LinkedIn 11 things that you should not do on LinkedIn
Everywhere on LinkedIn I see what I should be doing and why. What people should tell you is what you should not be doing. Combine this with what you should be doing and you have the complete solution for LinkedIn Profiles.
Your profile on LinkedIn has to be awesome. You need to be found and you need to find others. When people do find you they should be enticed to stay by your awesome profile. Everything about you has to attract people you need to be a people magnet. Not only that you want them to connect with you since your profile is so attractive. You have 6 seconds to keep your visitor. That is how long they will stay for if they are not happy.
Your profile takes time to get right. Do not expect to complete it and everybody wants to connect with you. It will take a few iterations before you get it completely correct.
While I am working on LinkedIn I see fundamental mistakes all over the place. Since you want to attract people I assume that you would like to have this awesome profile that will make people connect with you.
To assist with your search engine optimisation (SEO) in your profile I have created a list of a few don’ts that will help you to succeed. Remember
- No Professional Photograph
Could write a complete blog on this and am going to. You must display your personal photograph. Do not display logos, you as a baby, pets. On holiday or you at Aunt Sarah’s picnic. Your photograph should be of you. Go to a photographic studio and get your photograph taken properly the investment is worth its weight in gold. Did this and people rave about my great photographs.
2. No Branding of your Headline
When someone lands on your profile. The first that they read is your headline. It sticks out like a sore thumb under your name. Make it appealing LinkedIn Expert, Best Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, Blogger. That leaps out at you this person is special. What are people going to look for in searches, Keynote Speaker for their event, LinkedIn Expert for a problem they are having or a book on LinkedIn. All of these are there. Whatever you are offering make it findable in your headline.
3. Summary does not give confidence
Immediately under your headline is where you create your summary. People look very quickly they see your photograph — professional, name — yes this is who am looking for, headline — does what am looking for and then the summary or what I can do to attract you. If you are lucky they will read these things. The summary has to be good informing them what you are capable of. Why connect with me? It has to be branding that will make you irresistible. It has to be good you have 6 seconds to convince your visitor or they will be gone.
4. Where have you worked?
List all of your companies and schools that you attended. Missing out companies and schools means that you are missing out on being found. I attended a school in Cupar Fife. Have been contacted by lots of my school friends. Someone who works in a company and wants to contact you can’t remember your name, but knows that you worked in Dunlop with her. Search for people who were at Dunlop and you are found. Recruiters will look for certain skills from a certain company for opportunities. If you are there then you will be found.
5. The three Recommendations
LinkedIn recommends that you write three LinkedIn recommendations for each area of employment. Not having this is like having no photograph on your LinkedIn profile.
6. Number of connections
Could write a few blogs on connections. How many do you need to get found. Remember one thing if you have 501 connections your number of connections shows 500+. If you have 34,000 connections it shows as 500+ thus getting to 501 should be your aim. The more connections that you have the better the search results will be. The bigger your network the more choice you will have from your search. With more connections you are more likely to get found on searches.
7. The three websites
You can add three websites to your profile. The number of clients I have seen with no websites entered in their profile is amazing. There is excellent opportunity to enter three websites to have the added bonus of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Your web site could be listed, plus your amazon or eBay account. Do what you want but use it. Add your twitter profile and other Social Media Networking accounts you use.
8. Your personal URL
On creating your LinkedIn account, you are given a public URL. It looks something like www.linkedin.com/ln/65TR6778 you can change the last part of the URL to your name. Get it changed quickly so that if your name is common it is not taken.
9. Your summary
Ask any recruiter what they read on your CV. It is the summary. They do not want to go into great detail about you yet. They are looking for an overview of you. Have a great summary and you are in the pile of possible. It’s the same on LinkedIn you have to have a great summary. It has to be packed full of keywords so that you are found. It has to be wow for anyone reading it. Do not be boring. Tell the world what you are capable of and be bold. Do not be shy and retiring
10. Job Descriptions Missing
The number of profiles that I see where the person has an awesome career. The firms are amazing and well known household names. But the big problem is what did they do there? No description that means no keywords missing an other opportunity.
11. No Photograph
Have left the worst thing to last. Having no photograph you may as well not of bothered creating your profile. Most people will ignore it. Who are you? What do you look like? You have to have a professional photograph present.
The question is did I miss anything? Pleased share anything I missed. If you have not made any of the above mistakes congratulations your profile is looking good. But you can always make it better and more important keep it up to date.
George Wallace is an expert on LinkedIn from Deltic Networking, LinkedIn Speaker, Keynote Speaker and Best Selling Author
Originally published at petermonalisa.co.uk on February 9, 2018.