Five Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

Five Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

If you’re expanding your connections and posting regular updates on LinkedIn, you’re likely driving traffic to your profile. So what are some ways to make sure you stand out once a connection decides to take a look?

Invest in a professional photo. If you want to be taken seriously, your picture shouldn’t be from your Uncle Joey’s birthday party. LinkedIn asserts that profiles with professional headshots are 14 times more likely to be viewed than those with no photo or an amateur shot.

Make your headline a standout. Your headline is the first (and maybe only) thing people will read. Your title is less important than what you do. You’re not just Associate, Deckem Law Firm; you are Trial Lawyer Specializing in California Employment Law.

Remember: your summary is your elevator speech. Think about the kind of work you want to bring in and who can send it your way. What will interest that audience? Instead of, “I am a Partner in the Corporate section of the firm of Black & White,” try something like “I work with start up companies in the technology sector as they acquire funding, mature into fully operating businesses, and are sold to corporate behemoths, making their founders billionaires.”

Link your profile to the firm’s LinkedIn page: Many LinkedIn users’ personal profiles are NOT correctly linked to their firm’s page on LinkedIn. You may list your firm in the experience section of your profile but if you are not linked correctly, clicking on the firm name will not take you to the LinkedIn Company Page. Nor will you be displayed, on the firm page, as working in your firm.

Make contacting you easy. Make sure your LinkedIn profile includes your office direct dial or cell phone and your work email address. Make it clear what a prospect can to do get in touch with you right away.

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