Spring Clean your LinkedIn for 2017

Did you know 2 LinkedIn accounts are created every second? In 2015, LinkedIn grew by over a mind-blowing 50 million members. LinkedIn still has a long way to go before it runs out of steam and money and competitors catch up. They have absolutely dominated their space, you can see some of the data here.

One of their advantages is that LinkedIn has no direct competition and they're planning to keep it that way by staying ahead of the curve. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) with sites like Lynda.com.and Slideshare in 2015 are called vertical integration, so adding services that support the user and create a better experience based on the common needs of that market (learning and finding information) makes sense. These acquisitions also mean attracting more members.

In 2016, there had been a real emphasis on personal brand on LinkedIn with the introduction of posting. People buy from people they like and LinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools that makes that happen. I think January provides some opportunity for you to take a few moments and look at your profile to give it a spring clean and buckle up ready for the year ahead!

Here are three simple things that I think that you could do to prepare yourself for a successful 2017:

1.Check your search results: on the key words that you want to be found for. You need to identify where you're turning up in search results.

Google Search

If you do a search for your profile in LinkedIn using keywords, you will turn up in the search result as the top-ranked profile, as LinkedIn search results are based on first, second and third-level connections. To get a real indication of where you’re turning up in search results, you need to undertake a “clean search”. You do need to be mindful of whether you’re reviewing a public or individual profile.

LinkedIn public profiles come in two different formats: they start with www.linkedin.com/in/ or they start with www.linkedin.com/pub/

If there is an "in" in the URL this means the user has a premium subscription profile. "Pub" is for everyone else.

For example, if you were looking for a LinkedIn Profile Writer in Brisbane you would undertake the following search:

“site:linkedin.com/in | site:linkedin.com/pub -dir “LinkedIn Profile Writer” Brisbane”

By doing this search, you get all profiles returned regardless of whether they have paid for a premium account or not.

2.Be Findable with keywords: Make sure you have the key words in your profile so that people can find you really easily. For example, if you’re a business coach, ensure you have the words “business coach” enough times in your profile to compete on that word. If you deliver financial planning, ensure you have words like “retirement planner”, “superannuation” and “Self-managed superfunds”. Whatever you deliver, spell it out; make it easy for people to find you. Go back to step one to test your results after a few days.

3.Reach out: If you could work with your 5 dream people to work with this year, who would they be? Clients don't magically appear. Jobs don't magically appear. You need to make it happen. Around 90% of the business available to you on LinkedIn will happen as a result of you doing the work and reaching out. Take control, personalise your connection requests and make it a humanised experience instead of a digitised one. As Michael Jordan said, “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”

If you can do these three things, you’ll be well and truly on the way to a great start for 2017. Here’s to an exciting year of health and happiness to you!

Love to know your thoughts.

Spring Clean your LinkedIn for 2017