Your profile can be an excellent source of SEO friendly links because:
– Linkedin has great authority in Google:
Authority in general means that people trust you to supply expert insight. The good news is that authorities trusted by human beings are also trusted by Google. Basically, The more authoritative and trusted your site, the better you will rank.
– Your website links can be given unique anchor text with the dofollow attribute:
The anchor text , link label or link title is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. The words contained in the anchor text can determine the ranking that the page will receive by search engines.
– Your LinkedIn profile can have highly relevant content relative to the websites you own:
But what is relevant content in the first place?
It corresponds to informational demands of the target audiences it is intended for, in correlation with your specific area of expertise, the audiences’ expectations towards you and your goals.
In a nutshell Linked has some really cool features that anyone can use to get more traffic to your website- free.
The 3 main things that every linked in profile should have are:
1. A professional/personal picture of yourself.
Don’t upload an image of your dog/cat/fish/hamster/car/computer/world of warcraft, or any other beloved items. Be as transparent about who you are as you can. Sites like Twitter and others that don’t have a professional mindset don’t matter as much, but always have an image of something. If the site is geared toward professionals, err on the side of a professional picture.
2. As much information about yourself as you feel comfortable.
At the very least, you should have a link to your personal or business website/blog. Unfortunately, most people don’t link to their own websites, and even those that do, don’t do it correctly. I’ll show you how below. Also, you should write some really good compelling info about your current position, to make sure people know what it is you do, even though you might not be looking for a job, this helps put relevant content on your page. You can even give away things, like free samples, vouchers or something.
3. A unique profile url for yourself if the option is available.
This makes it easy for people to link to your profile, or find it again if they forget exactly how they found you. And if you put your name in your profile url, that makes it a little more SEO friendly for searches related to your name.
So, here are the steps to creating unique anchor text links to your own websites on your linkedin profile:
1. Click on the ‘edit my profile’ link under the ‘Profile’ nav link on the left sidebar after you have logged in
2. Scroll down to the ‘Websites’ section and click on the ‘edit’ button
3. In the drop down box to the right of ‘Websites:’ select ‘Other’. You’ll then be given an extra box to put in your keyword title, and then you can fill in your website URL in the very next box. You have the ability to add up to 3 sites, so take advantage of this.
Here are 33 ways to use LinkedIn more effectively.
- Fill out your profile completely to earn trust.
- Use widgets to integrate other tools, such as importing your blog entries or Twitter stream into your profile.
- Do market research and gain knowledge with Polls.
- Share survey and poll results with your contacts.
- Answer questions in Questions and Answers: show expertise without a hint of self-promotion.
- Ask questions in Questions and Answers to get a feel for what customers and prospects want or think.
- Publish your LinkedIn URL on all your marketing collateral, including business cards, email signature, email newsletters, web sites and brochures, so prospects learn more about you.
- Grow your network by joining industry and alumni groups related to your business.
- Update your status examples of recent work.
- Link your status updates with your other social media accounts.
- Combine your social media approach: when someone asks a question in Twitter, respond in detail on LinkedIn and link to it from Twitter.
- Use the search feature to find people by company, industry and city.
- Start and manage a group or fan page for your product, brand or business.
- Research your prospects before meeting or contacting them.
- Share useful articles and resources that will be of interest to customers and prospects.
- Don’t turn off your contacts: avoid hard-sell tactics.
- Write honest and valuable recommendations for your contacts.
- Request LinkedIn recommendation from happy customers willing to provide testimonials.
- Post your presentations on your profile using a presentation application.
- Check connections’ locations before traveling so you can meet with those in the city where you’re heading.
- Ask your first-level contacts for introductions to their first-level contacts.
- Interact with LinkedIn on a regular basis to reach those who may not see you on other social media sites.
- Set up to receive LinkedIn messages in your inbox so you can respond right away.
- Link to articles and content posted elsewhere, with a summary of why it’s valuable to add to your credibility.
- List your newsletter subscription information and archives.
- Find experts in your field and invite them as a guest blogger on your blog or speaker at your event.
- Post discounts and package deals.
- Import vCards and contacts from other applications to find more connections.
- Export your contacts into other applications.
- Buy a LinkedIn direct ad that only your target market will see.
- Post job listings to find qualified talent.
- Look for connections related to a job you want.
- Find vendors and contractors through connections.
You will notice that my blog, and Twitter automatically updates on my LinkedIn Profile! The number one reason why I love LinkedIn is… I set it up once and it updates itself. LinkedIn is a must for any business owner in 2010!
