Presiding over the LinkedIn social platform intended for professional users is now essential for B2B (or B2B4C) companies as well as for professionals and, in many cases, even for startups . LinkedIn is also usable by companies and businesses across the board in terms of scope, size and sector .
What is indispensable, however, when you start this social network, is to build an optimal profile that will allow you to develop networks of professional contacts that are not only virtuous and in line with your skills, but also fruitful from the point of view of business .
But how do you build an optimal LinkedIn profile ?
According to the guide made available to users by the same platform, it is first of all essential to keep in mind that the LinkedIn profile should be understood as a professional landing page that allows the management of one’s personal brand . This means that it will serve to make people understand who you are, what you do and also how you do it, as well as what are the values and principles that guide your professional activity and your interests. In practice, the LinkedIn profile is a kind of personal storyboard designed to tell about one’s work activity.
The goals of a LinkedIn profile
The goals of a LinkedIn profile can be summarized as follows:
- Management of one’s personal brand : with the definition and development of the perception of oneself by other professionals through the description of skills, experiences and qualifications.
- Creation of professional opportunities : calibrated on one’s skills, which therefore must be described in the best possible way. It should in fact be borne in mind that, currently, this social network is considered a focal point in the search for new profiles by the HR teams of companies.
- Network building and tracking of professional milestones : LinkedIn allows you to describe and share your professional goals, so as to show and “sponsor” your talent to other members of the community.
A few tips for creating a perfect LinkedIn profile
Now that we’ve explored what LinkedIn is and what its main goals are , let’s get into profile creation .
How to best work to create a LinkedIn profile that can truly generate satisfying results for a professional ?
Here are the key recommendations according to the platform’s support center .
Pay attention to the choice of the photo :
on LinkedIn, it is always better to opt for a photo that enhances the aspect of professionalism. It will need to be clear and of good quality, so that it will be noticed in the midst of a myriad of other profiles. According to statistics, a profile with a good picture has 21 times more opportunities to be noticed than profiles that do not show any pictures.
Background Image :
LinkedIn doesn’t just have a profile photo, but also a background image. It is suggested that you also customize this aspect of your page, using a photo or a visual that is in line with your profile.
The importance of the headline:
when creating a profile, the headline is produced based on the job positions added by the user. If it is inconsistent or insufficient to communicate one’s identity, it is always advisable to modify and personalize it: it is the sentence that those who consult the profile will see first, and it is therefore central to offer a clear idea of who you are.
The summary :
it is a sort of short summary of one’s professional identity, competence and experience in the workplace. It should express the practitioner’s mission, motivation and skills in one to two short paragraphs. Another good strategy for compiling this section is to use the classic bullet.
Job positions :
it is not necessary that the LinkedIn profile includes all the jobs performed, especially if among these there are some that are no longer in line with their professional ambitions. Instead, focus on the positions that it makes sense to promote in light of what you want to get from the platform or your future projects.
Never underestimate academic education :
LinkedIn profiles also include a curated section dedicated to professional education. It is always good to fill it in carefully and in full, so as to guarantee an excellent overview from the point of view of training, a detail considered very important in choosing a candidate.
Recommendations :
Particularly noteworthy is the LinkedIn function that allows you to request written recommendations and evaluations of your work from other members of the network. It is a digital word of mouth that definitely has weight in the selection of a resource or in the evaluation of his skills and should never be underestimated, on the contrary.
Never stop updating (and updating)
To conclude this overview, we suggest that you also include in your profile any LinkedIn Learning courses you have completed, the webinars and conferences you have attended, the results achieved by carrying out projects or creating collaborations with other users.
Creating an adequate LinkedIn profile is central , of course, but equally so is keeping users’ attention alive with regular updates and actions to expand their network of contacts: the greater the number of people who will listen to what you have to tell, the better it will be . your chance to create new and fruitful partnerships.
