIn allows users to network with like-minded professionals and is a great pace to publish long-form content, similar to a blog post.
Improve Your LinkedIn Profile
Before you start to post on LinkedIn, make sure that you profile is up to date, and optimised. It’s often the first thing people will see, and first impressions count. Follow these simple steps to make sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date:
Use an up to date, professional profile picture. No holiday snaps with a cocktail in hand, please. A clear headshot with an appropriate backdrop should do the trick. No need for a photoshoot, just make sure it represents what you are about.
Edit Your Headline. This is so important. Your LinkedIn headline is a chance to describe precisely what you do, who you help, and why. It could be your job title, but it’s better to include lots of search keywords and your key skills.
Complete the ‘About’ section. Here’s your chance to craft a comprehensive summary of you and your work. Make yourself seem approachable, so maybe include information about how people can contact you. But make sure you convince them as to why you are worth contacting in the first place!
Create a vanity URL. https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnstorton/ looks better than a combination of letters and numbers, right? It will help when people search for you on Google, too.
Add your skills. List at least half a dozen things you are good at and other LinkedIn users can endorse you for these key skills.
Ask For Testimonials. What better way to showcase how good you are than having others say it about you. On LinkedIn you can request a recommendation form anyone you’re connected with. Try to ask people who know you well in a work capacity, and obviously someone that will have positive things to say!
What Should I Post on LinkedIn?
Now your LinkedIn profile is up to date you can start to post interesting content. Yellow Spider Media loves the three Es: Entertaining, Educational, and Engaging. Get a nice mix of these three and you’ll be fine. Don’t try to promote or sell too much. If you are posting from a company page, show photographs of the workplace and the people in it. Posting industry news is always a good way to show that you have your finger on the pulse, whatever industry you work in.
As mentioned earlier, it’s good practice to post long-form articles to show your industry knowledge. Position yourself as a thought-leader so people will come to you in the future when they need help.
Using Video on LinkedIn
Video content gets more views than other social media content. It’s just more eye-catching. You don’t necessarily need quality corporate video, you can use your smart phone to record quick interviews or talking heads to showcase your opinions on what is going on in your world. If you want to post video content to LinkedIn, upload the file itself (to make it a native video) rather than a link to YouTube or another site, for example. LinkedIn, like all websites and social networks, likes its users to stay on LinkedIn!
If you are struggling with making the most of LinkedIn get in touch. Maybe you know what to do but just don’t have the time to constantly use LinkedIn? Yellow Spider Media can create monthly content calendars, engage with a target audience, or simply give you a bit of strategic assistance.