This quick guide covers 10 tips and best practices to optimize your LinkedIn profile for B2B sales.
LinkedIn is not just for people looking for a new job and recruiters looking to poach talent. It’s a useful tool for positioning yourself as an expert in your industry. It’s also a great way to be discovered by (and build trust with) your prospective customers.
B2B decision-makers do research online just like everyone else. And when searching for information on potential partners, vendors, and a product or service they might purchase for their business, very often they wind up on LinkedIn. It’s also a trusted source for referrals. So, making small adjustments to your LinkedIn profile can make a big difference.
Tips to optimize your LinkedIn profile for sales success.
These 10 tweaks will make it easier for you to be found and stand out.
1. Use relevant keywords throughout your profile for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Keywords are words, terms, or phases that people search for online. The search results that people see are determined by algorithms that use keywords to find the most relevant content. So, having the right terminology in your profile makes it more likely that prospects can find you.
Anywhere that you can enter text in your profile should contain keywords that are relevant to your industry and skills. But remember that your text still needs to be clearly written and engaging, so don’t cram in so many keywords that you sound like a robot. Strike a balance between writing to your ideal customer and writing for the search algorithms.
2. Write a headline that commands attention.
For the line of text that appears directly below your name at the top of your LinkedIn profile, most people just use the default of their job title and company. Instead, use that headline to spotlight your specialty and the value proposition of your company.
The headline is limited to 120 characters, so be sure to use valuable keywords that your target audience uses often.
- Under the Me icon in the top navigation menu, click on View profile
- In the first section of your profile, click on the pencil icon
- Where it says Headline, enter your new text
- When you’re done, click Save
3. Make the most of your About section.
This summary is your chance to tell the most compelling story possible. It should lay out your experience and the problems that you and your company, service, or product can solve better than anyone else.
Your summary should be about five paragraphs long. But only the first three lines or 320 characters are visible on your profile—until the viewer clicks on “see more” to read the rest. So, make the opening of your About summary as interesting and as easy to read as possible. After your introduction, be sure to include as many relevant keywords as possible.
Pro tip: There isn’t a way to add bold or italicized text in a LinkedIn summary, so use special characters to create subheads that stand out.
+++Notice How Your Eye Stopped On This Line Because of the Plus Signs?+++
Use this simple technique to break up the paragraphs in your About summary.
- Under the Me icon in the top navigation menu, click on View profile
- In the About section of your profile, click on the pencil icon
- Where it says Summary, enter your new text
- When you’re done, click Save
Bonus pro tip: You can type your summary in another document (like Word or Google Docs) and then copy/paste into the LinkedIn form field. By doing this, you can also include bullet points.
4. Add video and more to your About and Experience sections.
You can also add multimedia content, such as videos, images, slideshow presentations, documents, and links to your About section. Use this ability to showcase examples of your work, product demonstrations, and client testimonials—or even a video of yourself talking about what you love about your industry and company.
You can include content from different platforms including Brightcove, SlideShare, Ustream, Vimeo, YouTube, and more.
To add multimedia content to your About summary:
- Under the Me icon in the top navigation menu, click on View profile
- In the About section of your profile, click on the pencil icon
- Where it says Summary, enter your new text
- Click Upload to add content from your computer or phone
- Click Link to add content from another online platform or site
- Type a title and description
- When you’re done, click Save
To add multimedia content to a description of a position:
- Under the Me icon in the top navigation menu, click on View profile
- Under Experience and next to the position, click on the pencil icon
- Scroll down
- Click Upload to add content from your computer’s hard drive
- Click Link to add content from another online platform or site
- Type a title and description
- When you’re done, click Save
Pro tip: LinkedIn doesn’t allow you to upload video directly to your profile, so first you have to post it to a hosting platform like YouTube or Vimeo, then add a link to that video to your summary.
5. Customize your contact information.
When you fill out your personal information, LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards you with greater visibility in search results and in the stream of posts.
You can also optimize this section by changing the labels that appear next to the URL of any website that you add to your contact info. Change the default options (such as “Company” or “Blog”) to a brief description that includes a keyword that your ideal customer may use to search for your product or service. For example, you might change the label for your company website to “Widget manufacturing site.”
To add contact information and customize these labels, click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn home page and select View profile. In the right-hand column, click the Edit icon next to Contact and Personal Info.
In the Edit Contact Info dialog box that appears, click Add Website and copy and paste your website address into the corresponding field. Next, choose Other from the drop-down list so you can enter your own description in the Type (Other) field. When you’re done, click Save.
Pro tip: You can add up to three site URLs. Be sure to add them all, even if you link to different pages of your company site.
- Under the Me icon in the top navigation menu, click on View profile
- In the first section of your profile, click on Contact info
- Click on the pencil icon then Add a website
- Next to Website URL, select Other from the dropdown menu
- Enter the new description under Text (Other)
- When you’re done, click Save
6. Ask for Recommendations.
This section features testimonials from people you are connected to. It is an excellent way to demonstrate your reputation and expertise through the eyes of your coworkers, customers, and other contacts. The more specific a recommendation is, the better.
Some people choose to give recommendations to other people in hopes that they’ll decide to return the favor. Others make “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” deals with colleagues to write recommendations for each other. The best way to get recommendations is to simply ask politely.
- Under the Me icon in the top navigation menu, click on View profile
- Scroll down to theRecommendations section
- Clickon Ask for a recommendation
- In theWho do you want to ask? field, type the name of the person you’d like to ask
- Select their name from the drop-down menu
- Select your relationship and the position you held at the time from the drop-down menu
- Click Next
- Enter a personal note
- When you are done, click Send
Pro tip: Once you have several recommendations, you can change the order they appear by clicking and holding on the right side of a recommendation and dragging to a new position.
7. Post consistently.
Posting insights and other content is a good way to demonstrate your expertise and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Share an insight on something you read. Or even just an interesting quote. Call out the accomplishments of others. The most important thing is to post to LinkedIn on a regular basis. Once a week is fine, every day is really good, and multiple times a day will get even better results.
- Click Home in the top navigation menu
- Click Start a post or one of the icons for a photo, video, or document
- From the drop-down menu below your name, select who can see your post
- Add your text and any multimedia content
- Add relevant hashtags (these are similar to keywords but with the # symbol at the beginning of the word)
- Click Post
Pro tip: Like any site, LinkedIn’s goal is to keep visitors on LinkedIn as long as possible. So, if you include a link in your post, the algorithm may make that post less visible to your connections and the general public. Instead, just share your insight or description in the post then add a comment on your post that says something like, “Here’s the link if you want to check it out…”
8. Publish articles directly on LinkedIn.
Writing an article and publishing it on LinkedIn can increase your visibility on the platform and boost your reputation as a thought leader in your industry. This tactic is especially effective if you are writing about a niche topic. We recommend posting one article a month.
- Click Home in the top navigation menu
- Click Write an article (below where it says Start a post)
- Click the photo icon to select an image that will be displayed at the top of your article; this cover image should be at least 744 x 400 pixels
- Enter the headline, text, and any images within the body of your article
- Once you are done, click Publish in the upper right-hand corner of the page
Pro tip: You can recycle content from your company blog to publish on LinkedIn. Just be sure to edit the text, so that posting identical content in multiple places does not negatively impact your SEO results.
9. Customize your profile URL.
When you first create your profile, LinkedIn generates a unique URL for your profile. It is automatically a random set of letters and numbers. You can change those random characters to something that is easier to share, such as linkedin.com/in/daciacoffey.
Most people try to use some variation of their name. But if yours is already taken, try adding your middle initial or a keyword that represents your strongest skill. (You may have to get creative but keep it professional.)
- Under the Me icon in the top navigation menu, click on View profile
- In the first section of your profile, click on the pencil icon
- Scroll down
- Next to Contact info, click on the pencil icon
- Click on Profile URL
- Click on the pencil icon next to your URL and enter the new text
- When you are done, click Save
10. Don’t show off your competition.
If you go to your LinkedIn profile and look on the right side of the page, you’ll see a section titled “People Also Viewed.” The people listed there are profiles that your page’s visitors have also viewed. You’ll notice that most of them are in the same industry or have a similar job title as you. You want someone who is looking at your profile to read more about your expertise, not clicking away to one of those people instead.
LinkedIn has a setting to turn off this section on your profile.
- Under the Me icon in the top navigation menu, click on Settings & Privacy
- Scroll down to Viewers of this profile also viewed
- Click Change
- Click the toggle switch from Yes to No
The Marketing Blender is a full-service B2B marketing agency focused on accelerating growth for clients in manufacturing, healthcare, software, and professional services.
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