7 LinkedIn Oversights that are Super Easy to Fix

LinkedIn is a wonderful social media platform for building relationships.

You want your profile to look professional and you want people to be able to get in touch with you easily.

What I find is that many people don’t know what they don’t know so these tips may be things that you are overlooking.

1. CREATE A CUSTOM URL

Do you want to make it easy for people to find you on LinkedIn? Want something simple to remember? Then get rid of that linkedin.com?378wht@url and create one that means something. Maybe it is your name, maybe it is your business. Whatever it is, make it memorable. You can find me here: www.linkedin.com/in/karenjosephseven

2. YOUR HEADER PICTURE TELLS YOUR STORY

Take advantage of that real estate at the top of your profile. Use your header image to tell your story. Make sure to include some information about yourself and have it look professional.

3. HOW DO YOUR SKILLS STACK UP?

Have you added skills willie nillie? Are the ones you learned years ago first seen? Make sure the skills that are relevant to what you do now are on top. Go ahead and take a close look at your skill set and reorder them. Look at your headline -do your skills match your headline?

4. HOW DO PEOPLE GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU?

Be sure to add your contact information to your profile. The whole purpose of social media is to connect with others. While Facebook is social level networking (with some business thrown in on the side), LinkedIn is focused on professional, business level networking. Make sure visitors are able to find you. Include your phone number and your email.

5. GET YOUR ROLES IN ORDER

Some of you may not keep your LinkedIn profile up to date. Do you still have line cook at the local burger joint listed first? Maybe that was correct when you were just out of high school, but what are you doing now? Are you the OWNER of the local burger joint? Update, update and update again at least every six months.

6. BUILD & NURTURE RELATIONSHIPS

Once you’ve connected with someone, make sure to nurture that relationship. Don’t let it languish and die. Endorse skills, congratulate on new jobs and anniversaries, engage with them in shared LinkedIn groups. Show that you are interested in them and what they do. Build LinkedIn and email follow up funnels.

7. DON’T SETTLE FOR ALL-STAR LEVEL

LinkedIn has categories they put us all in based on the completeness of our profiles. They call this profile strength. There are 5 levels ranging from beginner to All-Star. The more complete your profile is, the higher your level and the more relevant you are in searches. Don’t stop when you reach All-Star level. Make a point to add something to your profile every time you log in.

Keep things fresh. Once you stop updating your profile, you become stagnant. Remember, you ARE your profile on LinkedIn. You’re not boring and stagnant -so your profile shouldn’t be either. Add something new you’ve learned, an experience you’ve had, a great location for lunch. Stay active and let’s connect and get to know each other!

XOXO Karen