Social media tools are getting popular nowadays. Like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and many others. LinkedIn is the largest business-oriented networking website geared specifically toward professionals. LinkedIn was founded in 2003 and is popularly considered the benchmark for professional networking social media platforms. There are more than 500 million LinkedIn users and more than 250 million monthly active users. LinkedIn possesses its own platform and way different from other networks, but studying how to use LinkedIn is no more complicated than learning how to use any other social networking site. If you want to create an amazing Linkedin profile kindly read this article carefully.
Why LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is an important source for career and business professionals to network; obtain resources and support; and develop relationships with potential customers, clients, and partners. It’s ideal for home-based business owners, telecommuters, and freelancers, as it can help them build their business and career, as well as stay relevant to the outside world. Unlike other social networks in which you may become “friends” with anyone and everyone, LinkedIn is about establishing strategic relationships. Linkedin also offers paid ads service to its users. Most B2B companies are already using Linkedin to generate quality leads.
Advantages of LinkedIn
For Job Seekers: LinkedIn gives you the ability to share your profile, experience, suggestions, and relationships. Not only is your profile the first professional impression of you when recruiters and employers use LinkedIn to search for applicants, but it also shows a reputation in your field and highlights more aspects of your accomplishments to attract potential customers. LinkedIn is an excellent tool for studying organizations and people that work at them.
For recruiters/employers:
LinkedIn has become an excellent resource for employers to network with others and to help with their recruitment needs. The potential for LinkedIn and other social networking sites to play a major role in your employee recruiting strategy increases as more job seekers post their profiles each year.
For Businesses:
A Business Page assists LinkedIn members to learn about your business, your brand, and job opportunities with your firm. Business Pages are also a fabulous way to build industry expertise.
For Professionals:
LinkedIn is also helpful for all kinds of professionals like those who want to change their careers, those who want to get freelance projects.
Checklist to complete a LinkedIn profile in 2020
The following is the checklist to complete your LinkedIn profile 100%, improve visibility and leave a stunning impression on the visitor.
1. Choose a professional photo:Choose a high resolution and a professional-looking photo. Make sure your face catches up at least 60% of the frame. Be the only person in the picture this can help your visitors identify you. Next, choosing the right expression generally smiling or grinning can help you look more approachable. Remember to avoid distracting backgrounds, you can choose a simple plain background.
2. Use a professional name:Your display name is a crucial aspect of your profile, as it lets other users, and people seeking you, easily find you. It is recommended to use First, Last and Middle (if any) name and avoid using your:
- Company Name
- Emojis, and
- Nick Name
3. Professional Headline:
The headline is very important when it comes to LinkedIn profile. This is because people can use the LinkedIn search function or a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo!, to find your LinkedIn profile. If you have done it right you will have an edge over your competitors.
Tips:
- Tailoring headlines based on your industry is important and makes it easier to find your prospect.
- Include your value proposition on your headline.
- Use your prospect’s language to give a clear understanding to your clients.
- Add different kinds of keywords to help your clients to find you while searching.
There are three types of LinkedIn headlines
1.Key highlight headline
Example – “SEO Expert with demonstrated knowledge in Fintech”
2.Keyword-rich headline
Example – “SEO Expert | Search Engine Optimisation consultant | Fintech SEO”
3.Creative/inspiring headline
Example 1 – “SEO Expert | Search Engine Optimisation consultant | Fintech SEO”
Example 2 – “Paid Ads for Fintech can be tricky but not SEO, connect with me to grow your traffic by 10X in 2 months”
Your summary on LinkedIn isn’t the spot for your unabridged biography. But it’s the ideal place to put insight into your career path, show off your achievements and dive into what makes you happy at work. Depending on the intent of your LinkedIn profile, your LinkedIn description should include 3-5 sentences describing: your years of industry experience, your area of expertise, the types of organizations you’ve worked with, your qualifications and what you’re best known for professionally. Stay strong with the catchy opening statement. Also, add some keywords. Utilize as much of the character limit as you can.
5. Customize your profile URL:
In today’s world, it’s not enough to just have a top-notch LinkedIn profile. You need to have an amazing URL. When someone seeks you they will want to copy your profile URL. So, make sure that you are having a customized URL so your prospects can easily remember you
6. Recommendations:
A LinkedIn recommendation is similar to testimonials on your website. It is largely used to help the recipient get a job or customer for his or her business. With a strong call to action, you help the recipient get more clients or job offers while helping LinkedIn users decide if the recipient is worth hiring. Having recommendations on LinkedIn can help you get more popular. LinkedIn recommendations are accessible for anyone to see, not just the recommendation’s recipient or the person inquiring about it.
7. Skillsets
Your skills can define who you are and what you do. You can add skills based on your industry, expertise. For example, if you are looking for a job and want to attract your recruiters you can add skills relevant to the job profile. You can add and eliminate skills from the Skills & Endorsements part on your profile page. Having a relevant list of skills on your profile will help others know your strengths and meet you with the right opportunities. You can add up to 50 skills to your profile. Remember, skills with the most endorsements are placed first, and skills without endorsements are arranged according to the date they were added. There’s currently no way to create a skill without an endorsement appearing higher than skills with endorsements.
8. Other important sections:
There are few more sections that are not mandatory but play an important role in impressing a visitor.
a. Experience
Your LinkedIn profile can contain additional professional experience from your most recent 10 to 15 years
b. Your volunteer experience
A LinkedIn survey states that volunteer experience can provide job candidates with an edge with hiring managers. 41% of the professionals surveyed stated that when they are assessing candidates, they consider volunteer work equally as important as paid work experience. 20% of the hiring managers studied have got a hiring decision based on a candidate’s volunteer work experience.
c. Your publications
The Publications section of LinkedIn is the spot for writers to add published work. This section is a great place to spotlight your writing skills and showcase your expertise.
d. Your Activity
Your activity on LinkedIn displays all recent posts you’ve shared and changes you’ve made to your profile. It also defines the type of content that will be displayed on your LinkedIn feed. Your activity will be apparent to other members based on your settings
9. Building an all-star profile
Achieving All-Star profile status isn’t nearly as daunting a task as it may seem. Having a robust LinkedIn profile is a key factor in building a solid foundation on which to build your network. LinkedIn created the Profile Strength meter that is on the right side of your profile to estimate how robust your profile is. The strength level will increase as you include more content to your profile.
Social media is more popular as a way to find a great new job, and find new clients or even jump into a new profession! But in order to make the most of each platform, it’s vital to know how to use it. LinkedIn is one of the social media tools that is getting popular day by day. Your LinkedIn profile might be the first impression you get on a prospect or contact, so it is important that your profile is complete and compelling. If your LinkedIn marketing strategy is bound to a personal profile primarily one with an out-of-date, bare-bones resume it’s time to up your game.
