In today’s digital age, it’s more important than ever to have a strong online presence.
LinkedIn remains the most powerful platform for professionals to connect, network, and showcase their expertise.
But simply having an account on LinkedIn isn’t enough. First impressions matter, and how you set up your profile greatly impacts whether people decide to click follow/connect and enter your world.
Let’s not forget that everything on LinkedIn is indexed by Google, so having an up to date profile, and including the right keywords, increases your discoverability.
If building your network and growing your impact is on your list for 2024 you’ll want to make sure to optimize these 10 key elements of your profile:
1. Profile Photo
It’s essential to have a professional, and up-to-date photo – one that communicates that you are friendly, likeable, and trustworthy.
Your profile photo should be recent, focus on your face, look like you, and include a simple background. Don’t forget to smile!
2. Background Photo
Your background photo sets the tone for your profile and should reflect your brand.
It’s your chance to stand out, share a little more about what you do, and leave an impression on your profile visitors.
My background is simple but packs a lot of punch with the StandOut Authority logo, a bit about what I do, and a prompt to download my free resource.
Your background photo sets the tone for your profile and should reflect your brand.
Take a look at Rachel B. Lee’s background photo as well. Even though we both represent StandOut Authority, our profiles showcase our unique personal brand.
Our profiles showcase our unique personal brand
3. Headline
Your headline is one of the most visible and valuable pieces of real estate on your profile and contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t have to be your job title.
Use this field to share your industry expertise and unique value proposition.
Need some inspiration? Try this prompt in ChatGPT to get you started:
“Craft 3 captivating LinkedIn headline options for my profile in the format of what I do, who I help and how I help them. Here’s some information about me to help: [insert details about what you do]”
Here’s an example for me:
Craft your headline using this input from ChatGPT
…and the output
ChatGPT gives you great ideas to use as your headline
🔥 Hot Tip: If you have a LinkedIn Premium account, the built in AI tool can help you craft the perfect headline.
4. About
Your LinkedIn About section is the place to tell your story. Adding this element to your profile can triple your profile views!
Craft a compelling about section that highlights who you are, your achievements, challenges and lessons learned, future goals, and what you can offer to your connections.
Make it engaging, concise, and keyword-rich for improved discoverability.
5. Hashtags/Topics
Hashtags increase your discoverability
When you turn on creator mode, you can add up to 5 hashtags to your profile, and I highly recommend you do it!
Hashtags increase your discoverability and help LinkedIn to recommend you and your content to the right people.
6. Custom Button
This is one of the newer features available to LinkedIn Premium users.
The custom button allows you to show people the best way to engage with you. All you have to do is select the CTA from the drop down list and add in your URL.
The custom button allows you to show people the best way to engage with you.
When you add the custom button, you also have the option to “Display on posts, messages and search results.”
This is a powerful way to increase your visibility even more!
Here’s what the button looks like on your profile:
Custom Button on my profile
..and here’s the in feed post view:
Custom Button in my newsfeed
Don’t have a LinkedIn Premium account?
Add a CTA button instead. This is a great way to drive more traffic to your business website, store, blog, event, downloadable, etc.
I recently wrote a post that gives you step by step instructions for adding a CTA button to your profile. Check it out here.
7. Services
This is another great profile element that LinkedIn added with entrepreneurs in mind.
This feature allows you to add up to 10 services from a list of pre-selected domains and share more details about what you offer, pricing and work location.
At the very least, I would suggest adding a few services to increase your visibility on the platform!
8. Featured Content
Examples of my featured content
Use this feature to share work that you are proud of – LinkedIn posts, articles, newsletters and even external media like images, documents and links.
🔥 Hot tip: Check your analytics to see which of your posts/articles/newsletters are getting the most impressions and engagement to help you select what to feature.
9. Skills
Regularly update the skills section of your profile, or add it in if you don’t have it active already. This gives your audience a quick snapshot of the value you offer.
Update those skills
LinkedIn Learning also offers some value packed courses that result in credentials being added to your profile; a great way to show you are a continuous learner.
Here are a few that I recently added to my profile:
Newly added skills
10. Experience
Keep your experience up to date! While this appears further down in your profile it gives people a more in depth look at your experience and your career journey. This is especially important if you plan on applying to jobs through the LinkedIn platform.
If you do one thing before the end of the year, make some time to update your LinkedIn profile!
A great profile coupled with great content can take your business to new heights.
If you want to set yourself up for social media success in 2024, join me at the Traffic & Conversion Summit 2024 in Las Vegas! ✈️
Traffic & Conversion Summit 2024 in Las Vegas
This year, T&C is offering an entire track dedicated to AI, so you can learn how to save time while generating amazing content to take your business to the next level.
Learn from some amazing experts like Latasha James and Roland Frasier who will help you keep up with the every changing digital landscape and find the most effective AI tools to support your business.
I’ll be sharing insights on “Combining AI and LinkedIn: Your Business Ultimate Guide to Content Creation Success”
Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to learn, be inspired, and build out your network
Register today: https://trafficandconversionsummit.com/register/