By Charles Mburugu

LinkedIn is the world’s leading professional social network. With a membership of almost 80 million, it has become a popular marketing tool for many businesses and individuals. Here are some tips which will help you make the most out of LinkedIn.

Your LinkedIn Profile

Your LinkedIn profile is basically an online resume. Therefore, it needs to be updated and complete. Some of the details which need to be completed include:

• Your profile summary
• Your current position
• Two past positions
• Your education
• Your specialties
• At least three recommendations

Be sure to add a clear, professional-looking photo of yourself to the profile. A good photo will not only reveal your identity, but will also be a vital aspect of your personal brand.

Choose Your Keywords

Many professionals and businesses are using LinkedIn to identify top talent. Therefore, you need to think about what keywords do you want to be known for. Carry out some research to find out which keywords would be most suitable for your skill set, and make sure these words appear prominently on your profile. This will result in a high page rank, thus ensuring better visibility for your profile.

Customize Your URL

Make sure your name appears in your LinkedIn URL. This will make you more visible in the LinkedIn search bar, as well as in search engines. To make changes, go to “edit profile”. Scroll down to the “public profile” section, click on the edit link and add your name to the URL. If you have a common name, you could consider adding a period or hyphen between the first and last name.

Add Your Full Experience History

Don’t leave out any details of your work history. A full history gives a clearer indication of your abilities. Remember to include targeted keywords to enhance your ranking. You can find many free templates online which will help you create your digital resume. Once complete, the resume can then be imported to your profile.

Make Use of LinkedIn Applications

You can enhance your LinkedIn experience by using one of the many applications available. Events and TripIt would be useful for people who travel a lot and want to share their experiences. People with Twitter accounts or blogs can use WordPress or Blog Link to add posts to their LinkedIn profiles. SlideShare is ideal for people who would want to share presentations with others.

Recommendations

To leave a good impression on other professionals, make sure you have positive recommendations on your profile. Get in touch with people you have worked with before and ask them to put in a good word for you. The more recommendations you have, the more credible your profile will be. Don’t forget to also offer positive recommendations to other people. They will be grateful and might even return the favor.

Have you brushed up your LinkedIn profile lately?