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With more than 1 billion users in 200 countries worldwide, LinkedIn is currently the largest professional networking platform. So, whether for professional networking or job search purposes, it’s more important than ever to customize and optimize your LinkedIn profile. Similar to advertising, visitors to your profile page will likely spend just a few precious seconds to form an opinion, so it’s imperative that everything is clear, concise and on-message. Fortunately, LinkedIn has a robust feature set that enables a lot of customization. Unfortunately, many on the platform overlook key parts of their profile, in some cases not including them at all and often not optimizing what’s there.
As you craft your LinkedIn profile, the fundamental objective to keep in mind is that you want to clearly articulate four things in a concise and quick-to-digest manner: who you are, what you are doing professionally, what you have done and what you are looking for — especially for those who are job hunting. You should remove anything that does not contribute to any of these points.
Related: Learn How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile and Score Your Dream Job
Below are six key considerations and configurations in terms of optimizing your LinkedIn profile:
1. Your profile image
When you see a person’s profile on LinkedIn, at the very top is a background cover image. It’s shocking how often that critical piece of real estate is left blank. It’s easy to customize, so be sure to upload a cover. Anything is better than nothing, but I strongly encourage you to make the most of that space; don’t simply put a solid image or pattern there. Take advantage of that key spot by selecting an image that provides some sense of understanding and, ideally, even validation for you (check out mine, for example, showing an interview taking place) or, at the very least, conveys some kind of feeling about something important to you.
2. Get a verified checkmark
Below the cover photo, you want a verification check next to your name. This is a free service from LinkedIn and ensures potential employers and partners (as well as recruiters for those job hunting) that you are who you say you are. Fraudulent profiles are frequently created, so this verification gives your visitors additional confidence that your profile is legitimate. If you don’t currently have your profile verified, find a way to verify if possible (or the next time you can, do it; it’s important for the future, even if you cannot have it now). Understandably, you may have privacy concerns, and those same privacy concerns are, in reality, relevant to everything you do online via your desktop and mobile phone. Just keep in mind this is a vital verification for your career.
3. Craft your headline
Almost everyone on the platform has a headline entered. Many of them badly need improvement. This is a small amount of space to communicate some highly critical information. Avoid any extra words that don’t contribute to your definition. Avoid using lots of symbols. Avoid using broad, general language. Be concise, be specific and use this spot to clearly convey what you are, do, and/or want.
4. Showcase your work on your “personal billboard”
LinkedIn has a featured section you can add, yet many people don’t use it at all. Featured items can include posts, newsletters, articles, links, media or spotlighted content from your profile. You also can sort the list, which is essential as visitors will typically only see the first two to four of your featured items (depending on the viewing platform) without scrolling.
5. List your skills — and endorse your colleagues’ skills
LinkedIn allows you to list your top skills, and others can endorse you for those individual skills. Often, people have 50-plus skills associated with their profile and endorsements on some number of them. Are you aware that visitors to your profile page only see the top two in the list (unless they click to see more, which most don’t)? And, did you know that you have the ability to sort the list? Be sure to sort your skills so that the top two reflect the most important things a business partner or potential employer would want to see.
Related: Learn How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile and Score Your Dream Job
6. Showcase your experiences
Of vital importance is your experiences section, where you list out each of the companies you have worked for. The first mistake people make is using the description to describe the company. Think of this page as your CV; this space is where you should describe your role at the company. A line or two about the company is fine, of course, but consider also using bullets to highlight critical functions and accomplishments you’ve made while working there. This is especially important for your most recent experience or last couple if the most recent is a short duration. Often overlooked is that you can associate skills with each experience definition. You can also add media, such as press releases, white papers, interviews or other media related to your involvement with that company.
Incidentally, if you happen to subscribe to LinkedIn Sales Navigator, there is a tool available on the platform called the “Social Selling Index,” which measures your social selling efforts. This tool assesses your overall brand, relationships, people and insights. The brand portion of your index relates to your profile.
Some say LinkedIn is the CV replacement. I wouldn’t necessarily go that far, but it is unquestionably a vital professional tool for networking and worthwhile your time to configure and optimize. In some cases, it literally is used in place of a resume. In some cases, you’ll never make it to even being asked for your resume unless your LinkedIn page tells the right story up front. I encourage you to explore every section, try every configuration, arrange each arrangeable list to highlight what’s most important and be thoughtful with the images you use.