Are You Missing Out on this Credibility-Builder on LinkedIn?

We are visual people and we form impressions about others very quickly—often on the basis of limited visual cues. Since many first impressions are formed via LinkedIn, it is important that the visual cues found on your profile work in your favor. On LinkedIn, the visual parts of the profile are the banner (that big blue space behind your portrait which can be customized), your portrait, the way your text is laid out, any rich media you may have loaded (photos, videos), and logos associated with your Experience, Volunteer and Education sections. Each of these visual assets is important, but this article deals with logos, or lack thereof.

Having logos show up on the Experience, Volunteer and Education sections of your LinkedIn profile gives you credibility. The opposite is also true: not having logos on your profile detracts from your personal brand. So are you taking advantage of this credibility-builder? There are various reasons why a logo doesn’t show up – some of which you can do something about. Let’s look at the various reasons and possible remedies.

Solopreneur | Entrepreneur without logo showing:

Many people work for themselves: consultants, speakers, lawyers, etc. It’s a wonderful way to work. But when no logo shows up on your profile, it makes you look like you have a hobby rather than a business. Lack of a logo for your current entrepreneurial company detracts significantly from your business credibility.

Remedy: Fortunately, there’s a sure-fire, simple and free remedy for that: set up a LinkedIn Company Page. You will need a URL for your business, an email associated with that URL and a logo. It will take you no more than 5 minutes to set up a Company Page. When your Company Page has been established, go back to your profile and delete and re-enter your company name, looking on the dropdown list for your company. Click on your company name from the dropdown list and your business logo will be added to your profile. You’ve just earned a huge boost in your personal credibility! LinkedIn help on the creation of a company page can be found here.

Improper entry of company name resulting in no logo:

Check to see if you’ve misspelled your company name (yes, it does happen) or used a shortened or longer version of the name. Or perhaps you entered more than the company name, for example the company name followed by the division you worked for. Or perhaps your job entry on your profile preceded company’s establishment of a Company Page on LinkedIn.

Possible remedy: For any of these cases, try this: delete and re-enter the company name again, typing slowly and watching LinkedIn’s dropdown list for the company name. If you see the company name in the dropdown list, click on it and the company logo will appear on your profile. If you want to mention the division you worked for, instead of putting it on the company name line which may interfere with finding the logo, enter it on your title line, such as “Vice President of Marketing, XYZ Division.”

If the above process yields no company name, it is because the company has no LinkedIn Company page; therefore no logo will be available on LinkedIn. If you are currently working for the company, you could make a gentle suggestion to the marketing department or senior leadership. Or perhaps you’ll have to accept that that position will just have to be “logo-less.” Use this as your creative incentive to think of other ways to add logos to your profile, such as through volunteer and school entries.

Company no longer in business with no logo showing:

Possible remedy: It’s worth seeing whether deleting and re-entering the company name will result in finding the company on LinkedIn’s dropdown list. If so, click on the company name from the list and the logo will appear on your profile. If the company was purchased by another company since you worked there, consider using the new company name and logo and on your job title line, note “formerly, ABC company.”

If neither of these remedies works, that position will just have to stand without a logo. As mentioned above, use this as your creative incentive to think of other ways to add logos to your profile, such as through volunteer and school entries.

Volunteer positions with no logo showing:

Larger organizations will have LinkedIn Company Pages and therefore, logos. Smaller organizations are less likely to have a Company Page and therefore less likely to have a logo show up on your profile.

Possible remedy: If a logo is not showing up, go through the same process as described above in the “improper entry of company name.” If you can find the national organization but no entry for the regional or local chapter where you volunteer, consider using the national logo, adding your chapter’s name along with your role in the space for your role title.

If you just can’t find the charitable organization where you volunteer, it’s because they have not created a LinkedIn Company Page. If you’re in a Board leadership role, perhaps you can do something about this.

Educational institutions with no logo showing:

Most schools of higher learning have a Company Page and logo.

Possible remedy: If the logo is not showing up, try deleting and entering the school name again, looking for the school name in the dropdown list. Perhaps you missed the logo the first time because you typed too much information (adding your program or area of study, for example) in the school name line. Move ancillary information to another section of the entry.

If you studied abroad for a year or a semester, enter the name of the institution where you studied during that period of time, claiming its logo. In the description section of the entry, note that it was part of a study abroad program and list also your home base institution (no logo will generate in the description section).

Why is any of this important? Logos are an important part of your personal brand; their presence confers credibility and their absence detracts. For more information about the importance of other visual aspects of your LinkedIn profile, such as your personal portrait, see my book, LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive: Promote Your Brand with Authenticity, Tact and Power and this article.

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