7 key steps to improving your LinkedIn profile!

The start of a new year is often the time when we’re reflecting on our goals and what we’re hoping to achieve over the next 12 months. If more clients, improving how your peers perceive you, or a new job is on your wish list it’s worth giving your LinkedIn profile an overhaul.

Here I share some Top Tisdell Tips to make sure your LinkedIn profile is attracting the right kind of attention.

Before we start though, click on the edit pencil in whatever section you are working on, scroll to the bottom and ensure that the slide bar is set to ‘Off’. Check this setting every time you save changes, noting that a notification is a very good thing if you have changed roles, been promoted, recently completed an MBA or some other significant studies.

Headline

Aside from your name and picture, your Professional Headline is the only part of your profile that is instantly visible in LinkedIn search results. It also follows you everywhere on LinkedIn, when people find you in searches, when you comment, in companies and on the top of your posts. This is why you have to use these 120 characters to grab people’s interest, so they’ll want to click on your profile.

Your headline should sum up who you are and the problems you solve, but there’s no need for it to be bland. Most users (approximately 80%) simply have their name and company here, as this is what LinkedIn defaults to. However, you’ll stand out from the crowd by being a bit more creative with your headline.

Firstly, it’s important to think about keywords. Just like Google, LinkedIn uses keywords to determine how highly your profile will rank in search results, so you need to be thinking about the keywords that are most relevant to what you do. Try to put yourself in the mindset of your ideal client or prospective employer – what search terms would they use if they were searching for someone to solve their pain?

Once you’ve established the most relevant keywords to use, you can start thinking of more creative ways to put them together, such as giving yourself a catchy slogan. Think of yourself as a brand and consider how do you want to sell yourself?

As LinkedIn is highly visual with almost everyone having a background banner these days, you should consider making your profile more graphically appealing and memorable by separating your keywords with icons rather than just writing them as a list.

Background banner

Your background banner has a lot of prominence on your profile so if you have not yet replaced the LinkedIn default blue background, you’re not going to stand out and you will not get noticed.

The image you choose should depend on what you want your LinkedIn profile to achieve. If you want your employees to increase the company’s brand reach, offer each employee the option to upload an image that has a company logo - as all the best companies do.

If your employer has not yet provided a background banner, the image you use should reflect your value proposition. If you’re promoting services or products, it’s a good idea to reduce barriers by including contact details in the image - if this doesn't make it too cluttered.

Do not have a beach scene or something that infers you wish to be on holiday! LinkedIn is a professional platform and accordingly your banner needs to further your professional goals. You could consider a copyright-free image that epitomises your profession or industry, a word-cloud, or a customised image (click on the link for background dimensions and upload to Fiverr or Upwork).

If you are unsure what image to use and you are in Australia contact me directly and I’ll write a brief for my design team to create something unique for you.

About section

Your About section really needs to start as strong as possible, as only the first 228 characters are visible before the person viewing your profile has to click on “See More”. Of course people only click when they are interested, so you must ensure your first 228 characters form a hook, and make a real impact. A great way to do this is to start with a question, or an intriguing statement.

If you haven’t included your contact details in your background image, you could consider having them at the beginning of your About section for reasons I’ve outlined here (link includes a video on how to change the visibility of your contact details in Privacy Settings).

If your initial sentence or two are interesting enough, you should be expecting users to click on “See More”. This is why it’s important to have something extra to offer those who do. You should then explain not just what you do, but why you do it.

With a total of 2000 characters, it’s vital that your About section contain information about the value you can offer clients or prospective employers, that your competition can’t. State clearly how you can make their lives easier, for example, by explaining how you solve problems using your particular skills and experience.

Employers are always looking to recruit new employees whose values align with those of their business, and similarly clients want to know that you are genuinely committed to solving their problems. This is why it’s important to let readers know your why, what makes you tick, and what made you choose your particular field. We all connect more easily with people who care about the same things as us.

Crucially, be authentic. Don't use third person perspective and instead use I, We, You to give readers the sensation that you are speaking to them directly. It can appear aloof and distant to talk about yourself as if you are not yourself - by referring to yourself by name. But don't just take my word for it, check out any of Liz Ryan's articles or posts and you'll hear the same - she has been advocating for human-voiced resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles for over 8 years. With 3+ million followers on LinkedIn and having written for Forbes and Huffington Post on the subject of marketing yourself, she is quite the authority.

Make sure too, that your About section reflects who you are in a realistic way, rather than simply aiming to please the people you’re hoping to attract. By being yourself and highlighting your skills and interests to your best advantage - you will attract people you truly want to work with!

Skills endorsements and recommendations

Your Skills section is all about proving that you have the know-how to do the work you do. It also feeds the ranking when someone searches for your skills, so as much as it pains me to say this, more is currently better... Just be careful you don't dilute your number of endorsements by mentioning similar skills twice (Eg Management and Leadership).

Keeping in mind that only three of your skills are immediately visible on your profile, it’s important to make sure those skills are the ones that best align with your goals and describe strengths that are most relevant to the job/client/industry you are pursing. You can reorder your skills by unpinning, clicking and dragging on the four lines on the right of each skill.

You must have your skills endorsed by others, if you want people to feel they can trust you. It is best to push yourself out of your comfort zone and try to get into the habit of asking casually for endorsements every time somebody praises your work. You don’t have to be pushy, as people are often grateful to have a way to help - if you approach them in a friendly and low-pressure way.

Similarly, don’t be shy when it comes to asking for recommendations. If you own a business, consider that recommendations are far more powerful than written testimonials on your website - because recommendations are immediately verified as belonging to real people!

I also find that giving recommendations feels good. If you are a leader in an organisation, consider normalising both recommendations and endorsements by monthly (or quarterly) reflecting on the performance of individual team members and endorsing their skills, writing recommendations for specific projects and accomplishments.

Why should you do this? Because these days, few people care about acknowledgements unless the whole world sees it… Take comfort that you can always delete recommendations at a later date if the employee does something terrible.

Concerned that your employees will leave if you endorse them? That is like the cartoon below...

Recommendations and skills endorsements demonstrate trust, and foster employee loyalty and commitment in a way that few reward and recognition programs can achieve. All at no cost. Plus, a higher number of endorsements and recommendations will lift clients perception of the quality and talents of your team members – growing sales conversions.

Not sure how to give a recommendation? Check out this link, and more reasons on why recommendations matter, here.

Experience section

Don't ever cut and paste your resume to your LinkedIn profile, instead stop and consider again your LinkedIn objective. If your goal is to attract more clients, it will look weird for your profile to read as a resume – and certainly few clients will want to hear about your successes in growing revenue. Instead clients want to hear that you have a bias towards action, and that you are skilled in solving their problems.

If you are sprucing up your LinkedIn profile to attract a new employer, or influence how your peers perceive you, cutting and pasting your resume into your LinkedIn profile gives the reader no reason to contact you with questions. Instead keep your statements short summaries on the difference you deliver, strongly action-orientated.

Keep in mind that you can use symbols instead of bullets in your all-important experience section of your profile.

One of my favourite examples is my friend Robert's, who in having permitted me to use him as an example years ago of how a profile could be arranged, was subsequently approached about a new role because of his profile on LinkedIn. Robert was not, and most certainly is NOT looking for a job - but he kindly permits me to still use him as an example.

I’m also proud of the work I did on Dilip’s profile, again using various icons. You can find a full example of my work in Dilip's profile here.

Customising your URL

If you want to make more of an impact online, you will need to be memorable and easy to find. Nobody is going to remember a LinkedIn address that ends in a string of meaningless numbers. A custom URL will instantly make you stand out from the crowd as you’ll look as if you take care of the online image you’re presenting.

If it seems like too much effort for the rewards you’re expecting, don’t be fooled – the more memorable you are, the more clients, opportunities and job offers you can expect to get!

Remember, it is now an increasingly competitive marketplace, flooded with a constant stream of new blood. Everyone under 30 has grown up digitally literate. Millennials don’t even have to think about presenting themselves as tech savvy – they do it automatically. No matter what age or level you are, this is your competition and you need to keep up.

On the current user interface it is easy to customise your LinkedIn URL to something that your network will remember:

Don’t worry if someone else on LinkedIn has the same name as you – you can use your URL as an opportunity to stand out even further in your field, by adding your job title or your industry sector after your name, for example Joe-Bloggs-Accountant or Joe-Bloggs-Supply-Chain.

This modification looks especially great on your resume, however it is best if it isn't too long.

If you use business cards don't forget to have your URL printed underneath your phone and email address, (where we once had our street address or long long ago, fax numbers).

Why is this important? Because we all need to remember that LinkedIn is where your customers are increasingly searching for the services and technical expertise they need!

Adding media

A frequently underutilised area of LinkedIn is rich media. A great profile is far more sophisticated than a resume on steroids, it is your digital reputation, validating who you are and the expertise you hold.

However, we often interact with people who simply don’t know all that we have accomplished, causing the undervaluing of our skills, talents and services.

You can build on how your stakeholders think of you by adding media - evidence of previous successes, awards and presentations in the form of external news articles, photos, website links, videos, and SlideShare presentations. These additions are powerful evidence that you are a specialist and a subject matter expert!

To point out the obvious, while LinkedIn is a personal branding tool where you control what is said about you - it is also where you generate leads and improve the visibility, perception and reach of your organisation. It is a social selling tool that works on the basis of real and meaningful relationships.

When you craft your LinkedIn profile it is important to think about who you are and how you want to be perceived. Be authentic and let your character show through. People connect with people, not phoneys.

𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢, 𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘢, 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘐𝘊𝘋. 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 - 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 (𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴), 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴.

𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴. 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘺𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳. (𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.)

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