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Your LinkedIn profile is more than just a social media platform, a job search site, and an online resume. Over the years, it has proven its reputation as one of the most invaluable tools for personal branding and professional networking. With more than 800 million members worldwide, it is definitely a great place to meet and engage with industry experts and like-minded people, which can be beneficial to your career. For this reason, having a powerful LinkedIn profile is extremely important. This is where Search Engine Optimization or SEO comes into play.
You might think that SEO is useful only for digital marketing or business-related websites. Well, its power reaches far beyond that. SEO is the key component of anything online when it comes to visibility. You need to strategically place keywords on any of your online pages so you can easily be found by your target audience. This also applies to your LinkedIn profile. It enhances your discoverability, allowing your profile to appear more often in a potential employer’s search results for relevant positions. In this article, we will share some crucial SEO tips to help you optimize your LinkedIn profile for maximum exposure.
1) Fill out your profile completely
Many professionals do not take the time to fully complete their LinkedIn profiles. If you are one of them, you are missing a great chance to optimize your profile for SEO, add keywords, and develop a strong online presence. Ultimately, you are likely driving away potential opportunities because you are not letting yourself be found during LinkedIn searches. After all, having a completely filled-out LinkedIn profile is your first step to attracting more profile views.
Profile views are one of the indicators of how interested other people are in learning more about you. So don’t let them come to your profile just to find out that it is incomplete. Make sure to invest some time to fill out every single section of your profile with relevant details about you and your target industry, most importantly your photo, headline, summary, and experience. This can be tedious and time-consuming, but it definitely pays off.
2) Keyword-optimize every section of your profile
If you have been in the digital marketing world, you probably already know that keywords play a critical role in SEO. You need to spread keywords throughout your content to drive traffic to your website. Evidently, you have to apply the same strategy on your LinkedIn. Adding relevant keywords throughout your profile can increase your chances of getting found by potential connections or employers.
First off, you must ensure that you incorporate keywords that your target audience will actually use in their search. Hence, we suggest doing some extra research to find the right and most relevant keywords that will allow you to appear and rank higher in their search results. Then, add these to every section of your LinkedIn profile, from your headline, summary, work experience, and skills and endorsements. However, be careful not to overstuff your profile with these keywords as this can cause a major turn-off to the readers. It can also make them lose interest in reading the entirety of your profile. So, make sure to include keywords only where relevant and natural.
3) Expand your network
One of the ranking signals of LinkedIn’s search engine is how many connections you have. But did you know that you can have three different connection types – first-degree, second-degree, and third-degree connections? The degree of your connection with an individual determines the type of relationship you have with them. The first degree is your direct connections, the second degree is the connections of your connections, and the third degree is your potential connections.
Suppose a potential recruiter is looking for someone with expertise like yours and uses one of your keywords. You can have higher chances of showing up on their search results if they are part of your network or share common connections with you. This means the more connections you have that are relevant to your field and career direction, the higher the visibility of your profile.
For the reason mentioned above, it is imperative to grow your network continuously. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to connect with just anyone. Wrong connections won’t do you any favor. Build meaningful connections with professionals in your industry or like-minded people who can add value to your career goal. To maximize your chances of receiving a response, we highly recommend sending personalized messages whenever you reach out to someone. Explain why you’re reaching out and make sure to add value to them in any way possible. One way you can do this is by asking them if your expertise can be of any help.
Content marketing is another effective way to apply SEO to your LinkedIn profile. This means posting or sharing content relevant to your industry and fields of interest. You can either post an original article you created, a synopsis of a blog, industry news or personal stories that are relatable to your target audience. Then, incorporate target keywords and hashtags into your post. Doing so will make your content more discoverable, allowing it to be seen by potential recruiters and other LinkedIn users even if they’re not part of your network. This is also a great way to encourage them to click on your profile to learn more about you.
To ensure that this tip gives you maximum results, we highly suggest doing it consistently. As they say, consistency is key. However, being consistent does not end with how often you post. It also involves your timing, the message you’re trying to convey, and the tone you use. Yes, it’s good to post once or multiple times a day if you can. But remember, it’s better to post less often and be consistent rather than posting irregularly.
5) Join and participate in groups
LinkedIn Groups are filled with industry experts and individuals who are sincerely interested in interacting with and helping others. While it is often overlooked, joining industry-relevant groups is a great way to engage with people who share the same interests, build your brand, gain more valuable connections, and boost your ranking in the LinkedIn search results. Since LinkedIn lists all the groups that you are part of, it improves the keywords on your profile and, thus, your searchability.
To take advantage of LinkedIn Groups, make sure to join only those that are active and relevant to your industry, fields of interest, and career goals. Then, be an active participant by partaking in discussions, asking questions or providing valuable and well thought out answers to other members’ questions. This way, you can showcase your genuine interest in helping while establishing yourself as a thought leader. You can also share content relevant to your target audience. When doing so, you might as well use target keywords and hashtags. In addition to captivating more engagement, it will allow you to boost your visibility.
6) Get endorsements and recommendations
As mentioned earlier, keywords are crucial for SEO. And one of the most effective ways to integrate keywords into your profile is to make use of the skills and endorsements section, where you can list up to 50 skills. Taking advantage of this field allows you to show your audience what you are best at. In addition, you’re letting your connections endorse you for your skills, which can serve as proof that you’re actually good at what you do. In addition, it can help you appear in LinkedIn searches, and profiles with more endorsements are ranked higher in the search results.
Getting recommendations is just as important as getting endorsements. This is where your connections can leave testimonials about their experiences working with you and the awesome results you’ve brought to them. Having one in your profile also gives your audience concrete evidence of what you’re capable of. So, make sure to get high-quality recommendations from your colleagues and professional network. While you’re at it, you may want to suggest that they add some target keywords, if possible. Then, don’t forget to return the favor and give endorsements and honest recommendations as well. Doing so will allow you to build better relationships with your connections.
7) Customize your LinkedIn URL
By default, LinkedIn assigns a long and clunky URL once you have created a profile. This URL typically includes random letters and numbers at the end that can be hard to remember. While LinkedIn provides an option to create a customized URL, many users are not aware of this. Not only can it help you build a consistent personal brand, but it also enables you to have a link that is much easier to recall.
The fundamental SEO benefits of customizing your LinkedIn URL may be minimal. However, it can still provide positive results. Having a custom URL can make it easier for your audience to find you using your name, which can be beneficial in improving the overall visibility of your profile. In addition, it is always a good practice to personalize your LinkedIn URL to make it look more polished and professional whenever you need to post it or share it with potential connections.
Job searching on LinkedIn goes beyond utilizing its job board. Another effective way to discover opportunities is to increase the search visibility of your profile. So, optimize your LinkedIn account for SEO by applying the tips we’ve listed in this article. This can help you maximize your chances of getting found for potential opportunities.
