Regardless of whether you’re a CEO, business owner, consultant or professional, the start of the year is a wonderful opportunity to review and revitalise your personal LinkedIn profile and ensure it presents you in the best possible light and is easy to find should a potential client or business partner come looking.
Here are my top tips to ensure you are effectively optimised for 2024.
These ideas are relevant regardless of the sector you are in.
Tip 1 – Your profile picture matters.
First impressions count! A professionally taken photo will increase your profile views while a clear and friendly headshot will increase the odds even more of people reaching out to you. So, invest in a high-quality photo that showcases your personality and highlights your professionalism.
Ideally your profile pic should be:
- Crisp and clear and actually look like you.
- A head and shoulders shot against a plain background.
- Just you … no friends, family members or pets!
- Minus headgear or other distractions such as sunglasses, earpieces, etc.
- You should be smiling at the camera … even just a ghost of a smile. Let’s face it, you’re looking at fostering real connections and building trust so do look approachable.
Tip 2 – Create a compelling headline.
Your headline should be more than your job title. Think of it as an elevator pitch which spells what you do, who you work with (or help) and the problems you solve, or the outcomes people get from working with you.
You can then go on and list your key offerings or services (space permitted of course).
Helping organisations, CEOs, consultants and professionals in legal, accounting, health and environmental sectors stand out and get noticed / Public Relations / LinkedIn Training /Personal Branding
Do keep in mind that profiles with compelling headlines receive five times more connection requests.
Tip 3 – Add a background banner to your profile page.
It should grab people’s attention and potentially provide them with some insight into what you do.
Ideally your banner should relate to:
- The type of business you are in
- Your expertise or service offering
- The industry or sector you work with primarily
- Possibly your geographic location
- Even the big outcomes or value clients get from working with you.
Tip 4. Create an engaging summary or ABOUT section to spark interest.
This is your opportunity to tell your origin story – why you embarked on your professional journey or founded your business. If you are a CEO or entrepreneur, talk about your big vision or perhaps how you are doing things differently, even disrupting your sector!
Also showcase your accomplishments, your goals, your values and what is it that sets you apart. Don’t forget to sprinkle in keywords relevant to your field to improve your ‘searchability’.
And given the growing personalisation of LinkedIn, say what you do outside work. Let people know who you are as a person.
Did you know, a well-crafted summary can boost profile views by a whopping 30 percent.
Tip 5. Develop a ‘Featured’ section if you don’t already have one.
Typically, this is located above your summary and enables you to display content that reinforces your expertise, the business you are in or who your target audience.
Bottom line, the featured section provides you the perfect opportunity to visually highlight the information you want to bring to the attention of your audience.
Content can include:
- Your latest blog or post (provides is clearly demonstrates your expertise)
- Your podcast
- Webinars
- Booklets or guides
- If you have created a LinkedIn Newsletter this is a great place to have a link so new profile visitors can subscribe
- Video testimonials and case studies. Even a video of you introducing yourself.
Tip 6. Update the Skills area on your profile page.
This can be a super quick win on LinkedIn. Scroll through your list of skills and identify those that are relevant to you right now. Doing so not only substantiates the description in your ‘Headline’ and ‘Summary’ but provides a platform for others to endorse you.
Do keep in mind that a long list of skills which aren’t really core to who you are and what you do, can start to feel unwieldy.
Tip 7. Spread the endorsement love … and encourage others to return the favour.
Once you’ve updated your Skills section, go through your network and identify connections who you feel genuinely deserve an endorsement as this is often the trigger to return the favour.
Also don’t be afraid to reach out with a polite message asking people you value to endorse you for key skills.
And once endorsements start coming in, be proactive about managing your endorsements list. Use the edit feature in the Skills section to choose which endorsements to show, and which to hide.
Tip 8. Request recommendations.
Endorsements give people viewing your profile a quick, visual sense of what you’re valued for. However, recommendations take things further.
The handy drop-down menu (see the + sign) in the Recommendations section makes it easy to reach out to specific contacts and request recommendations.
Take the time to think about who you would most value a recommendation from – and personalise your request. It’s worth the extra effort.
So, wondering if this hard work is worth your while?
It is. Research shows that a well-optimised profile can increase your business and professional opportunities by a substantial 71 percent.
So don’t hesitate in taking the broom to your personal LinkedIn profile and reap the benefits of that all important decision in 2024.
Need some help? At Parker Public Relations, we’re here to ensure your LinkedIn profile is the gateway to your future success.
