Let us accept one fact that today we are far better connected than we were a couple of decades ago. Thanks to technology, the gap between a buyer and a seller is shrinking as today buyers are well informed about various products and services available. However, this also poses a challenge for people who are engaged in lead generation.
Whether you are from the talent acquisition team looking for potential candidates or whether a businessperson looking for potential clients and business partners, LinkedIn has become one of the most sought-after platforms for collaboration and networking.
It is important to leverage this platform through various branding activities and it all starts with creating your personal brand. A personal brand represents you as an individual as well as the company that you are associated with.
Hence, it is important to have the right presentation of your profile that will ensure that the person at the other end is “impressed”. Hence, in this article, we will go through some of the tips and tools that you can use to optimize your LinkedIn profile.
36 Optimization Tips for LinkedIn
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Completeness
This is primarily related to your LinkedIn profile. There are multiple sections in your LinkedIn profile. Your LinkedIn profile talks about you and the company that you represent. Hence, it is important to have all sections in your profile captured to help you optimize your LinkedIn profile. Some of the sections that you need to take care of are:
Your full name
Current Designation
Current organization
Previous positions (minimum two to three)
Educational background
Minimum 50 connections (preferably in the relevant field)
A clear photo (in a professional attire preferably)
Please note that a professional photo does speak volumes about you as an individual. Hence, it is important to maintain sanctity of the platform with a decent and presentable picture.
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Custom URL
A default URL of your profile is a series of alpha-numeric codes, which does not go well. Hence, it is important to have your custom URL. To put in simple terms, instead of having a profile URL with thousands of characters or numbers, it is advisable to have your own name such as https://www.linkedin.com/in/anirudhmenon/
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Recommendations
This is a highly utilitarian section. Written recommendations from your peers, seniors, clients, partners, etc. establish the strong credibility of your profile. A written recommendation will also capture the name of the person who is recommending and his or her relationship with you in the organization with his or her picture.
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Skills & Endorsements
Over and above written recommendations, it is important to have your key skills mentioned and each skill should have been endorsed by your connections.
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Digital Properties
The digital assets that you will be posting in your profile should not be generic. However, it should have customized details such as the name of the company and the type of document with some description for viewers to see.
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Profile arrangement
Once the sections are filled, then you can align the sections and arrange them in the right sequence. There is no ideal sequence to be followed, however, it depends on what you want to highlight at the top and then goes down according to priority.
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SEO of your profile
If you want your profile to be available in search, then you can add keywords, tags, and other descriptions to your profile to make it more SEO-friendly.
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Branding of your profile
While we focus on the technicalities of your profile, it is also important to focus on the branding of your profile. The key factor here is to have a good background image on your profile. The image should be as per the specifications provided by LinkedIn. The background image should be in line with your expertise or the industry/company that you represent.
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Keywords usage
There is a section in your LinkedIn profile that says Headline. Here you have to write a snippet about yourself and mention keywords that will highlight your expertise. If you don’t mention anything in the headline, it takes your current position or designation as a default representation. Hence, it is important to customize it.
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Projcet details
In case you are a consultant or a project manager or a freelancer, it is important that you also mention the key projects that you have executed or implemented in your professional journey.
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Groups
Once your profile is created, it is also important for people to recognize your presence on the platform. Hence, it is recommended that you join groups that are relevant to your area of expertise or the business that your company is into. Joining groups allows you to learn about trending topics and discussions on various subjects. You can also contribute to various subjects, thereby making your profile more visible.
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Networking
Now it is time to build your network. Start connecting with people and keep your network growing. This can be done by initially connecting with your colleagues, seniors, and even former colleagues. Over a period, you will be able to reach out to potential connections that are either 2nd level or 3rd level connections.
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LinkedIn – a CRM tool
This may not be required if you are an individual looking to expand your network. However, from a company point of view, LinkedIn can be used as a CRM tool to generate new leads. You can run email campaigns to send out specific messages to your target audience.
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Media
While text-based content does help in describing your profile, it is equally important to have some media files in the form of videos or presentations or maybe even print form. This adds tremendous value to your overall profile strength.
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Aesthetic Look
While we talk about strong content and authentic verbiage, it is also important to look at the presentability of your profile. The aesthetic look of your profile can be enhanced by ensuring listicle items are captured in bullet points.
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Awards & Accolades
If you have received any recognition, awards, or accolades, which is related to your field, then it must be showcased in the profile to get improved visibility of your profile.
These are fundamental elements that you need to take care of, to optimize your LinkedIn profile. However, there are few more elements that one should look into when it comes to optimizing the LinkedIn profile.
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Creation of native videos
Create and upload videos that either describes your company’s product or services or your own skills and competency (applicable in case of freelancers).
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Backlink to your profile
While you are contributing on the web over multiple platforms, you can share your LinkedIn profile URL on these platforms. This will allow people to visit your profile creating a back-link. A good way to generate inbound inquiries or tractions.
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Share Posts or Write-ups
To showcase your expertise or competency in your domain, it is important to share some knowledge. This can be done by writing posts on various subjects and sharing the same on various LinkedIn groups.
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Hashtags
While you are publishing your posts as described above, it is advisable to use keywords and use hashtags on these posts. It allows increased visibility due to a better SEO.
Additionally, these are some other important tips to help you further enhance and optimize your LinkedIn profile.
21.Contact Info should be easy to find | 22.Track your LinkedIn profile analytics | |
23.Don’t be a “cold pitch” person where you randomly message professionals for business | 24.Be personable and approachable | |
25.Stay away from Buzzwords | 26.Be active in the community | |
27.Utilize profile pic with frames on whether you are looking for people or whether you are looking for a job | 28.Regularly update the summary section or About section. | |
29.Leverage the Feature section by highlight key achievements | 30.In case you are open for any charity work, or have worked in the past, create a specific section and update the same. | |
31.Periodically update your profile but don’t make it too frequent. | 32.Utilize the multi-lingual feature to have your profile in other languages, as per your requirement | |
33.In case you are looking for leads, use the service section to showcase the services and solutions you offer | 34.If you are expert in some topics, then use the creator mode to highlight the topics that you talk about. This shows up just below your profile name & designation | |
35.Take skill test across multiple topics and showcase them on Skill section | 36.Interest section is primarily for making your network understand your professional area of interest. This can be a common ground of establishing a connect. |
14 Optimization Tools for LinkedIn
Along with these fundamentals, it requires some tools to bolster the marketing efforts. Let us look at some of the tools that will help you in this process
1. Dux-Soup
This is considered as one of the best tools as far as lead generation on LinkedIn is concerned. One of the USPs of this tool is that it allows users to visit multiple profiles with a single click. Users can also track visitors on their profiles and automate the entire process; thereby increasing your reach.
2. LeadFuze
Another tool that stands apart when it comes to lead generation on LinkedIn is LeadFuze. This tool can boost your lead generation work by searching through its database of 200 million professionals. Its key traits are that it has a database of 200 million professionals from over 14 million organizations. LeadFuze also helps in searching using advanced filters such as technologies used, size of the company, and so on.
3. Leadfeeder
For B2B marketers, this is a very effective tool because it allows marketers to track visitors on their website. This makes the task of finding prospects easy. All you have to do is connect this to a Google Analytics account that you have. It will immediately let you know when a target enterprise has visited your website.
4. ProTop
Another very renowned tool that helps in automating the process around profile visits. As a user, you just need to define the criteria for searching various profiles and the tool will start searching across LinkedIn profiles accordingly.
5. Buy Followers Guide
Considered to be a favorite among B2B marketers, this tool provides a list of followers. Businesses, in particular, buy this list so that they can use the followers for enhancing their social image.
6. Crystal
It is the largest platform that does personality assessment. The tool helps you to differentiate between various profiles, your customers, coworkers, etc. This personality evaluation tool helps you to convey your behavior and the way you communicate.
7. Datanyze
This tool is another preferred solution in the industry. It provides real-time information about choices made by a company when it comes to technology. A tool is a good option if you want to sell your products or services based on potential buyers’ choice of technology.
8. ly
While you are viewing various profiles on LinkedIn, there is a possibility to miss out on information from other social channels. This tool comes as an extension to Chrome browser and through this extension, it can gather additional information.
9. eLink Pro
A key objective of every marketing campaign is to generate more sales. To have improved sales, you need more leads, and this tool is the right for your requirement
10. IFTTT
The full form of IFTTT is “If This, Then That”. The tool helps you to streamline your work by automating different tasks that are performed between different third-party applications. For instance, if a LinkedIn connection has moved from one company to another, this tool can send you a notification. Using this tool, you can connect LinkedIn with third-party apps – making your social media presence visible on LinkedIn.
11. InBoardpro
If you are managing multiple LinkedIn accounts and want to monitor the traction on each of them, then this tool is the right fit for your requirement.
12. LeadGrabber Pro
This tool helps you find the contact details of professionals, thereby reducing the time spent by marketers in finding contact details. This is the fastest way to build a list of target customers.
13. Sales Navigator
This is an advanced tool created by LinkedIn. It helps you to identify and target specific companies and professionals, across various search criteria. The tool also helps in keeping a track of important leads that you have generated.
14. Sales Navigator for Gmail
The tool comes as an extension of the Chrome browser and helps you to keep a track of people with whom you are already conversing.
Final Thoughts
LinkedIn is a very effective tool. It doesn’t matter what stage of life you are in; having a LinkedIn profile is pertinent if you are professional rendering service to the community. It allows you to connect with professionals in a similar sphere and thereby helps you in gaining and sharing insights.
An optimized LinkedIn profile will help you to stand out from the crowd creating a plethora of opportunities.
Other Useful Resources:
LinkedIn Lead Generation Strategies for Businesses
How to Use LinkedIn for Business Growth