If you’re planning to use LinkedIn to find job opportunities, optimizing your profile will help you stand out. But did you know that you can also use LinkedIn to improve the SEO of your website or blog?
Here’s how it works: if high ranking websites link to your website, it will improve your website’s page rank, so you’ll appear higher in organic Google searches. LinkedIn profiles have a fairly high Google Page Rank, so if have good profile SEO and link your website to it, your website’s SEO will also improve. I’m not claiming that your page rank will shoot through the roof (you need many, many backlinks for that to happen), but it will help a bit, and if more people click on your LinkedIn profile, they may also click on your website.
These are four simple ways to optimize your profile and your website at once.
1. Create your own permalink
View your profile, and change the custom URL. Change it to your full name, your company name, or targeted keywords if they are still available. You might only want to use the company name if you own the company or know you’re there for the long-haul.
You can gear your LinkedIn permalink toward your website or blog. For example, if dianafreedman had already been taken, I might have chosen dianasocialmedia, dianafreedmanweb20, or dianaustandout. Something that incorporates name + keywords or name + company.
2. Link to your websites using anchor text
Linking to your websites will not only give Linkedin users more insight about you, but you’ll also be improving your websites’ SEO. Anchor text links that contains relevant keywords is something Google looks for when ranking your website. So by using your name, site title, and/or relevant keywords will actually improve your site’s SEO since LinkedIn is already ranked so high.
Instead of listing websites as “My Company” or “My Blog,” choose “Other” so you can choose the name of the link. Make sure that your website links appear on your public profile.
Before:
After:
3. Modify your headline
Your headline is the tagline that appears right under your name in LinkedIn searches and on your profile. Instead of just writing your position, include more information about what you do, using keyword-rich descriptions. If you work for a company, put that name in the headline.
My headline before: Product Associate
My headline now: Product Associate, Social Media at TripAdvisor & Web 2.0 Blogger
4. Use keywords throughout your profile
There are several other places you can use keywords: summary, job descriptions, and interests. Make your descriptions are concise and keyword-rich (without overdoing it). Also put keywords in your job title; instead of just including the title, include the department or team. For example, my job title is Product Associate, and I’m on the social media team, so my job title on Linkedin is “Product Associate, Social Media.” At my last internship, I was a Design Assistant on the motion graphics team. Before, I just wrote “Design Assistant,” but after revamping my profile for SEO, it now says “Design Assistant, Motion Graphics.”
Guy Kawasaki has a great article: Ten Ways To Use LinkedIn, in which he also discusses improving LinkedIn SEO.
Making your profile search engine friendly is easier than you thought, right? You can view my LinkedIn profile here to see how I’ve used keywords throughout my profile
More on LinkedIn:
- Before Networking on LinkedIn, Makeover Your Profile
- Building Your LinkedIn Network
- How to Network Beyond the 2nd Degree on LinkedIn
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting post.
I’m going to try this out.
Interesting post.
I’m going to try this out.
Thank U very much 4 this gr8 post
Thank U very much 4 this gr8 post
I am at Linkedin, but not very serious in using it, noted down some great tips from here. nice write up indeed.
Shanker Bakshi’s last blog post..Google is Dead Here is Another Unexploited Goldmine
I am at Linkedin, but not very serious in using it, noted down some great tips from here. nice write up indeed.
Shanker Bakshi’s last blog post..Google is Dead Here is Another Unexploited Goldmine
This is a great post. SEO using LinkedIn? Genius! Always looking for new and fresh ways of building links. Many thanks.
This is a great post. SEO using LinkedIn? Genius! Always looking for new and fresh ways of building links. Many thanks.
hmm! I didn’t realise this at all.. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Ben Pei’s last blog post..How To Make Money Blogging With ‘Featured Sites’
hmm! I didn’t realise this at all.. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Ben Pei’s last blog post..How To Make Money Blogging With ‘Featured Sites’
I knew about #2 – changing the anchor text for your blogs but didn’t know about the others. I actually used my profile recently for a blog job app.
It is interesting to me how some (new media) types EXPECT a link to your LinkedIN profile as part of a resume and or app package. It is also interesting to me, how there are no examples to go research when one is setting up a resume for blogging, SEO, social media, etc.
Have you any experience with this? Assembling a new media resume.
Thanxs for the tips. Good stuff!
Missy.
Missy (from G34 Media)’s last blog post..5 Cute Twitter Icons For Your Blog
I knew about #2 – changing the anchor text for your blogs but didn’t know about the others. I actually used my profile recently for a blog job app.
It is interesting to me how some (new media) types EXPECT a link to your LinkedIN profile as part of a resume and or app package. It is also interesting to me, how there are no examples to go research when one is setting up a resume for blogging, SEO, social media, etc.
Have you any experience with this? Assembling a new media resume.
Thanxs for the tips. Good stuff!
Missy.
Missy (from G34 Media)’s last blog post..5 Cute Twitter Icons For Your Blog
Hi, thanks for the information – great ideas. Just one problem I am hoping you may be able to help me with. I have added my profile to linkedIn, along with my website URL, however when I hover on 'My Website' (http://www.holidayz.com.au) under 'Websites' the direct URL does not show. It has a linkedIn redirect instead. Is there any way to correct this?
Many thanks, Jeanette
these are good tips for improve our Website’s SEO Using LinkedIn ….
Pretty solid list. Thanks for sharing!
Pretty solid list. Thanks for sharing!
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile will help you stand out in the job market.
In fact, let's take a look at a few simple ways for using LinkedIn in order to improve the SEO of your website or blog: …
WordPress is fantastic! Thanks for the tips.
Very Good Article!
Thanks for the great post. I always like to bookmark concrete or construction related posts like this one.
Interesting post.
Thanks for the share! I have a question a little off topic. I wanted to start a blog to share my experiences as well as work, but didn’t want it to be too salesy. Do you find your style works best with just sharing?
Gimme more info like this. The Internet needs to be more like this blog, awesome information all the time.
I’m a huge fan of your blog and I check it regularly. Keep up the great work!
Great article! I am always looking for new techniques and methods to increase search engine position and to gain quality backlinks. I myself have a blog dedicated to sharing these techniques with other webmasters. Please let me know if you would like to exchange backlinks. I look forward to reading more from you, thanks!
interesting post to generate traffic from linked in,nice work carry it
It is my great pleasure to visit your website and to enjoy your excellent post here. I like them very much. I can feel that you paid much attention to those articles, as all of them make sense and are very useful. Thanks so much for sharing.
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SEO Armenia
Diana Freedman it is informative article for me, but when i try to change my website that you have discussed “Link to your websites using anchor text” then i found nothing in my profile, i mean i try to change it, but i can’t do it. Please help me change it with anchor text, from where i can place anchor text in my profile’s website?.