Linkedin Masterclass: Maximising Your Linkedin Profile

Maximising Your Linkedin Profile

Your Linkedin profile IS one of the most powerful tools available to any individual or business trying to network, market and do business online.
Here are the Top 10 Rules for maximising the potential of your profile:
1. 100% Completion:- Profiles that are 100% complete are more easily indexed by not only the Linkedin search engine but by all search engines.

2. Upload a good photo:- Uploading a Logo is a bad move. There are company pages and groups for you to add your logo so don't be shy and add a nice picture.

3. Have recommendations:- below are our top 5 Tips for this section

4. Personalise your Website and blog links:
"my company"
"my blog"
"my lack of imagination"

Yes, by naming the links "my company" etc you are telling the search engines what there links are BUT by selecting the drop down then "Other" you can have a bigger SEO impact and tell your profile visitors what they will find at the end of these links.

Summary":- Pack your Summary with "Keyword Rich" information to assist with your SEO. Another tip is to actually tell people who you want to connect with and who you want to do business with. Say something like "We are looking to connect with..." "We are ideally looking to assist..."

6. Integrate your Twitter account with your LinkedIn Profile. You can feed to your tweets to your LinkedIn account so that every time you tweet it updates your LinkedIn page. Believe me this is huge! According to LinkedIn:
" LinkedIn works with Twitter� to make your Twitter account visible on your Profile. To add your Twitter account(s) to your LinkedIn Profile take the following steps:

1. Click on 'Edit Profile' under 'Profile' from your home page.

2. Click on the 'Add your Twitter profile' link in the blue box of your LinkedIn Profile. This will take you to a Twitter page.

3. Enter your Twitter credentials and then click on 'Allow'. This process confirms your Twitter ID. If successful, you will receive a confirmation message that the Twitter ID was added to your LinkedIn account and then you'll be taken to your LinkedIn Twitter Settings.

4. Select the 'Twitter Settings' (affects visibility) of this Twitter ID on your Profile.

5.Click 'Save Changes'. You should receive a success message saying that your settings were saved.

7. Applications:- This section is one of the most powerful areas of your Linkedin Profile. It has the power to save you time in running your profile, showcasing your company skills, providing content and much more.
8. Don't use a work email as the primary linkedin address:- A client had signed up for Linkedin a year or so before using his work email account. the account lay dormant for a while and the client moved on to another employer. worse, he forgot his password for the account. Linkedin offers the following helpful tip for those who no longer have access to the primary email account " Well we did tell you to use more than one email when you set up" Basically its Game Over. You have to start all over again. You have lost that profie, the recommendations and all the content that goes with it.

9. Personalize your LinkedIn account by claiming your name in the URL, e.g. http://linkedin.com/in/itsrichardmoore

Here's how (via LinkedIn)
Click on "Edit Profile" from the "Profile" dropdown menu found in the top navigation bar of the home page.
Click on "Edit" next to the "Public Profile" area.
Click on "Edit" next to the "Your Public Profile URL" area at the top of the page.

Enter your new custom URL. Most custom URLs must start with http://www.linkedin.com/in/ and must contain 5-30 alphanumeric characters.
Click on "Set Address".

Once you've completed your custom URL it's important to publicize it in your other online accounts such as your website, blog, or Facebook Page, as well as on your business card and in your email signature.

10. Improve your connectability.
Most new users put only their current company in their profile. By doing so, they severely limit their ability to connect with people. You should fill out your profile like it's an executive bio, so include past companies, education, affiliations, and activities.

You can also include a link to your profile as part of an email signature. The added benefit is that the link enables people to see all your credentials, which would be awkward if not downright strange, as an attachment.