A guide to building your presence on LinkedIn

Whether you’re an individual or a business, LinkedIn has become an important platform for professionals looking to establish their brand, build a strong presence, advance their careers or increase business exposure and profits. Currently, the platform has over 900 million active users worldwide.

With so many people frequenting the platform, LinkedIn offers a unique opportunity to connect with peers, clients, potential employers and employees. To tap into this wealth of opportunity, you’ll need to know how to build a LinkedIn presence, and that’s what this article focuses on.

Update and optimise your LinkedIn profile

Your profile on LinkedIn acts as your online resume and professional brand. Therefore, you’ll want to keep it up-to-date and optimised. One of the key tips for improving your LinkedIn profile is to use a clear and professional photo that is well-lit. Try and avoid photos that are too casual.

The next step is to craft a compelling headline that clearly illustrates what you do, whether you’re a business or an individual. Using keywords in the headline increases your chances of appearing in search results. Also, consider adding your email address in the contact section, and your website if you have one.

The LinkedIn summary or description section allows you to go into more detail about who you are, what you’re about and what you’re offering. This is also an area where the right keywords come in handy. For example, if you’re a social media marketer, you’ll want to highlight it in your headline and mention it at least once in your description.

Other areas of your profile you’ll want to fill out and optimise are:

• Professional history
• Featured content
• Personality points
• Education
• Licenses & certifications
• Projects
• Skills

Build your network

An obvious step to gain more exposure is learning how to build a LinkedIn network. Reach out to people who you feel would add value to your network and you to there’s. Aim to connect with people you share common ground with.

Using the social media marketer example, you might want to connect with others in the same or similar field. Targeting individuals who work in digital marketing, SEO, content and video marketing and other related fields is also a step in the right direction. The same logic applies no matter what field you’re involved in. Of course, you’re certainly not limited to connecting only with people in your professional circle. Theoretically, you can connect with just about anyone on LinkedIn. However, people will be far more likely to accept your connection request if you share common ground.

Comment consistently

If you are looking at how to increase visibility on LinkedIn, it’s a good idea to comment consistently on the posts and creative works others share. This helps enhance your reputation on the site, as people see you’re willing to share valuable thoughts. It also offers the chance to showcase who you are and what you know.

The more you like and comment on material in your news feed, your name shows up in the feeds of the people you are connected to. For example, “Julie commented on this post”. It’s all about increasing your exposure. When you do comment on a post, put some thought into it and add value to the discussion.

Share valuable content

Once you’ve started establishing a network of relevant connections, you’ll want to regularly share valuable content with them. It’s recommended to post two or three times a week consistently to find favour with LinkedIn’s algorithms.

While it’s fine to sometimes post something short and sweet, or even a positive image, more detailed posts on a subject that your connections will relate to will get the most interaction. To improve your presence on LinkedIn, you’ll be looking for as many likes and comments on your posts as possible. Aim to educate, inspire, or provoke thought with the content you post and share. Craft content that showcases you as a thought leader in your industry.

Engage with your network

If you truly want to build connections and relationships with others on LinkedIn, you need to engage consistently with your network. Commenting on posts was discussed earlier, but comments are not the only way you can interact. Thoughtful and genuine DMs offer an opportunity to get to know others one-on-one.

Another thing to remember about comments and the posts you share is not to forget to reply to the comments of others. Don’t just post and then dump and run. Read through the comments, answer questions if any are asked, or simply thank someone for taking the time to leave a thoughtful comment.

Groups and LinkedIn features

Join LinkedIn groups that interest you and participate in group discussions, share posts, comment on the posts of others and create new connections with like-minded people.

Also, take advantage of LinkedIn features such as LinkedIn Live, LinkedIn Stories, and LinkedIn Events to engage with your audience in different ways. These features can help you stand out and reach a wider audience.

Analytics

Use LinkedIn analytics to track the performance of your posts and engagement and double down on what’s working for you.

Wrapping up

LinkedIn can be a very valuable and powerful platform. Get in touch with our team of experts at MintTwist to increase your presence on LinkedIn, enhancing your opportunities for work or business growth.