Importance of SEO for LinkedIn Profiles
SEO or search engine optimization is a key component is making your profile more visible online. With good SEO your profile will rank higher in the search engine results. This makes it easier for potential prospects to find your LinkedIn profile from the search results. This will help establish your online presence.
With SEO you can unleash the full potential of LinkedIn for your own benefit. So, how is it can you do this? When you are filling out your profile, fill every single field. Use descriptive keywords but not too many. There needs to be a balance because you don’t want your profile to be boring. LinkedIn also provides suggestions, so you don’t have to worry about being clueless.
Use keywords in your job titles. Separate them with the ‘|’ symbol. For example, don’t add ‘Management’. That sounds vague and boring. Try ‘Marketing Strategist’, ‘Marketing Strategy Manager’. Make your job titles sound better than they are but don’t embellish or lie about what you have done.
Give yourself a custom URL. It should not be something long and difficult but short and identifiable with you. Try to use your name but if that’s already claimed do a variation of it. Keep it as close to your name as possible.
The ‘Summary’ section is another great place to add keywords. Add keyword phrases but in a proper context. When filling it out, focus on not your past experience but on how they will be useful to the companies that wish to hire you. Use the keyword phrases in that, but as mentioned before don’t stuff them left, right and centre. You can write ‘Specialties’ and then add all the target keywords there. The ‘Skills’ section is one of the best ways to incorporate keywords into your profile. You can add upto 50 skills, so make sure that the skills you fill in are keyword phrases, such as if you are in the marketing field you can add – online advertising, online marketing, twitter marketing, facebook advertising and so on. Add them even in the ‘Interests’ section.
Also, to get a better idea about SEO for your LinkedIn profile, check the profiles of the top rankers in the search results and see how they went about it. Pick up tips from there and incorporate them in your profile. After you get the basic gist of using keywords for SEO, your page will get many hits. In fact, you can also start a side business of being a sort of ‘LinkedIn Coach’ and helping other people too. It is a total win-win for you!
