- March 20, 2016
- Posted by: Con P. Sweeney
- Categories: LinkedIn, Social Media
How do you begin to write your LinkedIn profile, especially the headline and summary?
When people ask me to review their LinkedIn profiles for them (It’s an occupational hazard for me akin to being a doctor with lots of sick family and friends.) I find that many times their content is either all over the farm or doesn’t exist at all.
I wonder how they got started.
Did they just sit down at their computer and start typing away flow of consciousness wise?
Or, did they they take a more methodical approach?
If you guessed the former then you’re correct!
Like most things in life, people don’t seem to be attracted naturally to the best practices.
In this article, I’ll discuss how to write an effective LinkedIn profile using keywords.
What I do with my clients (After gently breaking the news to them that we’re going to rewrite what they’ve already done if not create it for the first time) is determine their keywords which we’ll use throughout their LinkedIn journey, (As well as for all their social media channels.)
These are the words that identify what they do specifically.
These words talk to their functional roles. (Not job titles.)
These words demonstrate the value that they bring to either clients or a new employer.
These are the words that when combined together make them unique in the marketplace.
How do you find these keywords?
Searches on LinkedIn, Google, and Twitter are the best places to start. They afford you the opportunity to see how and when they’re used by others in your field. (Or, not used as the case may be, which can be very helpful to know as well.)
The Google Keyword Planner will tell you how often they’re used.
Once you have your keywords then you group them into primary and secondary categories.
Primary keywords are the ones which really capture who you are and what you do. You’ll use these a lot. I recommend having half a dozen (six).
Secondary keywords are the ones that flesh out your primaries when you have more characters to use them.
How do you use keywords?
Use primaries in your headline where you’re allowed only one hundred and twenty (120) characters. After your name, this is the most prominent line on your LinkedIn profile.
Use primaries and secondaries in your summary, your experiences, and any other category where appropriate.
Use your keywords across your social media program.
Use your keywords in your content.
Just don’t keyword stuff!
Use your keywords where appropriate and don’t overdo it!
When preparing your LinkedIn profile, it’s best to have a methodology based on keywords.
Write, think about it, can an opinion from someone else if you can, and then post it!
And. don’t forget to retest!
If you need help then don’t be shy about asking for it!
I’m always willing to help you out!
That’s it for now!
In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!
I look forward to any and all comments that you may have. I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.
Remember!
I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me. Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.
I can also be reached at conpsweeney@someddi.com.
My Twitter handle is @conpsweeney.
Stay well!