Top LinkedIn Tips to Grow Your Network
There are plenty of different things that you should be doing to improve your LinkedIn efforts. In this article, we will discuss some of them.
Top LinkedIn Tips:
- Adding A Headshot
One of the easiest things that you can do to improve your LinkedIn profile would be to add a quality headshot to it. If you are in a creative field, you might even want to look to showcase your creativity with it. However, it is important to remember that your headshot will create the first impression when they visit your page. Therefore, if you haven’t yet invested in a professional headshot, it might be time to do so. Due to the vast number of people that can be found on LinkedIn, not having a professional headshot can really hinder your ability to generate interest.
- Optimize Your Headline
The headline that you have is the first thing that will be showcased right below your name on your profile. While it defaults to your current position, you want to optimize it to stand out. Just know that you have up to 120 characters to use for your headline. Therefore, you have room to expand and to really create an eye-catching headline to improve your profile. You can view your headline as a free advertisement to get people interested in communicating with you. For instance, if you are looking to promote yourself as a marketing guru, you could create a headline that reads, “Marketing specialist helping clients reach more customers daily. Over 300 satisfied clients.” Not only does this headline promote yourself as a marketing specialist, but it offers credibility by showcasing the number of clients that you have worked with.
- Create An Interesting Summary
You want to create a summary that is not only interesting but also informative. Your summary should read like a longer version of your headline. Keep in mind that you have 2,000 characters that you can use which means that you can really dig deeper. Not only do you want to showcase what you have done in the past, but you want to emphasize what you bring to the table and how you could help a future employer. When crafting your summary, it is important to keep in mind that keyword usage is critical. You want to utilize the keywords that are most utilized within your respective industry of work. Due to the decreasing attention spans, we have in today’s digital age, you want to try to keep it concise and leverage the summary to position yourself as an expert in your field.
- Showcase Your Experience
Instead of using LinkedIn as a digital form of your current resume, you want to really focus on the important aspects of your work history and experience. Therefore, you should look to only include the work history that relates to your current career goals. Throughout this, you want to not only showcase the years of experience you have but also what you were able to accomplish during each year. This can be then shown in your resume – if you want to know how then read more about how to design a great resume.
- Using Visual Content
Many might be unaware, but you can actually leverage a cover photo on LinkedIn just like you would on Facebook. Not only is it easy to do, but it can really help your LinkedIn profile look professional and help you stand out in a crowded marketplace. Having one that is high quality and relevant can really do wonders for making your profile look professional.
The platform also allows you to connect anything else that might pertain to your career goals and aspirations including info-graphics that you might have made, a YouTube channel, or anything else. Leverage this to showcase your skills and creativity.
- Have A Customized URL
The URL for your LinkedIn profile will be hard to remember and it will be randomized numbers. Instead, you can create your own to have it be not only relevant but easier to remember and more professional looking. You can edit your public URL to make it much more professional looking and memorable.
- Make Connections
What good is LinkedIn going to do for you if you don’t utilize it properly? While it might seem obvious, it can be very easy to forget the purpose of LinkedIn as a platform. You will want to continue to leverage connections that you have made and look to continue to brand out and meet new people and make new connections. Having many connections is one of the best ways to boost your profile’s visibility on the platform.
- Ask For Recommendations
This is a very important tip to utilize. You want to think about anyone and everyone that you have worked with in the past in order to get recommendations from them. You want to try to choose relevant things to be recommended and find connections that will make them. This will help you get your profile to really stand out and it can help showcase your ability to create, establish, and maintain good relationships and connections with your previous employees and employers.
- Continue To Be Active
One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is to let your page go dormant. It is much more than an online resume and it should be thought of as more of a social media network. Therefore, you should treat it like one and continue to use it on a daily basis. Join groups that might interest you and that might lead you towards more connections for the best results.