Do you remember our Facebook Advertising blogs? We had not one, not two, but whole three blogs about how to boost your brand’s digital marketing. But what about personal branding? Well, we got you covered! Keep reading if you would like to know how to present yourself better online via LinkedIn.

Now more than ever digital visibility is crucially important! Since the global pandemic, remote work, online meetings, and digital marketing are at an all-time high. This blog will introduce you to some of the key steps you can take to improve your professional online presence.

LinkedIn – social media for business

In the contemporary world, social media has become an irreplaceable part of our lives. We communicate with each other, express our views and opinions, share our creativity, shop our favourite big brands or support local businesses, we are all there. But how can social media be useful in business? Almost 20 years ago, the platform LinkedIn was created. Now, owned by Microsoft Corporation, LinkedIn has become the leading online platform for business, with more than 800 million users, worldwide.

LinkedIn is a place that provides you with all the tools necessary to build a complete digital portfolio. It is a platform full of opportunities to connect with the right kind of audience for your career or business growth. Since 2003, job seekers have been posting their digital CVs, whereas employers have been sharing vacancies and looking for the best matches.

Where to start with your LinkedIn personal profile

Let’s assume that you already have a LinkedIn profile, which you made as part of an educational assignment or at the beginning of your career, but you have never checked your account since. Now is the time to hop on the bandwagon and update that profile to make the most use of LinkedIn’s (free of charge) opportunities.

Regardless if you’re currently looking for a job or not, having a good online presence will increase your value as a professional in many ways. LinkedIn is a great place to display your knowledge and experience, show off your skills and abilities, and share some unique personality traits, making you that much more valuable.

Step by step

Your profile and cover images, as well as your headline, are included in the top section of your profile and are often the first (sometimes the only) thing people will see from you. Research shows that users with photos on their LinkedIn profiles get 21X more profile views than those without. Therefore, we advise you to select a picture of yourself that is well-lit, optimistic, and clearly reveals your face. Similar to what you would do on a traditional CV – group photos, filtered selfies or any heavily edited image would be inappropriate.

The purpose of the headline must be to make you more visible in searches that are relevant to helping you achieve your professional objectives. Google search results include your LinkedIn headline. It’s one of the key elements in the LinkedIn search algorithm. Your LinkedIn headline presents you as a respectable professional in your field. Current Employer + Current Job Title is not sufficient!

Your LinkedIn backdrop banner photo should aesthetically complement the written sections of your profile and reaffirm who you are. Making it personal and providing pictures of individuals wherever feasible are things we advise.

The finish line

Moving on to what we like to call the “Professional Excerpt” of your profile. This section includes your location, experience, and skills. All very important for the LinkedIn algorithm and how people find you there. As a general guideline, you should try to be as descriptive as you can in your job experience area. You must list your most recent employment together with two preceding roles in the experience area. Include as many abilities related to your profession as you can. Additionally, you can emphasize your intellectual or interpersonal abilities, such as “excellent communicator” or “speaks three languages fluently.” To boost your credibility, seek out the support of your peers, by getting them to endorse and recommend you.

If you got that far in the blog, then you have all the tips necessary to kick off your LinkedIn presence. The most important next steps would be to grow your network and engage with relevant content that you see on your feed. Be present, interact, and make yourself seen. Start sharing your success stories, interests, or any relevant branded content that would reinforce your professional outlook.

Be yourself, be professional, and be cool! And if you want to know more about how to boost your professionalism, read more on globallycool.nl/blog.