10 Tips To Make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out in 2023
It’s 2023 and top of your resolutions this year is to make the right career moves. So, you’ve decided to pay more attention to inarguably the world’s largest professional network, LinkedIn. You’ve read and heard numerous stories about people getting headhunted for top jobs on LinkedIn, so you’ve vowed to camp there this year, and go after your big break. January’s gone and your optimism has started to wane. You’re beginning to doubt whether LinkedIn is indeed a sea of opportunities. Despite posting; you’re not making the right connections, no recruiter has looked your way, your posts get little to no engagement. It’s time for an analysis. What have you been doing wrong? Or what are you not doing that you should start doing this month?
With over 875 million users on the platform, your profile needs to stand out from the crowd.
How to Create a Noticeable LinkedIn Profile:
1. Create a personal brand
As you embark on the journey of making yourself visible on LinkedIn, remember that competition is stiff. You must thus distinguish yourself. Think first about your personal brand. Remember, you’re not the only one with that degree, qualification or skill. What makes you unique and different from any other professional in your field? Answering the following questions can help you create a robust personal brand:
Who am I?
What are my unique strengths, skills, experiences and capabilities?
What are my values?
How do I want people to remember me?
What are my career ambitions?
What do I need to do to be
Once you’re clear on what your personal brand is, you can then push it on LinkedIn by:
Using the right keywords on your profile, to make it easily findable on search
Publishing relevant, high-quality content that reflects your values and uniqueness
Sharing your unique perspective on other people’s posts
Showcasing your creativity through your LinkedIn banner and posts
2. Complete your profile
When you fill in all the sections of your profile as prompted by LinkedIn, you’re given an All-star rating. This makes your profile optimised for success. Before getting to All-star, your profile goes through 4 levels including: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert. Don’t get stuck in any of these 4. LinkedIn states that those who complete their profiles are 40 times more likely to be found in searches. This means a bigger likelihood of being headhunted, forming high-level partnerships and getting your professional brand recognized in your industry. To achieve the All-star rating, you’ll need to do a few things according to this article: How to Achieve All-star Status on LinkedIn.
Have a LinkedIn profile picture
Create an eye-catching headline
Include your industry
Fill in your location details
Craft a compelling summary
Add information about your education
Make at least 50 connections
Include at least 5 skills
3.Be active
There is no way your page will be dormant and yet attract other LinkedIn users. You must share content that is useful to your connections. This is also an invaluable opportunity to showcase your expertise. When posting and engaging with other professionals, be intelligent and put out well thought out comments. Don’t be combative or rude. This will make you noticeable for the wrong reasons. Instead, agree to disagree with people on contentious topics. Also, more to posting and engaging on others’ posts, update your profile regularly, with your achievements.
4. Use appealing visuals
At first glance, is your LinkedIn profile attractive? Using a top tier image of yourself as well as a meaningful banner image go a long way in making your profile noticeable. When you land on a LinkedIn page that has no profile picture, what comes to your mind? You’ll probably think that the owner is inactive, disengaged or disingenuous, otherwise, why don’t they want other people to see who they are? It’s therefore important to have a good profile photo accompanying your name. Not only does it complete your profile and make people trust you, but also, when people match your name and face, you become more memorable to them. A good LinkedIn profile picture:
Is professional
Is a headshot
Is a high-resolution image
Has a plain background
Has good lighting
Has you smiling and looking warm
Similarly, you need to have a banner/ background image that reinforces your profile. Bear in mind that the banner image is even larger than your profile picture, thus is more visible to people’s eyes. Do not therefore make the mistake of leaving that space blank, but rather, use it to accentuate your brand. You can download a picture online that best illustrates your work or create your own image using easy to use design tools like Canva. Your background image could be a photo or illustration of:
Tools you use most in your profession
Your best skills
The institution you work for
Your awards
You together with industry colleagues at a conference or workshop
Importantly, these images should never showcase your personal life. For instance, don’t include your wedding pictures or photos with your partner and kids on your profile.
5. Highlight your achievements
Consider your LinkedIn profile, a personal billboard. Feel free to advertise achievements made in your career as boldly as possible. Remember, if you don’t brag about it, no one will. Don’t be shy to show off all your hard work. When you land a new role, let your network know about it and share in your celebration. When you finish a new course, share the news. When you bag an accolade, plaster it on your profile. This makes you stand out as people can see clear progress in your career. It is also a good sign to recruiters that you could be the top-notch talent they’re looking for.
6. Pay attention to the analytics
Since you want to improve your visibility on LinkedIn, make use of data insights, to understand how to better your content and engagement rate. The best part of LinkedIn is that it's a dynamic platform that has in-built data analytics for every post, and also your profile, which you can derive insights from. The basic insights include, number of post: impressions, likes, comments and profile search appearances. For more in-depth insights, you can make use of third-party tools such as Hootsuite. The insights can help you put together a content and engagement strategy to help push your brand on LinkedIn.
7. Make your value proposition clear
Use the headline and about sections to pass across your value in a succinct manner. Start by crafting an eye-catching and pithy headline to reel people into reading the rest of your profile. It is boring to only state your current job or qualifications or job title in this section. Instead, write a brief statement about what you’re passionate about in your career and your key achievements.
To learn more on how to create impressive headlines, read the following article about 18 Impactful LinkedIn Headline Examples From Real People.
In the About section or summary, explain your value in more depth. Use the first and not the third person, as you want to personalise the information you put out about yourself. What are you passionate about in your career? What do you look forward to achieving in the particular field you're in and why? Why do you love your job? What are some major highlights about your current job? Picture yourself in a networking event, how would you introduce yourself? Be conversational in your tone, not rigid as in a resume.
8. Build a strong network
Reach out to like-minded professionals and build a community of connections that can help spur your career growth. Within this network, share information and opportunities, engage with others on their posts, ask for help and give help when called upon. Networking on LinkedIn is powerful for career growth as it:
Provides industry and job specific insights
Creates an avenue for forming collaborations like business partnerships
Is an avenue for marketing yourself and finding new clients
Gives the opportunity for mentorship
Kickstarts strong relationships that can become personal friendships
9. Get Credible Recommendations
It is said that a third-party word is 4 times more credible. It is thus one thing to say that you’re an excellent professional yourself, and it’s yet another for a former colleague, boss or client to go onto LinkedIn and give credence to your claims. Getting recommendations from credible individuals is tangible evidence of your skills, expertise and character. They increase trust in recruiters and potential connections that you are who you claim to be.
10. Have a professional fine-tune your profile
An optimised LinkedIn profile is a big asset in one’s career journey. It is thus worth investing your resources in. This is why hiring a professional LinkedIn writer is a good idea. Such a person will dedicate their time and skill in ensuring that your profile is a true reflection of your skills and capabilities. They will also ensure that the right keywords are in place, the best visuals are included and that your profile makes you stand out from the crowd. At KnowHow Experts, we can help you do all that. All our Career Services are uniquely tailored to showcase your skills and experience, with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. We offer 24/7 customer support, with a year's free revisions. Call us on: 07552 083 799.
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