Does Your LinkedIn Profile Get a Passing Grade? 5 Tips for a Captivating Profile

LinkedIn is a robust social media platform where you can connect with professionals within your industry and beyond. LinkedIn can also help people find you for potential networking, job, and/or consulting opportunities. I’m often surprised when I find well-established people’s profiles that are neglecting the most valuable part of their LinkedIn profile real estate — above the fold.

Above the fold is a term used in the newspaper industry to describe what a consumer normally sees at the newsstand. The newspaper is folded and you make a decision to purchase based upon compelling copy that’s above the fold. Similarly, on LinkedIn, people are making a quick decision to learn more about you without having to scroll down to view your entire page. So, what’s included above the fold can captivate someone to want to learn more about you and therefore, becomes valuable real estate for your LinkedIn profile.

Five Quick Tips to Brush Up Your Profile

1. Upload a professional headshot of yourself. You can go to a local department store that has a photographer or find a local photographer. People want to see to whom they are connecting, and it facilitates your personal branding as people begin to recognize your face with the expertise that you possess.

2. Write a branded headline. This is an often neglected area, but it is one of the most vital parts of your profile. Why? This is your personal brand statement, showing who you are and what you uniquely deliver.

One of my favorite tools is 15 Second Pitch. The tool walks you through a series of quick, easy-to-answer questions and then helps you to formulate your 15 Second Pitch (also known as an elevator pitch). Use the information you generate to complete your LinkedIn headline.

3. Location, location, location. Where are you located? Occasionally, people are looking for someone who delivers a product or service in their geographic region. Also, recruiters and employers sometimes use geography as one of their search parameters.

4. What are YOU doing? Status updates have been a feature for a couple of years and they introduced the ability to comment on status updates just prior to my book, “I’m in a Job Search-Now What???” being published, so I was able to make this last-minute addition to the book. Strategically used, this can be an area that captures the interest of a potential reader of your profile.

5. Work history and education. Fully completing this area can help you locate connections from previous places of employment and your alma mater(s). LinkedIn will make recommendations of possible connections based upon this information (as well as other factors).

My top advice? Do keyword research for your industry–are any of these industry keywords applicable to your experience and training? Someone in the Marketing industry might find keywords such as social media, integrated communications platforms, brand strategy, budget administration, event management, Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and more. Make sure your profile contains keywords in a readable format. Keyword density can be helpful, but not if it takes away from the readability. One last tip? Use abbreviations AND the spelled-out word — i.e. Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.). Using these tips to complete the ‘above the fold’ information will dramatically increase your success with LinkedIn.

In my next article, I am going to focus on some must-have LinkedIn apps to add a dynamic dimension to your profile.

Related articles:

1. How to Hook a Networking Opportunity with a Dynamic Elevator Pitch
2. Tips to Find Your Target Audience for Ultimate Career Success
3. LinkedIn 101: Meaningful Connections with Just One Click
4. Top 5 Social Media Platforms for Career Management Success
5. Applying Online: Conquering the “Black Hole”

Tags: featured, LinkedIn, Social Media, Social network

Category: Career Management