Whether you’re looking for leads, networking or job hunting, having a strong and professional LinkedIn profile is key to making your profile stand out.
LinkedIn officially launched on May 5, 2003. Since then, it has steadily become the world’s largest professional network with a whopping 756 million members in 200 countries and regions worldwide. If professional advancement is on the table, an optimized and up-to-date LinkedIn profile is a must.
With LinkedIn being your professional permalink, let us look at some tips to help make your profile stand out in all the right ways:
1. Add a professional photo
If you don’t have a professional headshot, it’s the first thing you’re going to want to do. Get creative and make sure that your profile picture fits in with what you do and who you are. Take a couple of shots and choose the cleanest, most professional looking one.
2. Write a unique & enticing headline
Your headline is one of the first thing visitors will read. By default, LinkedIn populates this with your job title and current company. Consider using that real estate as an advertisement for yourself by writing something that pops.
3. Tell a story with your summary
Think about the words that you want to be strongly connected to in your field. Once you have done that, dive a little deeper and focus on using this space to tell your story and what you can bring to the table, including your biggest achievements to date. Remember – content is still king, so take some time to get this part right.
4. Fill out as much info as possible
This is where you show yourself off as a well-rounded individual. Input your skills, education, volunteer work, etc. The more the merrier.
5. Ask for recommendations
Recommendations are said to be the currency of the realm on LinkedIn. As such, put some time into asking for recommendations from people you have developed a good working relationship with and offering recommendations in return.
In Concluding
At the end of the day, there are many things you can do to create a strong LinkedIn profile, but – a hugely important part of having a stand-out profile is your ability to interact and network with other professionals. Like and comment on posts relevant to your industry, and demonstrate thought leadership by creating and sharing content to increase your LinkedIn conversions. Doing this will ensure your profile is memorable and gets noticed at every corner.
