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LinkedIn is the world’s largest networking site for professionals. It has more than 175 million members worldwide. Professionals use LinkedIn to network with each other and to build and grow their careers and business. Thus, this social media site is preferable as compared to Facebook or Twitter. These two sites are suitable for those who want to have fun, play games and interact with friends and family. LinkedIn, on the other hand, is for members who want to find opportunities to connect with businesses in a similar industry. The advantages of using LinkedIn are tremendous, including the capabilities for professionals to differentiate themselves and increase their findability. What is more, LinkedIn is free to join, and members can leverage its power from the comfort of their home or office.

Tips To Leverage LinkedIn

Many professionals take advantages of the features of LinkedIn to help stand out from their competitors. They can do this by making their profile page more than just an ordinary resume. Here are a few tips:

1. Complete A Remarkable Profile

The profile is the most critical part, as this page will act as a landing page for visitors. Professionals should personalize or customize their profile in order to create depth. For instance, they can write about their background or experience in narrative form instead of in a traditional resume format. This will make the content compelling and attract readers to continue reading the full profile.

2. Add Video To Make The Profile Page More Dynamic

LinkedIn provides a great video feature for professionals to enhance their profile. For example, they can use the SlideShare app to showcase themselves giving a presentation or to greet their visitors. Audiences will have the opportunity to view the professional in person and thus, create a pleasant or personable experience. Visitors will stay longer to learn more about the professional’s background and expertise.

3. Improves Findability

With millions of LinkedIn members vying for attention, professionals need to work hard to ensure their profile is placed high in LinkedIn’s internal search results page. This can be done by using relevant keywords and keyword phrases in the heading and title. Highlighting expertise and skills as keyword phrases, helps increase the opportunities to be found more easily. Furthermore, professionals can tag their skills and expertise to help visitors see it when they view the profile.

4. Upload Offline Contact Easily

One of the best built-in features in LinkedIn is the ability to build a network in a short period of time. Professionals are allowed to merge their online and offline contacts easily. They can invite their contacts to become part of their network by sending a personalized invitation. This is to ensure the invitation catches the recipient’s attention, resulting in acceptance. Furthermore, professionals can update their connections periodically with the data they gather from LinkedIn. They can do this by downloading the data in a comma-separated value, or CSV file that is later imported into their Customer Relationship Management or CRM.

5. Sharing Info Through The Tag Feature

One way to build win-win relationships is through sharing useful information. Professionals can tag their contacts to share what they are reading. It is also helpful to nurture meaningful communication with each other and build value with the connections.

6. Creates Outbound Links With Relevant Keywords

In order to enhance professionals’ reputation, they can add their company website, blog or personal site to their profile. By having links to their sites, visitors will have the opportunity to find out more about their business or other interests. Another advantage is the linked sites will receive more incoming traffic, and this will help improve their rank with the search engines. The key to attract viewers to click on the outbound links is to use significant keywords as anchor text.

When all tips mentioned are implemented, the professional’s profile page will capture visitors’ attention. These tips help to differentiate the person from millions of others and at the same time attract potential customers. Without a doubt, LinkedIn is a powerful tool for professionals to impress their peers and potential customers. When done correctly, professionals can leverage LinkedIn to expand their network and further their careers and business to success.

About the Author:

Chuck Thomas, writes for White Chalk Road an Australian online marketing agency that specialises in creating social media strategies for many local and national businesses throughout Australia with the likes of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.