How to SEO Your LinkedIn Profile for Better Search Visibility

CultureFitGeneral

Ever wonder why some people show up first in LinkedIn?

Say you’re doing a search – maybe it’s for a job candidate, or you’re looking to hire an employee. Whatever it is, there’s a reason certain LinkedIn profiles appear in the top of the search results. It’s called LinkedIn SEO, and it can do wonders for your LinkedIn strategy.

If you want your profile to show up first, it needs to be optimized to show up first! Just like Google has an algorithm, LinkedIn does too.

Here’s how to get your profile ranking in the top results:

List Your Keywords.

Write down a list of keyword you want to be found for. Some keywords are harder to rank for than others. For example, “Recruiter” would be a lot harder than “Technical Recruiter” because it’s more general, so we can assume more people are using just “Recruiter” in their profile. If you decide to target a more general (more competitive) keyword, I would suggest only targeting that 1.

Since your keywords will likely be the name of a job position, it’s best to chose ones you already have experience in. This way, it will look more natural when you’re using keywords in places like your previous job titles. Make sense?

Use Keywords in Your Profile.

Avoid looking spammy, but you’ll want to use your keyword(s) in your:

  • Professional headline
  • Job Titles
  • Entire content body
  • Projects (if applicable)

Get More Connections

You’re more likely to see people in search results whom you share similar connections:

Ask for Recommendations

If you get 1 recommendation for each of your job positions, the keyword you’ve already listed in your job titles will appear again – therefore duplicating the “power” of that keyword. Strictly from an SEO standpoint, recommendations are crucial, but they obviously make you look credible too.

Check Your Settings

There’s a couple settings you’ll want to make sure are configured properly in your LinkedIn account:

  • Location & Industry
  • Public profile visibility

Fill Out Your Profile, Completely!

Probably the most obvious yet overlooked part of LinkedIn SEO is filling out your profile. Make sure you’ve listed all your relevant experience in the proper format (whether that be a job title, project, even a media section). Check out the different LinkedIn applications and add the ones that make sense.

 

This article was written by Tom Dupuis. Tom is the President of Online Media Masters and offers LinkedIn Profile Services that help professionals get better visibility in LinkedIn.