Most of us are on LinkedIn today. But the thing is how many of us are genuinely active on this platform? Surprisingly the number of active LinkedIn member is not very high. We just create a LinkedIn profile then forget about it. But many of us don’t realize that  it’s so important to have an updated and well managed LinkedIn profile for professional success.

Your LinkedIn profile gives you credibility and a chance to showcase your skills and expertise to the world. It gives life to your stories and helps your professional community to know who you are and what you do. So it’s really important to have a well managed profile and show the best version of you out there.

Here are some tips to manage the LinkedIn profile-

Professional profile photo- LinkedIn profiles with a photo are 11 times more likely to be viewed. That’s why it is very important to have a profile photo in your LinkedIn profile. As LinkedIn is a professional platform, your LinkedIn photo should also be professional. It’s really good to use a recent photo as your LinkedIn profile photo. It should be kept in mind that you are showcasing your professional side while choosing profile photo for LinkedIn.

A Standout Headline- Headline is the short one-liner that appears under the name within the profile. It shows up in the home feed along with the profile photo. Every time someone post or publish any content the headline will show up. You can use your headline to highlight your current position like where are you working or studying or showcase your skills. If you don’t update the headline, it will automatically set the most recent position listed within your work experience.

Keep Industry Information Current- Profiles with current industry information are 9 times more likely to be viewed. LinkedIn have features to search for people using industry keywords such as, Education management, Hospital & health care, Retail etc. LinkedIn can pull up profiles that match their keyword search. That is why it is important to add current industry information in profile.

Keep Location Current- Like industry information, profiles that have current location are 19 times more likely to be viewed. Keeping your current location updated will also help you get noticed by hiring authorities of your current location. 

Profile Summary- Profile summary is the place where you really do branding of yourself. Summary should expand on what appears in your headline and highlight your skills, goals, motivations  and experiences. It should include three basic information- “Who are you”, “What you do” and “Why does your work matter.”

Update experiences and achievements- Updating all your experiences and achievements will showcase your skills and experiences to your connections.  This way the chances to be viewed or even to be approached by potential hiring authorities will be increased. You can add your experiences and achievements with images, videos, certificates, links etc.

Don’t underestimate volunteer experience- 40% of all hiring managers see volunteer experience as equivalent as formal work experience. So it’s very clear to understand the importance of adding the volunteer experiences in the profile. Besides, members who have their volunteer experiences added to their profile get 6 times more views than those who haven’t. 

Add Recommendations- LinkedIn experts say that the employers trust co-workers recommendation 3 times more. So ask people who you’ve worked with to recommend you in LinkedIn. You can also recommend or endorse people in this platform.

Use and Follow Hashtags- While posting or publishing any content you can use relevant hashtags in your post. Or you can follow hashtags for career advice, job search and so on. This will increase your online visibility.

Personalize Profile URL- When you create a LinkedIn profile it has some combination of letters and numbers in the URL. You can customize your Profile URL so that it becomes easier for personal branding.

LinkedIn is not just a social media platform. It is the largest professional platform. Everyone has a story of their professional or career journey. LinkedIn profile can bring those stories to life. LinkedIn profile includes content such as videos, photos, presentations that can bring your work to life. The more time you put in your LinkedIn profile, the more you’ll get out of it.