In 2013, LinkedIn’s statistics indicated that only 50.5% of people had a 100% completed LinkedIn® profile. Unfortunately, as I searched more recently I did not find an updated statistic.
However, whether 2013 or 2022, if you are among this group of professions, you’re missing out on opportunities. According to to the folks at the social network, “users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.”
Therefore, for those professionals who want to leverage their opportunities on LinkedIn, if you haven’t already, go back and complete your profile. I mean thoroughly complete it.
What Should I Include In My LinkedIn Profile To Be Sure It’s Complete?
Here are nine elements that make for a thorough and robust LinkedIn profile:
1. A keyword-enhanced professional headline (what appears under your name). Avoid statements like “Founder of ABC Company” or “Owner of ABC Company.” If a prospect were to search for someone like you, but didn’t know your name or company name, what keyword phrase would they search? Keep in mind, this is not about stuffing your profile with keywords. Be appropriate.
Advice from LinkedIn regarding keywords: “Only include the keywords, including repeated keywords, in your profile that best reflect your expertise and experience.” Here are copywriting tips for 6 strategic places to use keyword phrases to harness the power of LinkedIn.
2. An About section. This is probably one of, if not the, most important section of your profile. Write it in the first person and let viewers know a little bit about you and how you can help them. Make an impact with the first three lines of your summary as that is what viewers will see first when they visit your profile. They can click to “show more.”
You have 2,600 characters here, but PLEASE don’t make it one long paragraph. Break your content up into short paragraphs so it’s inviting to the reader’s eyes.
3. Your industry and location.
4. Your current position WITH A DESCRIPTION. First, use a keyword enhanced job title (i.e., not just “Sales Manager,” but “Sales Manager Specializing in Corporate Events.”). Then, fill out the description of what you do in that position (this is another opportunity for you to use keyword-enhanced content).
5. Your past experience WITH A DESCRIPTION. Completing the description fields is not only an opportunity for you to use keyword phrases, it gives your readers more insight into who you are and the value you bring to the table.
Advice from LinkedIn’s official blog: “Having your two most recent positions makes your profile 12x more likely to be found.”
6. Your skills. In addition to providing social proof, there’s a 13% increase in profile views for those who list skills on their profile. TIP: These can be keyword-enhanced skills. Delete those skills you don’t want to be endorsed for. And, move the leading three skills you’d like to receive endorsements for to the top as that is what visitors will see first.
Advice from LinkedIn: Seeking a job? Skills are among the most common queries performed by recruiters and hiring managers (NOTE: Approx. 95% of recruiters turn to LinkedIn when they’re searching for potential candidates).
7. A professional photo. Doesn’t have to be shot by a professional photographer, just needs to look professional. LinkedIn reports that profiles with photos get 14-21 times more views than those without photos.
8. Have at least 50 connections. Start out with people you know – clients, colleagues, past employers, etc. Please, please, please – when you send out a connection request, take the time to personalize it. TIP: If you’re using your smartphone, here’s how to personalize your invite there.
9. Where you went to school. When you’re networking online, discovering that you and your connection went to the same university gives you something you can refer to as a commonality. It helps as a starting point for opening a conversation!
If you have a profile and feel like LinkedIn isn’t working for you, there may be several reasons why.
However, go back and look at the most important step to take right out of the gate . . . thoroughly completing your LinkedIn profile. (TIP: Create your profile in a Word document. Fine tune it until you’re happy with all the elements. Then, cut & paste it accordingly. Remember, the beauty of the Internet is that you can always go back and change elements, update them, etc.)
Thanks a million for reading and here’s to your sweet success!
