How to Raise Your LinkedIn Profile to the Top 2% in Under 30 Days
Several weeks back I talked about SEO for YOU and how to revamp your LinkedIn Profile in 10 easy steps to land your next job or client. I got lots of great feedback and have seen several of you embracing these changes. Today, I want to focus on how to take this a step further and really ramp up the amount of views you are receiving on your profile.
Since I have started putting more emphasis on the following steps, I have seen a 34% increase in my profile views in less than 30 days and now rank in the top 2% among professionals like me and in the top 4% among my personal connections.
LinkedIn has 187 million unique visitors monthly. Of all members, 40% check LinkedIn daily. (source) Harness these people’s connections and help them find you!
Update Your Profile
In the SEO for YOU post, I discussed in detail what and how to update your profile. Including a photo in your profile makes it 11x more likely to be viewed and a list of skills increases the odds by 13x (source).
Grow Your Connections
You naturally meet people throughout your personal and professional life. As close to meeting someone as possible add them as a connection. I realize you have to start somewhere, so if you get behind make an evening out of it. LinkedIn can even automatically comb through your Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail or AOL email service to auto suggest connections. I occasionally get behind in adding connections too. In March I added 49 connections and of those many were new people I had recently met and others I have known for awhile.
Publish Content
For many, writing and creating original content is intimidating. For others, you are already blogging and sharing content on your personal pages frequently. How do you blend the two? The Pulse, LinkedIn’s version of a self-published news source, not only has great content for you to read and interact with, but also for you to create yourself. Since I already blog M-F, adding content to LinkedIn is a natural progression. I decide which articles I am writing are most suited for this professional audience and will publish the first several paragraphs of my blog post. I will then add a link at the bottom to “Continue Reading” that links directly to my blog. Not only does this let my page get more views due to LinkedIn’s algorithms, but it also drives direct traffic to my blog/website. In March, I wrote 21 blog posts but only 7 of those were published on the LinkedIn Pulse.
Take Part in Groups
Participate in groups that are relevant to your industry or get connected to you school’s alumni associations. Adding relevant content to these group discussions or starting discussions of your own really adds to the likelihood that someone among the group will visit your page. Often, if the group is related, content you are publishing on the Pulse or on your blog is perfect content to share with them. It adds to your relevancy and professional appeal.
Share Relevant Content
Much like other social media sites you can share comments or content – referred to as updates. These can be links to outside news articles, photos or even just text. These are listed in a news feed style environment, similar to Twitter, but without the 140 character limit. You can even link your account to Twitter so when you post on LinkedIn, it also auto posts to Twitter! In March, I shared 18 updates.
Gain Premium Access
I am in no way pushing you to take your profile premium, however it does get you access to things you wouldn’t otherwise see. You gain access to a full listing of who views your profile, specialized stats about your page and better rankings when applying for jobs. Just curious what’s behind the hood? Most of the time LinkedIn offers a free 30-day trial. (Although you must enter a credit card to sign up, as long as you cancel before your trial is over you will not be charged).
Upgrading to premium is how I was able to tell how my profile ranked among professionals like me. Curious how you rank? Visit Profile > Who’s Viewed Your Profile and then click the How you rank for profile views at the top of the page. Stats are under “Professionals like you”. The really awesome thing about this feature is you see the actual names and links to profiles of who they are comparing you to, whether it be your own connections or outside professionals. Find someone who is ranking much higher? View their profile and see what sort of things they are doing differently from you.
Get and Give Recommendations
Having thoughtful recommendations on your profile is an instant indicator to others that your skills and expertise is backed up by a real person. The easiest way to get recommended is to first recommend others – perhaps your clients, co-workers or boss. Once you have completed that follow-up with them and ask them to do the same for you. Generally people are receptive. A million and one recommendations aren’t necessary, but a couple thoughtful ones per job are sufficient. In March, I gave and received one recommendation.
What steps are you taking to improve your profile ranking?
