If you invest the time and energy into building a Keyword Rich LinkedIn Profile there are three primary benefits you can achieve:
Benefit #1 – Your profile will more clearly present who you are and what you do to the reader.
Benefit #2 – LinkedIn Searches for the Keywords you use will show your Profile higher, if not at the top of the results.
Benefit #3 – Google Searches for the Keywords you use will show your Profile higher, if not at the top of the results.
Two of the ways we get value from LinkedIn is
- Discovering others by their LinkedIn Profiles.
- Being Discovered by our LinkedIn Profiles.
We can’t alter other LinkedIn Profiles, but we can make sure that our profiles are Keyword Rich.
Here are the areas where you can work on building your Keyword Rick LinkedIn Profile:
#1 – LinkedIn Headline – Don’t put just your official title here. Use Keywords in these 120 characters to tell the viewer what you do.
#2 – Summary Section – Write a story appropriately ‘sprinkled’ with your Keywords. Write this text in first person and in appropriate sentence structures, using your Keywords. Use Whitespace to separate the paragraphs. You have plenty of room, you can write up to a 2000 character story.
#3 – Current Position Title – Again, don’t put just your official title here. Use your Keywords in this 100 character field.
#4 – Current Position Description – Write a first person story in this (up to) 1000 character field. Use the keywords that are the most relevant to what you do and how you help others. White Space is your friend.
#5 – Previous Positions (Title and Description) – If your previous jobs are relevant to who you are and what you do today, tell the story. Again, use relevant keywords, write first person, past tense and as many of the 100 and 1000 characters in each field as you can.
#6 – Publications – Each Publication listed on LinkedIn has a title field with up to 255 characters and a Publication Description field with up to 2000 characters. Where relevant and useful, use your Keywords, again in appropriate sentence structures and with white space.
#7 – Projects – Each Project listed on LinkedIn has a title field with up to 255 characters and a Project Description field with up to 2000 characters. Where relevant and useful, use your Keywords, again in appropriate sentence structures and with white space in your Project Descriptions.
#8 – Volunteer – There are three text fields in each Volunteer entry on LinkedIn. The Role field can have as many as 100 characters. The Volunteer Description field can have as many as 2000 characters.
#9 – The Interest Field can contain as many as 1000 characters. Consider listing the keywords that represent activities and tasks you enjoy.
#10 – The Advice for contacting {You} field is a 2000 character field. This is a great field for you to tell the viewer who you are and what you do using your Keywords. Encourage the viewer to connect with you based on the Keywords you use.
#11 – Honors and Awards field can include 1000 characters of relevant keywords that represent your honors and awards.
#12 – The Additional Organizations Description field can also include 1000 characters of relevant keywords.
#13 – LinkedIn Recommendations are also indexed and a great place to use your Keywords. Use them appropriately in the recommendations you give as well as the content your network uses when you ask for a LinkedIn recommendation.
#14 – LinkedIn Skills – The last LinkedIn section to consider placing your Keywords are LinkedIn Skills. Resist creating new skill words, but choose as many as you can.
Two things to remember when building a Keyword Rich LinkedIn Profile
Just because you can fill each of these fields to the top, does not mean you should. Remember, you are writing for the reader, first and foremost. Secondarily you are writing for the Search Engines.
It takes time to build a Keyword Rich LinkedIn Profile. It’s not a race it’s a project. Take your time, write first person and friendly, while keeping your mind on the best keywords that represent Who you are and What you do.
I wish you luck building your profile.
Read more about the size of LinkedIn fields on Andy Foote’s article Maximum LinkedIn Counts
One reply on “Keyword Rich LinkedIn Profiles”
Very timely article. It is getting me off the dime to review & update my profile as I strive to increase my SSI . The section I am working on is “Engage with insights”