Do you want your LinkedIn profile to be more engaging, interesting, and found by more of the right people?
Of course, you do—and so do nearly all of my one-on-one LinkedIn consulting clients when I ask them what they want to accomplish during our phone and screen-share sessions.
So I’m going to share with you some of the suggestions I make to my clients to help them spruce up their profiles, get found by their target audiences, and motivate people to engage with them. You can consider this your very own 2020 LinkedIn Profile Optimization Checklist.
1. Headline, Profile Photo and Background Photo. More people will see your headline, profile photo, and background photo than any other part of your profile. Make a good first impression by including a creative, keyword-filled headline, professional-quality headshot, and a background that positively represents your personal brand.
2. About. Use the About section to sell yourself. Think of it as your cover letter or elevator speech. With the current profile format, the first 300 characters of your About section are going to be read often; so spruce it up and make it shine.
Good news—LinkedIn recently expanded the capacity for this section from 2,000 characters to 2,600, so there’s more space to share your most important information.
3. Experience and Education. Don’t skimp here. Provide details of each job you’ve held (LinkedIn allows up to 2,000 characters per job or education entry), and include your formal education as well as industry-specific courses, workshops, or seminars you’ve attended.
4. Keywords. You’ll be more likely to come up in searches if you include the keywords people typically use when trying to find someone like you. Put them in your Headline, Job Experience titles, and the Skills & Endorsements section to receive the most benefit, but avoid “stuffing” your profile with keywords or your credibility may be compromised.
5. Add Media. Not only will adding media help your profile be more visually interesting, but it’s a great way to get people to visit your website, check out some of your best work examples, and get copies of important documents, like your resume, your customer testimonials, etc. You can add media to the Summary, Job Experience, and Education entries of your profile.
6. Recommendations. Get at least two current, impactful recommendations. Your two most recent recommendations are nicely displayed. Note, however, that you cannot reorder them. The rest of your recommendations get buried in the Show more drawer; so consider grabbing the best quotes from your recommendations and placing them in the job entry that they are tied to.
7. Licenses and Certifications. These used to be subsections of the Accomplishments section, but they’re now stand-alone sections, and they’re higher in the profile layout. These designations you’ve earned could be the difference when a customer or employer is comparing you to your competitors. LinkedIn users may also include them in their search criteria when they’re looking for just the right professional.
8. Accomplishments. Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn. Use all of the subsections in the Accomplishments section to set yourself apart from your competitors. Subsections currently include Publications, Patents, Courses, Projects, Honors & Awards, Test Scores, Languages, and Organizations.
9. Volunteer Experience. Everyone loves to work with people who genuinely care about others. Let the world know what organizations you support—and it will be great publicity for your favorite charitable group, too.
10. Calls to Action. You don’t want people to just look at your profile—you want them to do something. Invite readers to watch a video, go to your website, or request a quote. It’s easy to include calls to action in your Summary section, but you can creatively include them in other sections as well.
So don’t waste time. Get busy improving these ten spots on your LinkedIn profile, and 2020 may just be your best year ever.
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SPECIAL OFFER
If you’d like me to help you spring clean your profile, sign up for one of the four to six personal sessions I fit into my schedule each week. These consultations are specially priced at $197. Book your session here.
I will share my computer screen with you during the call and send you a marked-up copy of your profile prior to the call.
Whether you’re using LinkedIn to find your next high-impact customer, raise your organization’s profile, or land the job of your dreams, this session is for you.
There are limited spots available, so don’t delay. Book your session today by clicking here.