LinkedIn is the most known social media and networking site for professionals and businesses. It has more than 450 million users by Q2 of 2016 according to Statista and this places LinkedIn among the top social media networks overall.
Having a LinkedIn account can help you find more leads, customers, potential and referral partners, new contacts, mentors, establish your online reputation and more. It is a social networking and a business tool that can assist you find a lot of new opportunities and businesses.
Thinking of using LinkedIn effectively? Below are the ways that will help you in LinkedIn Management and maximize your LinkedIn account for your business.
1. Make your personal or business profile attractive! LinkedIn Management starts with you profile. You need to edit Your Profile, claim and use your vanity URL. A professional profile will make it easier for you to attract other users and share. A generic URL using confusing numbers or letters at the end is not advisable. You can claim your vanity URL by going in and editing your profile.
When you open your profile and edit your profile by clicking the “Edit Profile” option in the drop down menu under Profile. You will see your profile URL just below your chosen image. You can click the gear icon beside it. It will bring you to your Public Profile. To the right you will see “Your Public Profile URL. Click the open icon below it and you can edit the URL and use a vanity URL.
You can use relevant anchor text in the URL if you wish. Consider making the anchor text links more appealing to people who are checking your profile. Make sure that you use a catchy anchor text link. In changing the link’s anchor text to something more relevant and value oriented, the clicks on the URL will surely increase.
Customizing the anchor text link in your profile is an important thing that you should not forget. Using relevant keywords, can invite more views to your profile. Your profile in LinkedIn can display three (3) website links. Keep in mind that your website links are relevant and customer focused. Lastly, go through the “Customize Your Public Profile” list to make sure that relevant information is available for people who is searching for you using search engines.
2. Have your profile optimized for SEO. This will make your profile more visible to other people by using keywords that you want to be associated with. Having an optimized profile is a good way to have more views.
Make sure to use keywords in different locations in your profile which includes the summary. Do not forget to use “save searches” to your advantage as well. Creating a free LinkedIn account, you can create and use up to 3 saved searches. Doing a search, click the option “save this search”.
This will save the search and will allow you to run it gain later. Getting a weekly or monthly reminder in your email is also possible. This will happen when a new member in LinkedIn match the criteria you saved. Going to the “saved searches” tab in the Advanced Search options page and choosing your “saved searches” will allow you to use the same searches you did before.
3. Utilize LinkedIn applications to your advantage. To have an effective LinkedIn management, you also need to consider using applications available on site. LinkedIn has an application directory feature. SlideShare is one of the most famous LinkedIn applications.
The application links blogs to showcase any presentation and articles on your profile. You might also want to add Events. This is a great way to know popular events that any of your connections are going to.
4. Always stay updated. Look at what people are saying. Another helpful page in LinkedIn is the Signal page. You can see and track what other peoples comments and what they are saying on almost any topic that you are interested in and track.
Go to News, select Signal then enter your search. This will enable and allow you to get updates and provide you results real time. You can also send messages to people that you’re not yet connected with. However, could give you an edge if they are among your connections. You can do this by using OpenLink.
In LinkedIn, you can send messages to your connections. A first degree connection is needed in order to send messages. You can also send messages to other people whom you are not connected via OpenLink. To be part of the OpenLink network, you need to have a premium LinkedIn account.
Being a member of the OpenLink network, you will be available for messaging by any LinkedIn member if they choose to. OpenLink members appear with an icon that looks like a small ring of dots next to their name on their profile.
5. Keep in mind to always check network updates. In LinkedIn management, you need to consistently be connected with your audience. Checking updates is an important key in connecting and engaging your network. This will increase your online presence and reputation.
Your LinkedIn homepage will always show network updates. The Network Updates is similar to a newsfeed on your Facebook account. In a quick glance, you will know what your connections are doing and sharing.
Similar to any other social media sites, you need to spend some time managing your LinkedIn account. You can also launch a paid campaign in LinkedIn similar to the remarketing campaigns in Facebook and Twitter. Consistent updates and engagements are necessary to increase your online reputation using LinkedIn. Regular posting and sharing is also needed to maintain your audience interest and keep them looking out for updates from you. Like your business, you need to maintain your online reputation active. You can choose to get some help doing this and hire professionals for LinkedIn management. Doing this, you can be sure that your online reputation keeps on growing.
Too much information? We can help you. T4 Social Media LLC can take care of your LinkedIn Management needs.
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LinkedIn Statistics provided by Statista Inc.
