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KANSAS CITY, MO–(Marketwire – July 29, 2010) – Valerie Jennings, entrepreneur and CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing, assessed LinkedIn and how to search engine optimize a profile. Jennings recently released a video to highlight the importance of the social networking site.

Watch Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1931IQ_JGP0

Jennings said that LinkedIn is outstanding for building a professional network and also helps increase search engine optimization (SEO). “LinkedIn is easy to use, connects you to a wide range of business professionals, facilitates recommendations and enhances your brand. First, complete your profile with search engine optimized keywords. Second, customize the URL to your LinkedIn profile with your name or your company’s name. Third, be sure to include the maximum amount of allowed hyperlinks in your profile,” said Jennings.

With more than 70 million members, including celebrities, professional athletes and billionaires, in 200 different countries, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. LinkedIn is also one of the best sites to take advantage of to improve SEO. To join LinkedIn, visit http://www.linkedin.com.

Jennings Social Media Marketing is a full service company that utilizes the art of online storytelling with the science of measuring quantifiable results. Jennings creates comprehensive social media marketing and Web advertising strategies from website design and development to viral videos. The company represents publicly traded to medium-sized businesses across the U.S. and overseas including technology, sports, sustainability, entertainment, travel, financial, health care and real estate.

Contact:
Jamie Sutera
816.221.1040
jamie@jenningspr.net

SEO Jennings Social Media, LinkedIn, search engine, social media marketing

This is the third in a series of posts I have published on improving the SEO around your personal brand. In this post I wanted to share some tips on improving the SEO of your LinkedIn Profile.

Before I start, I want to be clear that even if you follow these tips it is unlikely you will be screaming to the top of the Google search results. Having a blog that you update regularly is by far and away a more effective medium for improving your personal search rankings. However, if you are not that way inclined, or are already blogging, these things will not do you any harm and are worth trying out even if it is just so you will have a completed LinkeIn profile.

Tips for improving the SEO of your LinkedIn Profile:

Complete your LinkedIn profile. Before doing anything else, make sure your LinkedIn profile is complete and up to date. There is absolutely no point in improving your search engine rank if the end destination does not represent you accurately. I wouldnt go too overboard trying to game the system, but search engines do scan the information in your profile, so make sure you are including the keywords you want associated with your name.

Customise your URL. You can customise the URL associated with your profile to include your name, rather than the random sequence of numbers LinkedIn generates for you. URLs are incredibly important component of SEO, so this is a no brainer. (learn how to do this by watching the video below tip 7).

Pay special attention to your job title and location. Your location and job title are the only personalised pieces of information provided on a generic search for your name on LinkedIn. There is not often a lot of flexibility in job roles, but perhaps think about how you can present your title in the most effective way to include desired keywords.

Search result showing job title

Include your entire job history. People may be looking for you by searching for previous companies you have worked for. If these are not included in your profile then you may not be found. This is particularly important for people with more common names.

The result when you search Matthew Gain Howorth (an old employer)

Specialities. Make sure you fill out all the sections. A particularly good section for including keywords is the Specialities section. Google does index this section, so make good use of it.

Join related groups. There is an enormous value in joining LinkedIn groups beyond SEO. From an SEO perspective they help by associating the name of the group with your search profile. Search for Groups that are aligned with your professional interests. The Group names will typically include relevant keywords for you.

Customise your links. Rather than the generic, blog, company website or Twitter links that LinkedIn generates you can customise your personal URLs to generate more potential Google Juice. This is a little bit involved, so check out this handy video created by Mike Volpe of HubSpot.

Answer questions. I have heard it suggested that you can improve your search rankings by responding to questions on LinkedIn, thus creating link backs to your profile. I would imagine Google is clever enough to ignore this, but perhaps I am wrong? Irrespective, answering questions does raise your profile generally and is a good idea, so I have included.

As I stated above by following these you are unlikely to dramatically shift your search engine rankings, but they wont hurt. Well worth an hour or so of your time in my opinion.

Are there any suggestions that I have missed? Do you disagree with any of the above? I am no SEO expert, so would love to update this post with additional suggestions or improvements.

This post of a series of posts I am making on SEO tips to improve your personal search brands. Other posts you can view are:

Tips to improve your search engine footprint

SEO your Twitter profile

Full disclosure, LinkedIn is a client of my future employerEdelman, but they have had no involvement with this post.

SEO job title, LinkedIn, LinkedIn profile, search engine

LinkedIn

Search Engine Optimisation and LinkedIn.Over recent times, all social network sites have more-or-less carried out what the set out to do in the first place provide a means for people to interact with each other on a social basis. Other individuals have found a means of sharing information on a more professional level thanks to networks such as LinkedIn.

LinkedIn itself is geared solely toward the professional community and offers a very strategic type of networking experience. With the professional profiles created at LinkedIn, an individual is able to garner a level of respect and because of this is able to jump the queue, as it were, in terms of SEO opportunities on their relevant fields of expertise or subjects.

One of the reasons for this is the fact that LinkedIn is highly thought of by search engine giant Google, and as such, LinkedIn pages are seen in a favourable light when compared to some individual websites or pages. Because, therefore, it is such as an important professional and social networking tool, it goes without saying that there are a few tips and hints for increasing the SEO benefits and potential. Here are some of those tips:

- Being the professional network it is, having a professional looking appropriate photograph is a fantastic way of offering first impressions. Many individuals will look at the photograph first and then onto the written profile.

- Individuals can share as much information about themselves or their business via their LinkedIn profile, hence the opportunity to sell ones professional profile. The LinkedIn profile offers ample opportunity for the individual to market their wares as well as add links to their particular websites or blogs for the reader to attain additional information.

- Learning all the various functions afforded by LinkedIn enables an individual to maximise their SEO potential by sharing relevant information such as resumes, business opportunities, job vacancies, etc.

- Regular updates give better visibility and more credence in the eyes of Google.

7th April 2010 at 10:01 am

SEO LinkedIn, LinkedIn pages, LinkedIn profile, professional