The best advice you get for your LinkedIn profile is to OPTIMIZE it properly.
Why?
Because a well-optimized LinkedIn profile is your ticket to boosting your visibility, ultimately landing more business or job opportunities and getting the right kind of attention.
How can you optimize your LinkedIn profile?
By including the keywords!
Now, what are these keywords?
And how do you know what keywords to include in your LinkedIn profile?
And above all, how do you find those keywords for your LinkedIn Profile?
Don’t worry!
I will show you how to find and include the right keywords for your LinkedIn profile right now!
Let’s dive right in!
What are LinkedIn keywords?
LinkedIn keywords are the words and phrases that best describe your skills and experience.
They are the terms potential employers use while searching for candidates on LinkedIn.
By including these keywords in your profile, you can ensure that you come up in search results and get noticed by the right people.
Like other social media sites, LinkedIn uses algorithms to determine which profiles appear in search results. When you include keywords in your profile, you’re more likely to appear in those search results.
Think about the words and phrases someone might use to search for someone with your skills and experience.
Use those same words and phrases in your profile so you can be easily found by potential employers, clients, or customers.
For example, if you’re a web developer, some relevant keywords might be “HTML,” “CSS,” “JavaScript,” or “PHP.”
Why is it important to optimize your LinkedIn profile with keywords?
Your LinkedIn profile is one of the first places recruiters will go to learn more about you.
LinkedIn’s algorithm is designed to display the most relevant profiles in response to a user’s keyword- or keyword-match query.
That’s why you must include keywords to optimize your profile. It will boost your profile views and make it easily searchable. The more eyeballs your profile gets, the more job opportunities you get.
And these LinkedIn keywords will make your profile appear and rank in search results when clients or recruiters are looking for candidates with your skills and work experience.
They can also help you connect with other professionals and build a strong network.
Ways to find the best keywords for your LinkedIn profile
You can find the best keywords for your LinkedIn profile without any software by following these tips:
Understand the difference between your professional skills and the services you offer
While job hunting, many people get caught up in finding the right keywords to describe their skills and services.
However, it’s important to understand the difference between your professional skills and the services you offer.
Your profession is the occupation or career that you have chosen. It is what you are trained to do and what you are good at. Your skills and services are the specific abilities that you have that can be of benefit to others.
For example: if you are a freelance copywriter, your professional skill is “copywriter.”
It means you can offer different relevant services using your primary skill.
These include: Writing various content types, such as blog writing, press releases, email marketing campaigns, corporate brochures, and website copywriting, and interpreting your clients’ business goals and objectives.
Think about the Primary skills(Primary Keywords) you want to highlight.
You should think about the primary skills and keywords you want to highlight.
Here are some tips:
1. Start with a broad keyword that describes your industry or field. For example, if you’re in marketing, you might use “marketing” or “digital marketing” as your primary keyword.
2. Then, add specific keywords that describe your skills and experience. For example, specialize in social media marketing. You might add “social media” or “Facebook advertising” to your list of keywords.
3. Include a mix of both hard and soft skills. Hard skills are specific technical skills that can be easily quantified, such as experience with a particular software program. Soft skills are more general interpersonal skills, such as communication, problem-solving ability, fast turnaround abilities, organizational skills, etc.
4. Make sure your keywords are relevant to your current career role and target audience.
Let’s say I want to hire a video editor, and I’ll type in “video editor” or video editing.
In case I want to hire a “freelance video editor.”
or I can also use similar words to freelance, including “online” or “Remote,” etc.
Make a list of all the relevant skills (secondary keywords)
Secondary keywords are the skills and experiences relevant to the position you’re hoping to land.
For example, suppose you’re a web developer. In that case, your primary keyword may be “web development,” but your secondary keywords could be things like “HTML,” “CSS,” “JavaScript,” etc.
The best ways to determine which secondary keywords to use are:
- Make a list of all the skills you have that are relevant to your industry.
- Look at job postings for positions you’re interested in and see which skills and experiences are required or preferred.
- Try to use a mix of general and specific keywords in order to attract recruiters or potential clients who may be searching for candidates with your particular skill set.
For example, if you have experience with customer service, you could also use terms like “customer support” or “client relations.”
You could also think of different words to use for your industry.
For example:
As a content writer, I must consider including relevant keywords like SEO optimization, keyword research, and the specific niche of my writing.
For example:
If I’m a logo designer, keywords like branding, brand strategy, and brand kit will be my relevant keywords.
Use LinkedIn search features.
Not sure which keywords to use? Try searching on LinkedIn using some of the terms you want to be known for. See which profiles come up in the results and take note of the keywords they use in their headlines and summaries.
LinkedIn has many powerful search features that you can leverage to find the most relevant keywords for your profile.
Here is how!
Take a look at other LinkedIn profiles in your industry or field.
What keywords do they use?
Enter a keyword in the Linkedin search bar
Select people and hit enter.
You’ll get a list of profiles matching the primary or secondary keywords you entered.
You can filter search results by selecting a location, connections, and current company.
DON’T MISS the section of “People Also Searched For”:
When you scroll down, you’ll see a sub-heading “people also search for.” These are the golden nuggets, and you must note down these keywords.
Search by Company names
LinkedIn also gives you the option to explore companies.
- Sign in to LinkedIn
- Enter a keyword in the search bar.
- Select COMPANIES.
- The results will show you a list of companies that match your keyword.
Search by LinkedIn groups
You can repeat the same procedure by exploring LinkedIn groups and finding the best keywords to optimize your LinkedIn profile.
You need to:
- Enter a keyword in the Linkedin search bar
- Select GROUPS, and hit enter.
- The results will show you a list of groups that match the keyword you entered.
Search by Job postings
The LinkedIn job detail page will have a section called Skills Required. The required skills will be the keywords you should use in your profile. You should note down these keywords to include in your profile.
- Enter a keyword in the Linkedin search bar
- Select JOBS, and hit enter.
- The results will show you a list of jobs that match the keyword you entered.
Explore providing services section:
In order to explore these keywords:
- Enter a keyword in the Linkedin search bar
- Select SERVICES, and hit enter.
- The results will show you a list of services that match the keyword you entered.
In this section, you need to select the keywords that LinkedIn suggests when you enter a keyword.
You can note these keywords in your other LinkedIn profile sections.
You can include these keywords in your service section.
Explore the skill section of your LinkedIn profile:
To explore the skills section of your LinkedIn profile, you need to click on the edit or + icon.
When LinkedIn opens the skill section, you will see a list of skills related to your profile.
You can also enter your keywords to get auto-suggested keywords that recruiters use for hiring. You can use these keywords to improve your other LinkedIn profile sections.
Where should you include keywords in your LinkedIn profile?
Some of the best places to use keywords in your LinkedIn profile are:
Linkedin Headline:
A well-optimized LinkedIn headline must include the right keywords. Recruiters will also use these keywords, and you want to ensure they can easily find your profile.
For example, Content writers | Blogger| Ghostwriters
LinkedIn profile summary or about section:
Your LinkedIn profile summary should include all relevant keywords to your career and expertise. You should include the most important and relevant keywords in your LinkedIn summary. You can also consider creating a bullet list with subheadings to list your keywords.
Make a category of services you offer like this:
I offer the services like:
- Blog post writing
- Ghostwriting
- eBook writing
- Sales page copywriting
- Facebook ad content writing
Use your past job titles and company names as keywords.
This is really important because it makes you look more credible. If you have worked at a big company, chances are some people will be looking for someone with the same experience as you.
For example: if you’ve worked as a graphic designer for a company (XYZ). Your previous job title would be a graphic designer at XYZ company.
If you’ve worked as a proofreader, your previous job title would be a proofreader at XYZ company.
Don’t use the job title alone, though. Use it along with the company name or your responsibilities in that job. It is still important to keep it concise and relevant, don’t just spam a bunch of keywords.
Make a section of the job roles/type of projects you’re interested in:
You can include this section if you don’t have any work experience.
Positions/roles I’m Interested in:
- Content strategist
- Content manager
- Proofreader
- SEO expert
To sum up:
Including relevant keywords throughout your profile appropriately attracts the right opportunities and ensures that the right people are finding you. It also helps potential employers clearly understand your skills and experience.
Remember, you can always change and update your LinkedIn profile depending on your current role and goals. These tips will definitely help you use the right keywords on your LinkedIn profile.
