8 Tips for Your LinkedIn Profile

The career network is currently very popular – and not just in North America but also internationally. That’s why it is even more important to have a well-maintained profile that arouses interest. We give tips that anyone can realize.

LinkedIn puts a face on companies. We get to know the people behind positions such as managing director, developer or product manager, we can follow their careers and network with them. From their CVs, posts, comments, photos or videos, we also learn about some personal details of our LinkedIn contacts. So, LinkedIn is not just a career network, but a social career portal. With over 600 million members in more than 200 countries, it is the unbeaten number one business platform worldwide. As an international network, LinkedIn’s main advantage is that we can connect with colleagues, customers and business partners around the globe at any time of day or night, across all time zones. In a working world that is becoming increasingly global, this is a great added value.

 

Influencer Status

LinkedIn also offers several features that other professional networks lack, such as the influencer status. This is a status awarded by LinkedIn to thought leaders, managers and innovators whose contributions interest and influence many other people. Well-known examples include the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, Jesper Bordin, CEO of the IKEA Group, or Melina Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and founder of Pivotal Ventures. Anyone can follow influencers without having to personally connect with them and this makes influencer marketing very worthwhile endeavor.

 

Dive Into the LinkedIn World

If you are particularly active on LinkedIn or would like to be, your LinkedIn profile should be regularly cultured and spark interest. After all, the aim is to present the profile visitor, for example a potential new client, the most important information at a glance. The following eight tips will help you on your way to a convincing profile according to the motto: how to pimp my profile.

 

Tip #1 – Customize the Profile URL

The URL automatically assigned by LinkedIn, i.e. the address of your LinkedIn profile, consists of your name, followed by letter and number combinations. If you click on “Edit public profile & URL” on your profile, you can shorten the URL to your name, for example: www.linkedin.com/in/vanessamogler. If you have a popular name, you can add your city or job description to it. This way, a link looks more professional and makes it easier for your friends or new contacts to find you.

 

Tip #2 – Create a Multilingual Profile

In an increasingly global working world, a lot of communication takes place in English or other foreign languages. Therefore, it can be useful to create your profile in several languages. Attention: This function is still very new and can so far only be edited and displayed in the desktop version. All languages you can choose from can be found under “Add profile section” via supported languages.

 

Tip #3 – Become a Superstar

LinkedIn measures the significance of profiles and divides them into several levels from beginner to superstar. You can find your current status and what you are missing to become a superstar above your dashboard. For example, at the beginning, you should add photo, info, location, industry, at least five skills, your current position and your summary. According to LinkedIn, members with a profile picture receive up to 21 times more profile views and nine times more networking requests. This helps others find you (better) and makes networking easier. Then again, this increases the chances of receiving requests for new business opportunities or job offers.

 

Tip #4 – Optimize the Profile for SEO

Whether slogan, professional experience and project description or voluntary work: All texts in your profile decide whether search engines like Google will find you with a corresponding keyword search. Include the terms you stand for and want to be known. If a member searches for these terms or topics, there is a higher chance that he or she will become aware of your profile. For example, the terms PR agency, B2B, industry, medium-sized businesses, digitalization and industry 4.0 are important for my profile. For SEO advanced users: in terms of headline hierarchy, profile slogan and info are the equivalent of H1 and H2.

 

Tip #5 – Create a Profile Headline

The headline should describe you and your expertise briefly but as concisely as possible. Make sure to include personal keywords (see tip #4), because the headline has a strong impact on SEO effectiveness. It is the first thing other LinkedIn members – whether contacts or non-contacts – see of you. It can therefore decide whether your profile is clicked or not. If you have created a multilingual profile, you can also customize the headline there to increase the range of keywords.

 

Tip #6 – Elevator Pitch for Yourself

The elevator pitch was originally an idea of American salespeople with the aim of convincing customers and bosses of their idea during an elevator ride. The aim was to get their message across in the shortest possible time and make a good first impression. Take advantage of this principle by summarizing in the profile section “About”: who am I? What makes me and my work special? Why am I or is my performance unique? What are my current and future goals? There is only room for two to three lines. You can and should enrich your core statements with media files such as photos, presentations or links. In this way, you create visual stimuli, expand your short description and appear even more convincing. You can add them in the section “Featured”.

 

Tip #7 – Confirm Skills

Highlight your knowledge and skills and have them confirmed by contacts from your network. This will make your statements more credible and you will be able to emphasize and expand your expert status with the help of (former) colleagues, customers and business partners. We recommend that you proceed according to the principle “give before you get”: First confirm the strengths of your contacts, before you ask them to do the same for you.

 

Tip #8 – Add Work Samples

A picture – optionally also a video or presentation – sometimes says more than a thousand words. Therefore, we recommend adding further files or links in the section “Experience”. Potential contacts or customers can thus get a well-founded impression of your work.

 


This article was written by Vanessa from Communication Consultants.

Communication Consultants is an official member of GlobalCom PR Network.