How an Optimized LinkedIn Profile Builds Credibility

Whether you’re a job seeker, sales professional, or recruiter seeking to use LinkedIn to build connections, optimizing your LinkedIn profile is the first step toward success. LinkedIn’s algorithm, like those of many other social networks, rewards users who completely fill out the information fields listed on a company page or individual profile. Optimizing LinkedIn gives your brand greater discoverability and can boost your marketing efforts. 

In addition, LinkedIn optimization helps with lead generation, recruitment, and publicity (especially earned media). Optimizing your LinkedIn will ensure any budget you put towards this channel will have the greatest impact. 

Ready to make your brand stand out on LinkedIn? Here are some ways to get started. 

What are the key elements of an optimized LinkedIn profile?

When you first set up a company page or individual profile on LinkedIn, you’re likely only inputting bare-bones information — a name, location, industry, etc. There’s much more detail you can add to make your profile really stand out from the crowd. 

The process of optimizing Linkedin — and the reasons for doing so — is similar for both individuals and companies. We’ll break down the key elements of each in the sections below. 

Optimizing your company page

If you haven’t created a profile page for your company yet, follow LinkedIn’s instructions to get started. From there, you can optimize your LinkedIn page with these steps. 

• Add a profile picture and cover image: The cover photo is the first thing users will see, so make sure it’s a good one. Use a clear, well-lit photo that represents your company’s brand. Make sure it’s sized properly, too. LinkedIn recommends 400 (w) x 400 (h) pixels for page logo images and 1128 (w) x 191 (h) pixels for page cover photos. 
• Write a detailed company “About Us” description: Your company description should tell potential customers or partners everything they need to know about your business. Keep it succinct (2,000 words or less). Be sure to include your company’s mission, vision, and values. It’s also a good idea to include keywords that will help other LinkedIn users find your page. 
• List your products or services: If you sell products or services, be sure to list them on your company page. This will make it easy for potential customers to find what they’re looking for.
• Post regular company updates: We’ll get into this step in more detail in a later section, but consistently and frequently updating your page with news, product launches, and announcements from your brand will help optimize your LinkedIn page. 
• Create a career page: LinkedIn is first and foremost a site for recruiting, so create a career page with information about job openings, company culture, and employee testimonials.
• Ask employees to add your page: Employees can be associated with a LinkedIn Page when they add or edit a position on their profile and select a specific Page name from the company dropdown list. Ask your team members to do so to begin expanding your network. 

These steps will help you start creating a complete company page. From there, LinkedIn optimization requires a cohesive content strategy. 

Optimizing individual LinkedIn profiles 

Recruiters, senior leaders, and others in the company should also take the time to optimize their individual pages. Encouraging your team to go through these LinkedIn profile optimization steps ensures that any marketing efforts you make will resonate with the greatest possible audience. An employee advocacy program, for instance, will be exponentially more effective if your team is posting from profiles that the LinkedIn algorithm rates highly. 

As you’ll see, the best practices for creating professional and credible personal LinkedIn profiles aren’t too different from optimizing LinkedIn company pages. 

• Add a professional profile picture and background: like brands, employees should have professional images on their profiles. LinkedIn’s ideal profile picture size is 400 x 400; banners should be sized 1584 x 396. 
• Include a strong headline: A headline should be a brief, attention-grabbing summary of someone’s professional expertise and experience.
• Write a compelling summary: The summary section should be completed with a brief, engaging, and memorable overview of someone’s skills, experience, and achievements.
• Ensure work history is complete and up-to-date: Your team members should have all their past jobs, including title, company, and dates of employment filled out on their profiles. Be sure to include a brief description of responsibilities and accomplishments for each role.
• Add relevant skills: LinkedIn allows you to list your skills and get endorsed by other professionals. This can help potential new hires understand what it takes to succeed at your company. 
• Join groups and create a strong network: Networking is what LinkedIn is all about! Encourage your team to join industry groups, follow thought leaders, and reach out to others to grow their connections.

Ultimately, filling out every part of the profile is key for optimizing LinkedIn. However, an optimized LinkedIn profile is not just about having all of the necessary elements; it’s also about making sure that they are well-written, up-to-date, and tailored to your audience.

How to use content to optimize LinkedIn

The best companies on LinkedIn post regularly, use hashtags, and highlight unique differentiators about their employer brand to stand out to customers and job seekers alike. 

First: posting consistently is critical. If you only post on LinkedIn once a month, you’re not going to get anywhere. We recommend posting from your company page at least once a week. People don’t make buying decisions based on one piece of content, so bumping yourself and your business to the top of their feed can sway their decision.

Hashtags are another easy way to power up your posts. Add relevant hashtags in your posts, company page, and status updates to make your content more discoverable to your target audience. Weaving a couple of hashtags — especially branded hashtags — can be an attractive and effective way to increase readability and promote your brand. 

Next, make sure the content you’re sharing is valuable to your audience. Are your followers potential sales leads? Job seekers? Industry enthusiasts? Curate your content to their interests. For instance, share an inside look at life at your company and highlight employee stories to encourage job seekers to apply. Or, share product updates and industry news to engage with potential leads. 

And, finally, engage with your audience as often as possible. At the very least, respond to comments and messages promptly to build relationships with your followers and potential customers. Consider hosting a Live Event to boost participation and speak with potential leads directly. 

How does LinkedIn optimization build credibility?

A complete, active LinkedIn profile or company page shows that you’re a real brand with real employees, not a spam account. By creating LinkedIn accounts that look professional and polished, your company and employees will have a positive first impression and build credibility with potential connections or customers.

Secondly, optimizing your pages can help you to stand out from competitors. When you have a well-optimized page, you are more likely to be found by those in your target audience who are searching for a company with your skills and experience. This can give you a significant advantage in the market. 

Likewise, when you share relevant and informative content from your company page and via employees, it demonstrates your brand’s expertise and can help to position it as a thought leader in your industry.

A great way to do that is to create a formal employee advocacy program. 

Build credibility with Clearview Social

Clearview Social enables brands to build credibility on LinkedIn by implementing a formal employee advocacy program. Employee advocacy on LinkedIn plays a significant role in driving hiring, marketing, and sales.

A good employee advocacy program will allow employees to amplify company messages and increase brand awareness. It will offer an “inside perspective” to consumers and serve as an expert recommender for that brand’s services or products. 

Clearview Social makes this possible by empowering you with a queue of articles about your business. Employees can receive prompts to share approved content, and you’ll gain access to the AI PeakTime™ allowing you to post at the most strategic times of the day. Moreover, you’ll be able to track analytics and insights, understanding the full impact of your content.

Read more: Employee Advocacy on Social Media: A Complete Guide to Getting it Right

To learn more about employee advocacy on LinkedIn and Clearview Social’s platform, sign up for a free demo today.