8 Steps for Creating a Strong LinkedIn Profile

If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile yet—or if you have one that isn’t very robust, here are some easy things to improve your LinkedIn presence.

Why does it matter? LinkedIn is THE social networking site for business professionals. The service has over a billion users, and the United States has 200M users. About 134.5M users actively use LinkedIn each day (16.2%). Additionally, over 48% are active monthly. Finally, LinkedIn claims 95% of recruiters use its platform to source applicants. Even if you work for the federal government, LinkedIn matters; many federal jobs are posted on LinkedIn (although you should always double check the postings on USAJOBS) and most supervisors will search for you before an interview.

Here are 8 things to do to maximize your profile:

1. Customize your URL. Customizing your URL to your name will improve searchability in the search engines. A URL such as www.dhirubhai.net/in/yourname/124b21898555 will not rank as well as www.dhirubhai.net/in/yourname. Plus your URL doesn’t look that professional with all the random numbers and letters. The URL must contain between 3 and 100 letters or numbers. Specific instructions can be found here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/help/linkedin/answer/a542685/manage-your-public-profile-url?lang=en
2. Make your LI profile compatible with your resume (but not identical). Many prospective employers will compare your LI profile and resume. Think about your LinkedIn profile as reinforcing your professional brand, showcasing unique attributes, and conveying personality. Your resume presents accomplishments and relevant contributions to a targeted audience. Make sure that job titles and dates on your LI profile are consistent with your resume.
3. Research others’ profiles for people in your industry / field. You can search by keywords. Read the profiles carefully and compare your background and profile with them. DO NOT EVER copy anyone's profile verbatim, but use your research to help you decide how to structure your profile and choose critical keywords so people will find you.
4. Security and Privacy: Before making any profile changes, particularly in the case of a confidential job search, select the appropriate security features to avoid alerting your employer and others of your job search by flooding their connections with profile change notifications. Instructions for changing settings are available on LinkedIn Help.
5. Add a photo. You NEED a photo; LinkedIn research found that profiles with photos are 21x as likely to be viewed as those without. Invest in a professionally done. Your LinkedIn photo will also be visible with all your status updates, group discussion comments, and any activity on the site, so be sure to choose a positive reflection. And don’t forget to choose a photo that makes you look professional and approachable.
6. Create a Professional Headline. Use keywords instead of putting LI’s default which is your job title. Instead use areas of expertise that prospective employers will search for, such as Operations Management | Business Planning | Organizational Leadership | Performance Optimization.
7. Develop your experience section. From a searchability perspective, it is important to consider job title, location, and industry in the profile. Recruiters search on these key terms. And when you describe your work, be sure to use relevant key words and phrases to increase your search ranking.
8. Once you’ve built your profile, use it! Make sure that your profile settings allow you to be found. And start networking; LinkedIn is not only for job seekers; the best time to build a LinkedIn profile, connect with people, and participate on LinkedIn is now, before you need it.

Check out our e-book Getting Started With LinkedIn packed with more information and ideas to implement to get the most out of LinkedIn for your career!