5 Tips to Get Your LinkedIn Profile Noticed

Updating your LinkedIn profile can be like finally cleaning out the garage… you’ve been planning to do it for ages and know you should do it, but you just never seem to get around to it. But not updating your LinkedIn profile could be doing you a massive disservice. An outdated LinkedIn profile could mean you aren’t being noticed by potential clients or employers.

Before you begin making changes, ask yourself these thought starting questions about your LinkedIn profile:

• Does it showcase your skill set?
• Does it represent your personal brand?
• Does it clearly communicate the value you could bring to potential clients or employers?
• Does it tell a story about who you are and what you have to offer?

Now that these questions have got you thinking, here are our 5 tips to get your LinkedIn profile noticed:

1) Have a professional LinkedIn profile picture

If you’ve been following our blog for awhile, you know that we cannot stress this enough. You want your profile picture to be professional, while still being approachable. It should only be of you, looking into the camera and smiling. We also recommend wearing what you’d normally wear to work in the photo. Consider actually getting professional headshots done and try to avoid the dreaded ‘cell phone selfie’.

While your profile should tell a story about you, that doesn’t mean your profile picture should be a photo of you on vacation, or playing golf. Save those pictures for your Instagram.  

2) Fill in all of the LinkedIn profile sections

There are a number of profile sections that need to be filled out, such as job experience, education history, and about. Oftentimes, people will fill out just the bare minimum in order to get their profile live. It’s important to fill out all the sections with relevant information (or as many as you can) so that when people land on your profile, they are getting all the information they need. Your profile is the first impression potential clients and employers will have of you - so make it count! Fill out each section with as much detail as possible.

Remember that your LinkedIn profile should tell a story, so make your bio and ‘about’ section interesting. Include a mix of who you are as a professional, as well as who you are in your personal life. Adding a few non-work related interests can help humanize you which allows people to make a connection with you.

3) Include an eye catching headline

One of the first things people see on your LinkedIn profile is the headline. As a default, your job title and company name is populated into this section so many people leave it that way and don’t update it. Please don’t be one of those people! Simply having your job title doesn't explain your value or experience and the title may mean different things to different industries.

Your headline is your chance to showcase some unique facts or skills about yourself. A few ways you can do this is by:

• Including well-known companies or brands you’ve worked for.
• Highlighting your areas of expertise. For example, if you’re an SEO expert, make sure that’s in there.
• Speaking to the solution you provide for your customers. For example, if you help small businesses with lead generation, write exactly that. This makes it clear who your target audience is and how you help them.
• Including other unique skills or accomplishments, such as winning an award.

4) Interact with other LinkedIn profiles or company pages

Make sure you’re socially active on LinkedIn! It is a social network, after all. An easy way to get your profile noticed is by interacting with other people or company pages on LinkedIn. Add comments, like or share posts to improve your own visibility.

In addition, we suggest regularly creating your own posts or articles on LinkedIn on topics you’re passionate about. This will not only make your profile more noticeable, it positions you as a subject matter expert and people will begin to associate your profile with certain topics.

5) Participate in LinkedIn groups

Similarly to the above point, it’s important to join and participate in LinkedIn groups. You can find a group about almost anything; so make sure you join some that are of interest to you or pertain to your job/industry. Being a regular contributor to these discussions will get your profile noticed. In addition, groups are a great way to generate buzz for your business as you can use it as a platform to promote your product/services.

These are just a few ideas to get your LinkedIn profile noticed by more clients or employers. Remember to continually update your profile as you grow as a professional. Once you’ve applied these tips to your LinkedIn profile, make a point to revisit your profile every six months to ensure it’s still up-to-date. We promise it’s easier and quicker than cleaning out that dreaded garage!