When evaluating your LinkedIn profile for success, it’s important to not only have a vastly connected network, a great headshot and a complete profile, but to look beyond the surface at other key performance indicators.
To create a LinkedIn profile that performs well, you should first consider the goals that you are looking to accomplish within your network. Whether you are looking to generate more leads for your business, solicit new career opportunities or expand your professional network, these goals can help guide you when optimizing your profile. Look for some of the following KPIs to better ensure that you are on the right path.
Profile views and visibility in LinkedIn search
Growing your profile views can improve your likelihood of being found within a LinkedIn search; however, if your views are from professionals in an industry that you are not familiar with or with backgrounds that you have little interest in, this can be an indication that you may be targeting the wrong audience.
To help keep your profile views more relevant, start by focusing the sections of your profile to cater to your target audience. For reference, take a look at how Kristi Hines, a freelance writer and professional blogger, formatted her LinkedIn headline. Rather than listing that she is the founder of Kristi Hines Media, which may sound vague, she opted to list her services and accreditations — keywords that are more likely to appear in a LinkedIn search.
The headline section is an important opportunity to summarize the keywords that appeal most to your audience, because it is often the first section that someone will read. In Hines’ case, she has chosen to target keywords that her potential clients are likely to search, such as freelance writer, ghostwriter and blogger.
Carefully consider the keywords that you choose in your headline and continue this process throughout each section of your LinkedIn profile. For example, optimize your summary section by experimenting with different content, including written copy and visual media such as photos, videos or SlideShares. LinkedIn considers the content in all of these sections when performing a search, so it’s best to test a variety of techniques to find what works best for your network.
Generate more inbound messages and connection requests
A successful LinkedIn profile should attract the attention of your target audience and create business opportunities that are relevant to your goals. To urge professionals to reach out with connection requests and InMails, you should first look to prove to your target audience that you can provide value to them based on their goals.
This is where it can get a bit tricky, as each audience is likely to perceive value differently. To get a better idea of how best to appeal to your audience on LinkedIn, try some of the following tactics and analyze which techniques perform better than others.
- Join industry-relevant groups and actively participate in discussions: Pay attention to the topics and questions that people talk about most and add thoughtful insight when applicable. By sharing your expertise, you can increase your chances of getting noticed and improve your social influence.
- Include your LinkedIn profile in your email signature and openly share that you’re active with your connections on other social networks to broaden your reach: To improve the odds of receiving connection requests, advertise your profile and consider including the URL of your profile on your business card.
- Write articles on LinkedIn and share other content about topics that are important to your clients, employers or leads as updates from your account: This is a similar strategy to joining relevant groups, but in addition, it can help you share more of your expertise in detail and help you find the content and topics that most interest your audience. For example, lifestyle entrepreneur Lewis Howes often writes and republishes content via LinkedIn and has amassed an impressive following of other entrepreneurs, business owners and enthusiasts.
When you find the techniques that work best with your audience and align with your goals, you should begin to notice an increase in interactions from other LinkedIn members, which can help you achieve more success with your LinkedIn profile.
Readers: Does your LinkedIn profile effectively appeal to the needs of your audience? Have you been able to target your audience effectively? Do you agree with the KPIs listed above?
Jacob Warwick is a content manager for Honigman Media, a consultancy offering content marketing strategy and content creation services, based in New York. Follow him on Twitter @JacobWarwick.
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