Katie Roberts Career Consulting

The world’s largest professional networking platform is constantly evolving and has become a critical part of any successful career plan. These days, many employers use LinkedIn to find the right candidates. Whether you’re searching for a new role, developing your career while in a stable position, or working for yourself as a consultant or business owner, using LinkedIn effectively can give you an edge.

If you already have a LinkedIn profile, there are several ways to update it to improve your overall presence. Many of these tips are very quick to implement but could make a huge difference to your profile and presence. Here’s how to optimise your profile and help give your career a boost.

Tip 1: Boost your visibility by optimising for SEO

Search engine optimisation (SEO) involves using keywords and other techniques to optimise online content to improve its search ranking. When ranking profiles in a search, LinkedIn considers several factors, including how often a keyword appears. With more and more recruiters using LinkedIn to source candidates by conducting keyword searches, having a keyword-optimised profile will help you rank higher.

We recommend first identifying keywords that recruiters may search to find candidates like you. Use these throughout your profile in as many sections as possible. For example, in the ‘Skills and Endorsements’ section, prioritise skills that already exist in LinkedIn’s database by starting to type a skill, then selecting one of the relevant suggestions that appears. List up to 50 skills and change the order by dragging them up and down. Using up all the character limits in various sections may also help improve your profile’s ranking.

Tip 2: Understand and articulate your value

Your ‘Headline’ and ‘Summary’ are high-visibility sections that allow you to communicate your value as a professional and what you have to offer. These sections also contribute to your ranking. Your headline automatically defaults to your most recent (or current) job title, but this might not capture the value you could provide in a future role, so it’s best to create a customised headline. Change it by clicking the ‘edit’ button next to the headline.

You should also avoid simply replicating the content in your resume. LinkedIn is a form of social media, so we recommend injecting some personality (while remaining professional, of course). The best place to do that is your summary. Create a clear picture of you and your ‘personal brand’, state what you’re passionate about, showcase your success and highlight what makes you stand out as a candidate. Write it in a way that’s warm and conversational – not too formal or stuffy.

Tip 3: Look to the future

An exact description of your past experience may not be reflective of where you’re wanting to head. We often talk to clients about using LinkedIn to create impact and interest for the job you’d like in the future – not necessarily for the job you have right now. This is especially true when crafting your headline and summary, but also when detailing your employment history.

Rather than simply listing your title, responsibilities and achievements, use up the available 2,000 characters to add keywords to improve your rankings (as discussed in Tip 1). Include transferrable skills and talk about experiences and successes in a way that highlights your potential for the types of roles you’re hoping to secure in the future.

Tip 4: Add value and engage

One of the great things about LinkedIn is the ability to share content. This includes sharing content such as articles that are relevant and valuable to your network, as well as adding links to projects you’ve worked on or successes you’ve had. Since each profile edit and update you make can get broadcast to your entire network (check your settings to enable this), you’ll constantly be top of mind.

When sharing content, you can either create your own or share other people’s content. Think about things like videos, presentations, publications and articles, and use them as opportunities to interact with others and have conversations. Ask questions and answer questions. Increase engagement with your network and you should start to see positive results.

If you’re using LinkedIn to find a new role or build your career, updating your profile will increase your chances of success. Stand out from other professionals by highlighting the value you offer. Optimise your profile to increase your rankings, inject some personality, look to the future and engage with your network. At the end of the day, it’s a social media network – the more active you are, the more you’ll get out of it. 

If you’d like help developing a professional, keyword-optimised LinkedIn profile that highlights your strengths and achievements and helps you stand out from the crowd, take a look at our LinkedIn Profile Writing service.