WELCOMEE to The Online Genius, your one stop shop for everything relating to the online business community.

Have you ever wondered how to gain more connections on LinkedIn? Have you ever wanted to improve your LinkedIn profile so you can attract the right people to your page? If you answered YES to any of these two questions then this article may be for you.  

In today’s article, we will be breaking down exactly how you can not only create an award-winning LinkedIn Profile but also increase your reach and awareness on LinkedIn. 

So without further ado let’s hop straight into the goodies. 

How Do You Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile For Success?

We have narrowed down the top 9 ways that you can do TODAY in order to take your profile to exactly where you want it to be. 

1) Have A Professional Headshot

A picture is worth a thousand words. This statement is 1000X more relevant to LinkedIn. Your profile picture is the first thing your potential connection sees before they send or accept the request. So it would make sense to have an eye-catching picture, wouldn’t it?

So what really makes a good profile picture on LinkedIn? Well, firstly it must be a headshot. Headshots allow Susan your local accountant to see exactly what you look like without even visiting your profile. Full body pictures are okay, however, it will be difficult for some people to see what you look like, especially if it isn’t a professional shot!

2) Have A Related Cover Photo 

Having a cover photo can really go that extra mile. This is one way that you can express your personality and professionalism. 

We suggest having a cover photo that is your brand’s colors and that matches your style. So if you’re a graphic designer you may want a colorful, fun and exciting cover photo, maybe even a collage of your work. If you’re an accountant you may want a serious, straightforward and professional cover photo. 

Here is an example of a great LinkedIn cover photo. 

Quick Tip: Make sure the cover photo is optimized for mobile and desktop. Too many times we have seen cover photos that look great on desktop but average on mobile. 

3) Have A Great Headline

This is the opportunity where you get to show what value you can add to the connection that views your profile.

But you only have one sentence to do it.  

In order to have the perfect header, there are a couple of things you need to do. 

Firstly you have to ask yourself. Why are you using LinkedIn? Are you trying to get clients for your Marketing Agency? Are you trying to get more customers for your gym? Once you know what your end goal with LinkedIn is you are 100 times closer to making that golden headline. 

When writing your headline the goal is to get straight to the point! You have a limited number of characters to let your ideal connection know exactly what your intentions are. So get straight to the point and say what your deal is! Why should Larry from marketing accept your connection request 

Here are some examples of some great LinkedIn Headlines: 

4) Have An Amazing Summary

This is where you get to essentially show off all your skills and talents. However, instead of just boasting talk about your passions and how you can add value to people who are passionate about the same things that you are.

In your summary talk about what makes you different from everyone else. It’s not a CV so you can crack some jokes, let your true personality show. 

Listed below is a great example of how to write an amazing Summary for your LinkedIn profile. 

Quick Tip – KEYWORD OPTIMISE your content !!! I can not stress enough the importance of this. Simply just fill your summary with words you ideal connection would be looking for.  

5) List every accomplishment you have received  

This is where you list exactly why you’re qualified to do your job. You can list every single accomplishment, from the jobs you’ve worked to the languages you know. You can even list that one time in 3rd grade when you lent that classmate a pencil!

It is KEY to make sure you list accomplishments that are relevant to your overall goals on LinkedIn. So if you’re a dentist, you don’t have to list your achievements from the cooking club at high school. 

Here is an example of someone who took full advantage of the accomplishment and skills & Endorsements section.

6) Ask Your Friends, Family and Clients To Give You A Recommendation

It’s a proven fact that people trust you more if they know other people trust you too. LinkedIn gives your connections the opportunity to write recommendations about you. 

This makes your profile more appealing overall. The best way to get these recommendations is to simply reach out to people you know have valued from being your connection. 

Here is an example of how the recommendations section looks.

7) Write An Article 

Unlike your summary, regular post or your headline, an article does not have a word limit. 

So what do you write in the article?

Write about what you’re truly passionate about while adding a huge amount of value to the reader. 

Having a published article on your page adds that sense of professionalism. 

Here is an example of an article displayed on the LinkedIn profile dashboard. 

 

8) Frequently post to LinkedIn 

One of the best ways to raise your awareness on LinkedIn is to write tons of posts on LinkedIn. 

By writing more posts you will increase your visibility by simply being more active. 

The more active you are on LinkedIn the more your post will show up in the search appearances. 

That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less. Just post more! 

9) Reach over 500 + connections on LinkedIn

This is just a small trick that makes your profile look more appealing when a new connection views your profile. 

This isn’t a magic bean that automatically makes your profile the best in the world, however, having that 500+ metric on your profile just looks good. As simple as that. 

This is just the cherry on top of the cake. 

YOU ARE READY TO CONQUER LINKEDIN!

After reading this article I can say without a shadow of a doubt that you are more than capable of creating an amazing LinkedIn profile. 

You are now one step closer to becoming a LINKEDIN COMMANDER! 

If you want more tips on how to reach the next level in your LinkedIn mastery read our article “7 Amazing Tips To Get The most out of LinkedIn in 2020.“