LinkedIn is a powerful tool to build connections, seek jobs, and establish your brand. This professional platform is extremely useful when used to its fullest potential. However, many people get lost in the webs of this multi-functional app. Our Frances Roy team is here to explain everything you need to know to build an effective LinkedIn strategy!

The LinkedIn profile is essentially a resume. This quick overview is where prospective employers and future connections will size you up,  and therefore, it is vital that your profile showcases you as a professional thought leader in your field. The challenge comes in as you maintain your personal branding as authentic to your individual work style/experience. Below are some tips on how to optimize this critical  aspect of LinkedIn.

• Your profile should list  the same information that is on your resume, i.e. you qualifications, experience, and skills. It is helpful to refer to your resume and add  these aspects to your profile. We would also suggest fleshing out each of your job duties by adding any metrics or key performance indicators, which will help you prove your value to prospective employers. It is also important that your profile and resume match, since employers will likely check both.
• Your photo is an integral part of your profile - so make it professional, yet approachable. If a professional photographer is accessible to you, use that resource to get the perfect headshot. LinkedIn suggests a photo that takes up 60% of the frame, is 400x400, and is no bigger than 8MB.
• Along with a profile picture, be sure to include a header photo. You will need to add and edit this on your computer. A background photo is recommended to be 1584 x 396 and no bigger than 8MB.
• Customize your URL to something easy to share. Use your name (if it is available) or another easy-to-share link.
• Include certifications, languages, awards, degrees, and more. The more robust and well-rounded you look, the more appealing you are to employers and colleagues.
• Try to get recommendations from people you have worked with to increase your credibility and allow people to understand the type  of employee or teammate you are.
• Following this, try to get past/current employers to endorse your skills. This gives you a credibility boost and, since skills already give you an advantage, multiple endorsements carry that much more weight.
• It is vital to list multiple skills in the skills section of the profile. Research shows your profile is 13 times more likely to be viewed if you include skills.
• Utilize the Additional Information section of the LinkedIn profile. This is where you include links to your company, website, blog, social media platforms, and any multimedia projects you’ve completed. This section is essential in increasing your links and, by adding your work through multimedia, showing prospective employers exactly what you can do. This section combines your skill sets  with examples to make you a stronger candidate.
  • Be sure to avoid these terms, as they are overused. Be original and authentic in your descriptions.
    • Detail-oriented
    • Driven
    • Responsible
    • Problem-solving
    • Passionate
    • Strategic
    • Organizational
    • Motivated
• If you happen to do volunteer work, be sure to include those details,  as 41% of professionals stated they considered volunteer work equally as valuable as paid experience.
• In order to grow your network, use the “People You May Know” tool (on the right side of your page) to reach out to professionals in similar fields as you. This is a great way to establish connections with people that have  similar backgrounds and experience as you.
• It is also important to keep up to date on the LinkedIn feed to see what people are posting. It is beneficial for you to post about once a week, since hiring managers are 10 times more likely to look at a profile if you post regularly.
• Finally, how often should you check LinkedIn? It is recommended to check it very briefly every day and once a week for around half an hour. Of course, this isn’t a strict policy and what is most important is frequently checking into LinkedIn to maintain and establish connections.

In addition to a great profile, it is important to build up the business side of LinkedIn to fully maximize your brand’s presence. Here are some tips to best utilize the business side of LinkedIn.

• Use the Showcase Pages. These are niche pages that are an extension of your main Company page. It allows you to promote specific products/services or target them  to a specific demographic. LinkedIn users can also follow Showcase Pages without following your Company Page or other Showcase Pages you may have. This allows your business to tailor the pages closely to specific audiences. To create a Showcase Page, go to your Company Page and click "Manage page." Then, at the top, click "Admin Tools," and select "Create a Showcase Page."
• On the Company Page, you can use targeting options in regard to company size, industry, geography, language, seniority, etc to create customizable ads in order to reach a specific demographic.
• If you wish to add paid advertising to your profile, LinkedIn’s PPC ads let you target specific job titles, job functions, industries, company size, and demographics.
• Create a LinkedIn Group as an administrator in your field. This establishes you as a thought leader in your profession and allows you to grow a community to  generate new ideas. You can email the participants in your group up to once a week as LinkedIn Announcements. This is a great way to generate leads and further build up your user base. Consider joining other relevant groups and participate in discussions to establish connections and showcase leadership in your industry.
• Publish content for you platforms (ex: a link to a business blog with a promotion to subscribe to the blog). This is a great  way to promote and market your Company Page.
• Build out the jobs section of your Company Page to promote job openings. Choose your list of jobs, people at your company, summary of careers, employee comments, and recent updates carefully in order to create the correct look and feel for your company. Also, if you are recruiting new employees, optimize your search criteria to find the best fit.
• Use your Company Page Analytics to evaluate the performance of your page. This shows how successful your status updates, engagement, and reach is, as well as where your demographic comes from and how to best target them.