Making visibility on a social platform can get tedious but doesn’t mean it won’t grow! The best way to make your business or your profile visible is through LinkedIn optimisation. Your first impression before you could step in somewhere can be decided through the strength of your LinkedIn profile. The world is growing and so must your LinkedIn profile.
We’ve made your work a little simpler – here’s a list of hacks that will change the face of your LinkedIn profile and boost your visibility: –
Maintain the decorum
The first and foremost thing that you must know is that LinkedIn is not like the other social platforms where you can post random quotes and photos. THIS IS NOT FOR ENTERTAINMENT. You should maintain professionalism and post only about your career, achievements, job openings or job-seeking challenges. Everything here is about how one walks ahead in their path of career lines and how someone else benefits and get inspired from the same. This doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to only post-professional messages and writeups. Post relevant pictures with everything you’re posting. This will make the people stop by your post and witness it. Visuals over sayings – play smartly. Become a thought leader! Post in your thoughts and establish your ideology. This is the finest platform for businesses; use it to your benefit. Pro tip – Always build your network before you’re about to quit the job or are about to search for clients because building takes time and an already established network will set you for the run-way in no time.
Don’t dodge the basics
Now that you’re acquainted with what LinkedIn is, you must make your own profile if you haven’t made one yet. When you log into your profile for the first time, there are some basic steps to be completed before you are good to go. Make sure you have a good amount of time while following this. Take time and think rationally while you are filling in your information and do not dodge the basics!!! Everything on your profile is adding up to something and you never know when you’ll require what on your profile for a suitable job or a suitable client base. Your profile will not be up-to-the-mark until you pave in every information about you that has a professional relevance. Basic information like the details about your education, location, the industry you’re in, and basic details like your profile picture and a decent cover image is important to be up there. This doesn’t mean any picture from your gallery can be up there. Cover images speak a lot about you so make sure you put an image that establishes your credibility. If you are a speaker, add in a picture of yours where you’re giving a speech; or if you have a business fit in your business logo or a picture of you in your office, anything that speaks about your profession or business. Even in the case of freshers, you all can upload a write-up of your thoughts or a quote that best says it. Fit in everything you can, to make sure when someone sees your profile, they get an idea of why they must connect with you. Are you all getting the gist? If not, read our blog on personal branding for further details about the same.
Add a crisp headline
The headline is the first thing that will be seen after your name, be it in the suggestions or your profile. So, make it crisp and on-point. Your headline must be fulfilling and speak about what you do.
In simpler words, it is a tagline that you can use to dazzle employers (if you’re seeking work), clienteles (if you’re seeking for them) or other people with whom you’d want to connect. Use your headline creatively, and don’t stop after writing just your designation. Express! Describe what you do. For example, if you are a content writer and also run a shelter for street dogs, you can preferably write – “A content writer and a shelter provider”, because everything you do is important and worth flaunting about.
Write a good summary
Once you’re done with a headline, the summary is the next thing you should work on. Summary, just like the headline must be decent and nicely expressed. Summary as the name suggests is the outline of your profile in fewer words. You can also put in if there’s some additional information you want to showcase that your profile sections do not have an option for, for example- what motivates you to work in the industry, you’re working in today. It is helpful for the recruiters who are checking on you to find their ideal job seeker. And even if you’re encouraging your business out there, or merely for networking, you can give a sketch of your activities and motives so that it is easier for people to know you and your business better. Thus, adding a summary is like providing an overview of your profile and trust me, everyone that is visiting your profile is going to look at your summary, if not the whole thing, at least the first two lines and it is your role to make it impactful.
Arrange your sections in your benefit
LinkedIn provides various sections wherein you fill in about yourself and what have you achieved till now. Now not everything you provide will be of use to everybody. Different people come to your profile for different reasons and the quicker they find that is better. Thus, it is ideal to arrange your sections accordingly. This comes down to what your purpose for being on LinkedIn is. If you are here just for networking, make sure you keep your educational background as the first section, so that people from the same school, colleges and universities can recognise you and get connected with you.
Choose your skills and endorsements wisely
Not every skill you possess will help you in building a career. Be as professional as possible. For instance, if you are a business consultant, it is nothing to do with the cooking skills you’ve got until you are prospecting to have a side-business out of it. This isn’t a platform for showcasing your talent but your actual skills that will help you gain a career. Talking about endorsements, make sure you’ve as many as possible on your profile. This will provide a surety that the skills you’ve mentioned are something you’re capable of. This will indeed create a good impression so don’t hesitate to ask for it from your friends, colleagues, employers, etc.
Start writing recommendations
Have you heard the phrase, ‘what you sow, so shall you reap’? it applies very well here. If you need recommendations on your page, start writing for people you know are good at their work and they’ll start writing for you. It is this simple. You can also ask your employers, and ex-employers to write it for you. The recommendations on your LinkedIn profile are a way of saying that you’ve been good at your work, and you’ll be a good addition to their network or firm. Thus, I believe that ‘Networking begins at home’ which means connect to those whom you already know as they will not only help you gain connections but also help you in endorsements and writing recommendations.
Create a profile badge
If you have your own website, business profile, personal portfolio or your own blog, this is for you all. LinkedIn helps you make a badge that with help you add to all your other websites and connect it with your LinkedIn profile. Connecting your profiles could be a good way in increasing the footfall on either of your profiles. You can create your own badge by following these steps –
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Go to your profile page.
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Click on ‘Edit Public Profile & URL’ on the right-hand side of your profile page.
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Scroll down and you’ll see a box of ‘public profile badge.’ Click on the option to create your profile badge.
Profile badges are well coded, ready to use, and available in different formats and sizes. Make the best use out of it as it will always be a good option to insert the profile of the writer of the blog or the owner of a website.
Make your own URL
Once you’ve completed your profile building and you’re done with learning the basic functionality of LinkedIn, you’re ready to flaunt your profile. This needs a unique URL that can be used in your resume, social media profiles, websites, or job applications.
Make your URL short, unique and simple. You can also use your family name or your own name to suffice the requirements. So, the next time you’re introducing yourself to somebody, make sure you type out your profile URL and let your LinkedIn help you make “the” impression.
Post valuables
Once you’re successful in setting up your profile, it is time you break the ice by posting valuables. Valuable doesn’t necessitate something of monetary value but something that persuades people to get associated with you and your firm. Become an industry leader by broadcasting your thoughts on the same. Get hold of your posts and present them in a way that it speaks for you. There are various algorithms that may work in your favour. Use around 3-5 hashtags that correlate with your thoughts and industry, for example – #money #motivation #selfhelp etc. The best trick to search for which hashtags to use is to start following them. This way you’ll come across hashtags that are popular as well as beneficial for your posts. Once you are thorough with what to post and what hashtags to use, another thing that must be kept in mind is when to post it. It plays an important role as there maybe around 33 million daily users, but they don’t check up on social platforms all the time. It is advisable to do a little market research about your audience’s internet behaviour. You must know at what time most of your audience is responding and posting on their own. If you feel that it is too tedious for you right now, here are some general tips for you:
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You can consider general posting from Tuesday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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Try posting between 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. if you are promoting your B2C business.
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If you are from B2Bs or a software company, consider posting between 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
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Health care or higher education companies should try and post between 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
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If you’re from or running a media company focus on posting between 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
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Pro tip – avoid posting on weekends and outside the regular business hours
(Courtesy: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-time-post-on-linkedin)
Spend time on your making
If you think that once you have built your profile, sent people to your profile and posted 2-3 times and your role will be done, then I’m afraid you are making a mistake. It works for the people who invest time in it. Be active on it as if it is equivalent to managing your job or business because being active here will be a valuable addition to your network. We all know how important an established network is to increase our net worth, don’t we?
On an end note – choose your network wisely. Connecting with the right people matters.
Don’t wait for a crisis to build your network; Start today!
That is all; you’re all set to grow your LinkedIn profile and gain your part of visibility and success!
If you have any other queries, suggestions, or feedback, feel free to drop your comments.
Written by:
Beepasha Madhwani
Affiliate Writer with Monkey Ads
