Hello friends! Welcome to the last week in our Social Media for SEO Series.
So far we’ve covered the basics of social for SEO, and talked in-depth about Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.
So now that we’ve covered all the ‘fun’ platforms, we’re rounding out this series with a take on everyone’s favorite way to find out their uncle’s latest move at work…LinkedIn.
First, if you’re tempted to leave this to go watch cat videos then…
- I totally don’t blame you, because cats are hilarious. That will never go out of style.
- May I gently suggest that you stay with us? Like overalls between 1999-2017, the usefulness of LinkedIn is far underappreciated, and today we’re here to show you how to use this tool to your advantage, whether or not you’re actively job hunting. (and yes, those overalls you’ve had “saved in cart” for months totally do look cute on you!).
What is LinkedIn?
You may have heard LinkedIn described a few ways:
- Facebook, but for work
- Boring Facebook
- The one social media channel you aren’t tempted to browse for hours
- The one social platform where you wouldn’t dare peek at your ex’s profile, thanks for features like “see who’s viewed your profile”
- Your resume online
Sure, while we won’t exactly *argue* with any of the above, they don’t quite capture the goodness of LinkedIn.
Think of LinkedIn as a search engine, but much, much easier to get found on (if you know how to optimize it properly).
So, the TL:DR of this post?
LinkedIn ≠ Facebook for Work
LinkedIn = Google for Work
In fact, LinkedIn is the most popular platform for B2B companies to find new business.
Think about that…the best way for anyone to find clients or customers is through referrals, and LinkedIn works like a huge referral network.
And on top of being its own search engine ecosystem (like Pinterest), Google also pulls results from LinkedIn for things like job posts, companies, articles, people, and more. So it’s important to have your profile optimized so that you will show up on both LinkedIn and Google for your desired terms.
Who Should Use it?
Anyone who wants to connect with people in their industry to gain opportunities.
So basically, everyone.
Even if you’re selling baby bibs on Etsy, don’t be tempted to think that LinkedIn isn’t for you. Sure, you may not use it as much as someone in the corporate world, but with the right profile optimization, you might be the next one noticed in the corporate world if a company like, say, Anthropologie, decides to pick up your line for their spring collection.
PRO TIP: Make ‘connections’ with as many people as possible. Because unlike other social platforms, when you share something like company news or an article, it doesn’t just get in front of your connections, it gets in front of the connections of your connections.
So if you’re only connected to ONE person and share something…it gets in front of ALL of their connections. With many connections, that gets big, fast. So when you’re wondering if it’s creepy to connect with someone you don’t know that well…just go ahead and do it.
How to Optimize LinkedIn:
1. Fill out your entire profile. Yep, all of it. Volunteer experience, a thorough description, etc.
2. Ask for recommendations (and give them!). Did you know that you have to formally request a recommendation through LinkedIn for someone to be able to give you one? Here’s how to request it.
3. Put keywords in your description and job title…but don’t overdo it. You should have keywords in both of these places. For example, my job title could look like this:
Meg Clarke, CEO Clapping Dog Media | SEO Specialist for Creatives ← See that “pipe” in the middle? (it’s just above the “enter” key on your Mac!), use that to separate your actual job title from a more descriptive, keyword rich term that people might actually search for.
PRO TIP: We highly recommend using the “pipe” character in SEO work, because it saves on pixels. In places like page titles Google doesn’t go off character counts, it goes off pixels so that it always ensures the words fit, no matter what. So if you need to separate something, use the pipe instead of a slash or dash. #TheMoreYouKnow
4. Study your dream job descriptions to mine keywords. Job postings are often keyword dense because recruiters want to get them found, fast. So use those as inspiration for your own job description (as long as it’s actually true, ok??).
5. Share Content & Engage in other’s content to stay at the top of people’s feeds.
We get it. You’re not likely to get lost for hours in the “black hole of LinkedIn” ( <– a phrase I’m pretty certain no one has ever said before). But– spending just a few minutes a week commenting on people’s articles and sharing your own, especially those relevant to your work, is a great way to show off who you are and generate LinkedIn SEO.
6. Finally, be yourself! Write a compelling narrative in your summary box, and of course, write a headline that isn’t like everyone else’s. We love this compilation from the bad-a babes at GirlBoss.
How do you use LinkedIn?
Tell us! Love it, hate it? Met your BFF on it? Tell us in the comments.
We’re always in your corner, rooting you on,
Meg and the CDM Team