10 Tips to Beef Up Your LinkedIn Profile
LinkedIn is a social and business networking website that allows users to create a personal profile for such purposes as sharing photographs and personal information, including qualifications for certain types of jobs. To boost their chances of getting the attention of recruiters who use the website and becoming a candidate for a job, LinkedIn users will want to beef up their personal profile.
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Blog
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If you have a blog then link it to your LinkedIn profile. If you don't have a blog, consider creating one. You can link individual blog posts to your LinkedIn profile. The title of the post and the first few lines will show up, and visitors to your profile can access your blog by clicking the title of the blog post.
Client Testimonials
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Get some testimonials from people you have worked with and showcase those testimonials on your LinkedIn profile. This will show recruiters you have a history of satisfying clients with your work.
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Display a Picture
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Display a picture of yourself on your profile. Recruiters want to see the person they might do business with. Use a picture in which you look competent and professional.
Join Groups
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Don't just showcase yourself with a profile. Put yourself out there by joining groups and linking yourself to other people who use the website. Join groups that target the audience you want and participate in the group's discussions to increase the likelihood of being discovered by your intended audience.
Job Title
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Use the "Job Title" section of your LinkedIn profile to describe the nature of your work even further. Besides the title of your job, provide a short description of what exactly it is that you do. For example, if you are a freelance writer, you might put "Freelance writer who uses keyword optimization to increase traffic to a website."
Keyword Phrases
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Use popular keywords that other people use to search the areas of your business. Put the phrases in the personal headline part of your profile; in the body of your profile, including your "experiences" and "interests" sections; as well as in your personal summary.
Personal Summary
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The summary section of your profile is where you really have to promote yourself. You are allowed to create a 2,000-word description of yourself and what exactly it is you do in your job. Consider this your job interview and include everything that is necessary to sell yourself to any recruiter who might look at your LinkedIn profile.
Profile Applications
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LinkedIn offers a wide variety of applications that its users may add to beef up their profiles. This includes a portfolio display application which you can use to display a showcase of your work, including artwork, photography and literature.
Status
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The "Status" area of your LinkedIn profile is used to keep your contacts updated on your current activities. Update your status box regularly. If you have a Twitter account, you may have your LinkedIn status messages tweeted so that your Twitter followers are also kept up-to-date on your business activities.
Vanity URL
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Increase your LinkedIn profile's Google rankings by creating a vanity URL, using your name. Use this URL as a signature on other websites and on your blog in order to increase traffic to your LinkedIn profile.
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References
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