Social media is vitally important for advertising your business, so today I wanted to look at how LinkedIn can be used to grow your online presence.

For anyone that doesn’t know what LinkedIn is, it is a massive social media site that focuses on business professionals. Many people dismiss it as a glorified job board, but when used properly, it can be a very powerful tool.

I use all of the major social media sites to promote my website, but I get more traffic from LinkedIn compared to Twitter, Facebook or Google Plus. This is because I can find people that are interested in my niche really easily.

 

Setting Up Your LinkedIn Profile

Use a Good Thumbnail

We looked at how important the thumbnail is to your profile page in our ‘6 Tips To Create a Profitable Facebook Fan Page For Your Website‘ post. Your LinkedIn photo is just as important, as it is this that everyone will look at when they come across your profile.

Your picture needs to be as simple as possible. A straight forward picture of your face with a plain background is the best, there is no need to be clever. Nobody will be able to recognise you if they can’t see your face due to an obscure picture.

Your Professional “Headline” Matters!

When setting up your profile, you can add a ‘Professional Headline‘. This is a line of text that appears below your name on every reference about you. This is an ideal place to include your title and business name. For example, my ‘Headline‘ is “Owner at OnlineIncomeTeacher.com”.

You don’t need to include anything else here! Simply stating this information makes it clear to everybody that views you what you do and what your business is.

Fill In Your Profile

It is important that you fill in all of your profile details. The more specific you can be, with lots of detail, the better your profile will be. Remember your profile is where people assess you, so the more information you give them, the more likely they are to view you as someone that knows what they are doing.

The more experience you can add the better. Many people make the mistake of not including non-work related experience. Perhaps you are a member of a local business community or a charitable organisation. Put it on your profile, you never know what sort of experience someone may value!

There is also a ‘Summary‘ area of your profile that needs particular attention when filling it in. Use this section to describe what you do and why you do it. Don’t fill your summary with lots of horrible “business” terms such as, thinking outside the box, blue sky thinking, team oriented, etc. People can see right through this sort of rubbish!

Network!

LinkedIn is a ‘social’ site, so get out there and start connecting with people. Start by adding anyone from your own list of contacts that may already be on LinkedIn and work from there. You can also add people using the ‘People You May Already Know‘ tool.

Put aside some time every month or so to update your contacts. Add more relevant people within your field of experience and perhaps remove people that are not as useful any more. Remember that LinkedIn is a lot more professional that Facebook, you want to be connecting with like minded professionals that are useful for you and your business.

Get Recommendations

Recommendations are just like references. The more recommendations you have, the more influence you appear to have.

The best way to get recommendations is just to blatantly ask for them. Start with your work colleagues and close friends and branch out from there. Perhaps ask for recommendations from past customers that you have dealt with.

If you struggle getting any recommendations, simply write recommendations for other people. Often people will politely return the favour.

Links, Links, Links!!!

Remember to put a link to your website in as many places as you can. Think of it as leaving your business card where people can find it. This way, people that are interested in what you are saying can click through to your site. As I said previously, I get more traffic from LinkedIn than I do from Facebook,  Twitter and Google Plus, just by using these tips.

The added benefit of putting links everywhere is that search engines will be able to find your site. This can help to get your site ranking higher within searches on Google and Bing.

Also, think about putting a link to your LinkedIn profile on your website homepage. People that like your site will be able to connect with you. You could additionally include a link within your email signature that you send out to all of your business clients.

Promote Your Business On LinkedIn

LinkedIn Groups

One of the best things on LinkedIn is ‘Groups‘. It is really easy to search through groups and find one that is related to your niche. These groups are populated by people that are specifically interested within that field. For example, if your business deals with the theatre, then you would search through all the groups to find one that is related to the theatre, perhaps an actor group. These people will be interested in your site, so get involved in the group by asking questions and answering other peoples questions. You can also add links to your most recent blog posts and share them with everyone in the group.

There is also the option of creating your own group. This way people that join your group are specifically interested in your content. We created our own group ‘OnlineIncomeTeacher.com – Blog & Affiliate Marketing’ which you can join.

Social Networking Links

Advertising your business can be difficult, but if you use the right tools together you are more likely to get yourself seen. The best tools are social media sites, so use them together. Place links to your other social sites such as Facebook and Twitter on LinkedIn.

Post Your Updates

Make sure that you post all of your website updates on LinkedIn.  Anyone that stumbles upon your profile will be able to see your latest blog posts and website updates, etc.

Please leave your comments below & feel free to ask any questions.