If you are self employed or want to reach sales prospects, looking for employment or networking with others in your industry. Making sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date is critical.
2. Add a Header
6. Summarize
These are the best practices on how to create an effective Linkedin Profile. Let's begin!
Know your Audience
Whether you are trying to attract potential customers, business contacts or HR managers, it is important to know who your target is. Knowing this will help you tailor your LinkedIn profile to your target audience.
Add a Header
A single picture is 1,000 words so don’t just overlook your header image. Make sure to use the space to show off who you are, your personality or explaining the business. It is important to choose wisely to make a good impression. LinkedIn suggests your image is 1400 x 425 pixels and maximum file size of 4MB.
A Face to the Name
Adding a professional photo to your LinkedIn profiles makes it more likely for you to be found. Leaving your profile picture blank gives you a less chance to be found. The ideal image size is 400 x 400 pixels and maximum file size of 10 MB.
A Professional Headline
This is a good place to tell people about yourself and your purpose within 120 characters. Make your headline catchy and include the industry you’re in is important and use good keywords to find easy.
Make Sure you are Reachable
Add as much contact information as you can to your profile. Also, including a portfolio, personal website, company site or blog is suggested to be added.
Summarize
Think of your summary as your ‘’pitch’’, where you tell people about yourself. You don’t only need to use words because LinkedIn lets you add photos, links, videos, presentations, and documents. Be creative when using these options to help your profile prosper.
Show your experiences
You don’t need to just use two pages of A4 paper when informing those reading about your experience and expertise. I suggest using bullet points, including keywords and double-checking spelling or grammatical errors. Whatever works best for you!
Let your Connections Advocate
Don’t just inform those reading about yourself, let your connections advocate by getting recommendations and endorsements.
“Christian continues to impress me with his strong understanding of LinkedIn, digital media, and marketing. His insights would be valuable to any individual or organization looking to increase the ROI of their investments in marketing and sales. I have repeatedly sought his advice on demand generation innovation.”
Make it Easy to Find
Customize your public profile URL to make it easy to be found. This shortened link is easy to share through email, signature, or business cards. You can add your middle initial or your business name or type to create a unique URL. For example, if JoeSmith is taken, you can use, "JoeQSmith," "JoeSmithSellingWords," or "JoeSmithCopywriter."
Network and Build Relationships
Your profile is up to date. There are millions of groups to choose from to engage with people from your industry, share posts with your latest insights, a blog or new development in your career. Test out your LinkedIn publisher, blog style element where you can show your expertise and increase your personal visibility and start conversation.
