Help Readers Help You: 11 Ways to Point a Big Neon Arrow at Your LinkedIn Profile
If you have a LinkedIn profile but no visitors, does your profile really exist? We’re only kind of joking.
Without followers, you and your profile are just a two-legged (wobbly) stool. Followers “complete you” and allow LinkedIn to help you amplify your marketing (giving you a place to share your writing and reviews) and grow your community and network. So, do everything you can to help readers find your profile! Here’s a to-do list to do just that:
?1.????Ensure your LinkedIn profile is ready for visitors before you invite them over.
According to LinkedIn, a complete profile earns 30% more views than one that is incomplete. LinkedIn itself offers ideas, but to start, check out our articles on giving your LinkedIn profile a makeover (link to July), including taking a professional author photo (link to August).
2.????Optimize your profile.
Make sure to include your genre’s or subject’s keywords on your page and your tagline; those are the words people are most likely to type into a search engine to find a book like yours. Update your About section, making sure to say something with more heft than “Buy my book.” Something like “Keep the littles in your life busy—and helpful—this summer vacation with my A Kid’s First Cookbook!” is stronger. Share up-to-date contact information. And include compelling images.
3.????Make that regularly include compelling images.
Setting up your page with great visuals is just the first step. Regularly sharing stills and videos—especially collages—really drives engagement.
4.????Remember the words too!
Sharing new written content on your page at least once a week (but more is better!) will significantly boost your reach to viewers. (It also helps keep your page attractive to search engines.) You know from writing a book how much power a first line has, and the same is true with a LinkedIn post, especially since only first lines show up in previews. Ask a question to start your post, encouraging visitors to read on. And make sure to encourage comments on your posts. Conversation helps make your page more visible to a broader audience.
5.????Reply and engage.
Reply to all comments (even a “thanks!” shows you’re engaged, which, in turn, encourages readers’ engagement) and comment on others’ posts. This means you don’t hop online just to post your own content and then disappear immediately after doing so.
6.????Join conversations with hashtags.
Include #hashtags in your posts (three to five is a good number) and associate your page with relevant hashtags in your Communities Hashtags panel. This helps people find your page and enables you to connect with key communities.
7.????Join LinkedIn Groups.
Go to the places your readers live. Look for groups focused on reading, your genre, and your subject matter.
8.????Enlist the help of your friends, family, clients, and colleagues/peers.
Ask them to share your LinkedIn link via all social media channels, especially on LinkedIn, including tagging you in their own LinkedIn posts.
9.????Return the favor.
@Mention key folks in your updates; they and their followers will see this and may respond or share your post.
10.?Share your LinkedIn link everywhere.
Add a LinkedIn follow button to your website, email signature, and other social media channels (including any other LinkedIn accounts you have).
11.?Always be learning.
Check in regularly on your page analytics and tweak your page based on what seems to resonate with your readers. Study other authors’ pages—a little bit for ideas but mainly to figure out what they’re not talking about or sharing . . . that you could!
Outskirts Press’s marketing team has more great ideas. We’re posting a tip or bit of inspiration on LinkedIn each month this year—but for a lot more, give us a call or send us an email. We are here for you!