Boost Profile Views with a Dazzling LinkedIn Profile
When you’re in active executive job search mode, you need to make your LinkedIn profile dazzle, so it will be a traffic magnet.
More profile views means more people may be sending job leads your way, or otherwise help you with your job search and career.
To get more views on LinkedIn – and more potential job leads – your profile needs to be highly visible and findable. And you need to keep yourself and your personal brand top-of-mind with your ever-expanding network.
How do you do this?
- By building content that is ever-mindful of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) so your profile sits there working PASSIVELY for you – making you more visible and findable.
- By PROACTIVELY using LinkedIn to stay top-of-mind with people and draw new people to you.
15 Ways and Places To Boost Your LinkedIn Profile Views
Put Your Profile to Work for You PASSIVELY
To help the right people – executive recruiters, your target employers and others – find you on LinkedIn, you need to draw them to your profile through the relevant keywords and phrases they search to source candidates like you.
Keywords typically represent your key areas of expertise, or “hard skills”, such as Change Management, Product Development, Emerging Technology Launch, etc.
Strategically placed, the right keywords elevate your search rankings in LinkedIn’s search engine, increasing your profile’s SEO and significantly boosting your profile views.
Once you fill your LinkedIn profile with SEO-driven content, it will sit there passively, driving people to it when they search for people like you by using relevant keywords.
Here’s how to build out your profile, keeping keyword density in mind, so it will work for you passively:
1. Optimize your name field
You may not realize that, along with your actual name, you can add a total of 40 characters in the name field for your last name.
The name field and your Professional Headline (#2 below) are the most important places for keyword density, because they sit at the top of the web page.
LinkedIn allows the following additions in the last name field:
- Suffixes and certifications
- Former names, maiden names, and nicknames
LinkedIn frowns upon adding these things in the last name field:
- Personal information such as email addresses or phone numbers
- Symbols, numbers, or special characters
- A user profile for anyone other than a real, natural person – this includes creating profiles with group, alumni, or company names
Here’s an example of an acceptable, keyword-rich name extension:
William Jones, PMP, SOX, CSM, CSSBB
2. Build a keyword-rich Professional Headline
If you haven’t changed the default headline LinkedIn automatically populated for that spot – your current job title – you’re not making the best use of that prime real estate.
This spot is custom-made for SEO and, with the 120 characters and spaces allowed, you can pack a powerful punch. Use as many of the characters as you can, while keeping the headline comprehensible.
This is not the place to put phrases like “Open to Network” or “Seeking Opportunities in XYZ”. They use up precious space for keywords. Move those to your Summary section.
Here’s an example of a keyword-rich professional headline:
Entrepreneurial Chief Marketing Officer – Change Management | Digital Transformation | Brand Management | Innovation
Avoid the 3 big mistakes that screw up your headline, plus 2 more of the worst LinkedIn profile headline mistakes.
3. Personalize your LinkedIn URL
If the URL looks something like this:
linkedin.com/in/meg-guiseppi-2gg73k28
Change it to this, or something similar:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/megguiseppi
Get rid of the mess of numbers and letters at the end. This may not impact your SEO very much, but it’s a good idea to have a clean, searchable name associated with the URL.
4. Pump up your job titles
Of course, you must use the same job title on your profile that you’ve used on your resume and elsewhere, to avoid sending up red flags that you’re exaggerating or misrepresenting yourself.
But LinkedIn allows 100 characters in this field, so you can add relevant keywords to each actual job title.
For example, this job seeker’s actual job title at one company is:
Senior Technical & Business Project Manager
But he can add a few choice keywords to improve SEO:
Senior Technical & Business Project Manager – Capital Markets Risk Management, MBS Disclosure
5. Build out the Summary section
The Summary section allows for 2,000 characters and spaces. Because and it also sits very high on the web page, this section is big search engine bait. This is your opportunity to build in plenty of content with relevant keywords.
Another thing about the Summary, think of it as a chance to tell your personal brand story. Using your most important keywords and phrases, create a biography around what makes you a good fit for the employers you’re targeting.
But don’t just rely on keywords. You also want to make this, and other narrative sections, an interesting read. Make your Summary dazzling. Generate chemistry by giving a feel for your personality and what makes you tick.
6. Fill in the Skills & Endorsements section
Add in your top skills (or areas of expertise) in order of importance. These skills represent your most important keywords and keyword phrases.
A high number of endorsements for skills representing your best talents supports your personal brand and adds credibility to your candidacy in job search. And, this section should boost your search ranking.
7. Complete the rest of your profile
Improve your profile visibility and findability by fully populating any applicable profile sections. The more content in your profile, the more relevant keywords will likely be in your profile, and the more likely your profile will rise to the top of searches on those keywords . . . leading more people to view your profile.
LinkedIn says that users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.
There are a number of LinkedIn profile sections you’re probably neglecting where the content you add will probably represent your relevant keywords, or SEO juice:
- Volunteering Experience
- Publications
- Certifications
- Courses
- Projects – a narrative section allowing for plenty of content
- Honors & Awards
- Patents
- Test Scores
- Languages
- Organizations
Get Busy to PROACTIVELY Draw People to Your Profile
Now that you’ve fully loaded your profile with content containing the right keywords, and LinkedIn is passively drawing people to you, you need to get active on the site.
Build a personal brand communications plan to leverage the LinkedIn features that will keep you top-of-mind with your network, and compel new people to view your profile.
Here are 8 more ways to boost LinkedIn profile views by PROACTIVELY using LinkedIn to stay top-of-mind with your network, and draw people to your profile:
8. Keep expanding your LinkedIn network
You may be concerned about accepting invitations from people you don’t actually know, or sending invitations to people you don’t know at all, or don’t know well.
Here’s why having a lot of LinkedIn connections is a good thing:
The more people you’re connected with, the wider you’ve cast your net for opportunities, the more people you’re staying top-of-mind with . . . thus the more likely more good-fit opportunities will come your way.
And, the more connections you have, the more people who are likely to share or like or comment on anything you publish on LinkedIn – updates, Pulse articles, comments, etc. – therefore spreading the word about your personal brand and unique value, and potentially leading more people to view your profile.
And, once you reach the 500+ connections mark, your profile ranks higher in search results, making you more visible and findable.
9. Join LinkedIn Groups
Beyond expanding your network, joining relevant Groups can improve your profile SEO. Group names typically include your relevant keywords and phrases. Search engines will pick up those keywords as they crawl your profile.
10. Get more recommendations
LinkedIn experts have suggested that having 10 or more recommendations can boost your profile’s search ranking.
11. Use your LinkedIn profile URL elsewhere in your brand communications
Create inbound links by including your LinkedIn profile URL in these places:
- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media accounts
- Email signature
- Resume contact information
- Personal website
12. Share updates on your profile
Sharing updates is a relatively quick and easy way to stay top-of-mind with your network – which should include employees at your target companies and recruiters, along with your various professional contacts.
Look for the “Share an Update” field at the top of your profile’s “Home” page.
Get into a routine of posting updates once a week, or at least a few times a month.
Ideas for LinkedIn updates:
- An online article, blog post, or white paper you’ve published
- An online article, blog post, or white paper that mentions or quotes you
- An online article, blog post, or white paper, written by anyone, that is relevant to your niche
- An event or seminar you’re presenting or attending
- A new project you’re working on
- A promotion, transfer, or new assignment
- A comment you’ve made on a relevant blog that demonstrates your subject matter expertise
- Professional development, training, or new certification
- A significant accomplishment or contribution to your company
- Activities with your networks or LinkedIn Groups
- An important seminar or event you’ll be attending or have attended
- A community project you’re working on
13. Publish articles on LinkedIn’s Pulse
Writing articles on LinkedIn’s Pulse publishing platform will draw people to your LinkedIn profile and keep you top-of-mind with your LinkedIn network. Each time you publish a new Pulse post, LinkedIn notifies relevant people in your network.
Similar to running your own blogsite, publishing on Pulse builds your personal brand . . . demonstrating your subject matter expertise and thought leadership, and communicating your personality and good-fit qualities for the employers you’re targeting.
14. Comment on others’ Pulse articles and shared updates
When you see Pulse articles and updates from your network that are of interest to you, write a meaningful comment.
You can be sure seeing your comment will prompt many people to view your profile. Your thoughtfulness can also lead to more solid connections on LinkedIn, and potential leads.
15. Use hashtags when you comment
Whenever you post a comment or message on LinkedIn – for an update, publishing Pulse articles, or commenting on others’ articles – use hashtags.
Hashtags are used to categorize relevant keywords and phrases. They are a way to label themes or topics in social media messages, to categorize them and make messages with these keywords easier to find and follow online.
In other words, hashtags used with keywords make them show up more easily in search. If you post a comment or message using hashtags, people looking for information about those keywords will be more likely to find your messages and view your profile.
Executive Job Search and Personal Branding Help
Need help with personal branding, your LinkedIn profile, resume and biography, and getting your executive job search on track . . . to land a great-fit new gig?
Take a look at the services I offer, how my process works and what differentiates my value-offer . . . then get in touch with me and we’ll get the ball rolling.
More About LinkedIn and Executive Job Search
How to Write a Dazzling LinkedIn Summary
Essential Checklist to Optimize LinkedIn For Executive Job Search
5 Ways to Keep Your Executive Job Search Confidential on LinkedIn
How Many LinkedIn Connections Are Good For Executive Job Search?
