20 LinkedIn Tips & Tools to Take Your Profile to the Next Level
From discussions over at runrex.com, you know that your LinkedIn profile is one of the most important resources you have to reinforce your personal brand and candidate appeal. If you are looking to make your profile even stronger having already set it up, here are 20 LinkedIn tips and tools to take your profile to the next level.
Tools to give you an overview of what you should change on your profile
The LinkedIn Review tool from Resume Worded
To use this tool, start by going to your LinkedIn profile and download the PDF version of it by clicking on the “More” button as outlined over at guttulus.com. Then, upload your PDF on the Resume Worded website and the tool will dissect your profile and give you insights on what needs to be improved.
The Social Selling Index tool by LinkedIn Sales Solutions
As explained over at runrex.com, this tool by LinkedIn Sales Solutions will allow you to see your social sales index. This will allow you to compare yourself to people in your industry or network and start taking action on the things that you should improve on to stand out.
Photofeeler
If you want to find out if your LinkedIn profile picture is professional enough, then this tool comes in handy. As per the gurus over at guttulus.com, the tool will tell you what people think about you when they see your profile picture. Do you look likable? Competent? Influential? You will find out all that using this nifty tool.
Analytic tools
Shield Analytics
If you want a better understanding of your LinkedIn efforts, then this a tool worth checking out. this tool gives you a deep dive into your LinkedIn data with dashboards with average views, likes, comments, posting times, and much more. You will have access to everything needed to optimize your positing content strategy.
The LinkedIn Algorithm
How it works
It is important to know how the LinkedIn algorithm works to distribute your content when you post on the platform if you are to be successful with your posts. This is how it works:
First, the algorithm classifies your content into one of these three categories: Spam, Low quality, and Good to go
Your content is then rated using the following formula: if a like represents 1 point, a comment is 10, and a share is 100
Pro-tip to take advantage of this
Given how the LinkedIn algorithm works as outlined in the previous point and how your content is rated, the subject matter experts over at runrex.com say that it is important to think about how you want people to engage with your content while you are producing it so that you get the highest rating scores possible.
The phases through which your content is distributed
The LinkedIn algorithm will then distribute your content through the following phases as discussed over at guttulus.com:
Phase 1 – When published, LinkedIn sends your posts to a small random collection of 1st-degree connections where your post will be displayed temporarily. A good engagement ratio will determine whether or not your post moves on to the next phase.
Phase 2 – If it moves on, the bot then sends your post in the next 9 hours to your 2nd-degree connections. Here, the algorithm looks at your network engagement with your content and determines if you are spamming or not.
Phase 3 – The bot then takes your post to your 3rd-degree connections after a review at LinkedIn HQ. count between 24 and 36 hours for that phase.
Phase 4 – The editorial team reviews your post for product development at HQ and may include it in other channels.
Tips to get a better LinkedIn distribution
Given the information from the previous point, the following 8 tips should help you have a better LinkedIn distribution for your content as discussed over at runrex.com.
Tag people who have good engagement and are relevant to the post
Avoid tagging 2nd or 3rd-degree connections
Avoid external links in your posts
Ask questions in comments to make people engage with your posts
Write to a specific audience
Use keywords
Unlike Instagram, the fewer the hashtags you use in your LinkedIn posts, the better
Try and post between 9 am to 11 am, which is usually the best time to post on LinkedIn.
Tip on the perfect day and time to post
While you should experiment on this to find which schedule works for you, the sweet spot is Tuesday just before lunch according to studies. This is because your post will still be visible to your 1st-degree connections at 5 or 6 pm, but it will also fade away during the week for your 2nd and 3rd-degree connections.
Pro tip if you are targeting the US
It is also important to note that, if you are targeting the US, then you should know that 80% of the LinkedIn users there are located in Central and Eastern time, which is something to think about when scheduling your posts.
Offer value
As the gurus over at guttulus.com point out, the most important thing on LinkedIn is value. By continually giving value to your network, you save them time and build authority in your market, which will help you take your profile to the next level.
Focus on employees’ profiles
As is revealed in discussions on the same over at runrex.com, you should also remember that employees’ profiles are 10X more powerful than company pages. Therefore, while it is important to create company pages on LinkedIn for your organization, make sure that all your key employees also have highly optimized LinkedIn profiles as well on the platform.
Steps for lead generation and social selling
According to guttulus.com, if you are looking to do lead generation and social selling through your LinkedIn profile, the following steps should help:
Define your niche
Connect with your niche
Offer them value by commenting in a pertinent manner
Offer them value by answering their messages and comments
Offer them value by publishing targeted content
Pitch them your stuff
Pointers on what is currently working on LinkedIn
The following are some of the things to include in your value creation posts as they are some of the things that are currently working on LinkedIn:
Native videos
Super catchy headlines
Copy and eye-bait emojis (usually using a hot color and cold one)
Hashtags
A summary of the shared content
Hacks and tricks to enhance your presence on LinkedIn
How to post an external link without killing your reach
To do this, follow the following roadmap:
Write your update
Put the link into the comments section
Copy the link of the comment itself
Then, put this link within your update
While this link will look super long, as soon as you edit, it will be shorter. This nifty hack opens up a new window, automatically scrolls down to the comment containing your link, and even highlights the comment in blue.
How to connect with thought leaders
To do this, as explained over at runrex.com, add a note to the connection request and makes sure that the note is:
Polite
Pertinent
Personalized
Professional
Praiseful
Tool to help you improve how you connect and talk to people on LinkedIn
If you want to be even more accurate in the way that you connect with and talk to people on LinkedIn, the gurus over at guttulus.com recommend that you try out the tool, Crystal Knows. This tool gives you a description of the person you are trying to reach, what you should or shouldn’t do when talking to them, and even some templates on how to contact them.
How to appear more on a specific connection’s feed
If you are targeting a specific connection and want to appear more on their feed, then start by sending them a private message as outlined over at runrex.com. When you message people on LinkedIn, the algorithm puts your posts on their feed more often.
What to do if you have a common name and your LinkedIn handles isn’t making you happy
If you have a common name and your LinkedIn handle isn’t pleasing you and you would like one that makes you stand out more, then go to the URL section and change your handle; a process that will take you just a few seconds.
How to stop redirecting people towards your competition
Finally, if you want to stop redirecting people towards your competition, then all you have to do is remove the “People also viewed” section in your privacy settings. This is another nifty hack that will ensure that you don’t keep redirecting people towards your competition after they interact with your content.
These are some of the useful tips, hacks, and tools that will help take your LinkedIn profile to the next level, with more on this topic, and so much more, to be found over at runrex.com and guttulus.com.