LinkedIn Statistics show that LinkedIn users have grown tremendously to over 380 million users, and the annual revenue growth to 2.99 billion U.S. dollars.
The uses for this platform have also grown from just being for social networking, to be a business tool useful for recruiting employees and even finding customers for businesses. Just as a website needs to be well optimized for it to grow its search result ranking and visibility, so does your LinkedIn profile for it to be visible.
Most LinkedIn SEO techniques can be a little complex, but it’s nothing that any national digital search engine optimization firm cannot handle. However, there are a few simple techniques that you can implement by yourself to achieve optimization for your LinkedIn profile.;
1. Flesh-up and complete your profile
A simple undertaking as this can really cost you traffic and conversions if not well done. Some of the details that are required in filling up your profile will be indexed by search engines, and if they are left out, then your profile search results will miss critical information, which could turn away visitors.
Take time to fill in all the details, ask and give recommendations, upload a suitable profile photo, flesh up your job descriptions, and any other information required. You can use tools like the Profile Strength viewer to help you in filling and completing your LinkedIn profile.
2. Maximize Your Group Membership
Following and participating in groups is especially important in reference to location-based SEO or other rankings based on parameters that match those of the group. The search engines crawl the titles to identify what you do in the group and this enhances the SEO performance of your profile and grows your network.
3. Avoid prose, instead use bullet points
Most applicants filling their profiles on LinkedIn are tempted to use prose statements in an effort to describe their experiences and jobs previously done. As much as this may appeal to a few readers, search engines will not be able to index this, because if many keywords are used, it will be considered fluffy. Instead, it is recommended that you use bullet points with relevant keywords for content optimization.
4. Develop links to your profile
Inasmuch as you can build traffic on LinkedIn alone, it is recommended that you build links to your profile on other platforms and vice versa. The emphasis on building links does not only apply to websites and content but also to social media platforms.
These links build the authority of your profile and this in turn is ranked higher by search engines. You can include a link to your profile on your websites, content, other social media platforms like Google+, your email, etc.
5. Write comment-worthy updates
As a social platform, a key activity on this platform is posting updates to your profile and company pages. The trick to this activity is engaging the audience in a manner that will prompt them to respond. You can do this by;
- Asking questions– this engages and prompts your audience to respond to the question that you have asked in the post or after it.
- Using statistics- use a statistic that appeals and applies to the audience in order to capture their interest. This will generate more engagement from the audience and generate conversations.
- Share links- links drive more traffic to the profile than if no links are shared, and also gains higher ranking by search engines.
Because many users view LinkedIn as a more professional social platform than other social platforms, you will find that more professionals will have LinkedIn accounts and as such, you stand to have more conversions from these professionals than from general users in other social platforms. This means that LinkedIn should be a preferred marketing platform for you, and its optimization is also key.
Author Bio:
Derek Iwasiuk runs a renowned Minneapolis SEO firm with its headquarters in Minneapolis. He also spends most of his free time educating thousands of young SEOs and top SEO agencies. You can also follow him on Twitter @Diwasiuk.
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