7 Ways to Increase Your LinkedIn Profile Hits

Like all social media platforms, LinkedIn is a revolving target. But here are some strategies to help increase your search appearances and profile views, based on information provided by LinkedIn. First, it helps to understand how searching on LinkedIn works. If you check out the Advanced Search tools, you’ll see all the different ways users can search through LinkedIn (paid subscribers have even more ways to use LinkedIn). With so many ways to search—both vague, general searches as well as detailed searches—your profile is bound to come up. In fact, the more complete and detailed your profile is, the more likely it is to come up in a search. And, of course, that’s part of point of having a complete and detailed profile!

1. Complete Your Profile. LinkedIn requirements change over time, so you’ll have to periodically check your profile’s level of completeness. The bottom line is that the more complete your profile is, the more likely you are to appear in searches and to have your profile viewed.

2. Build In Keywords. Of course, people can’t find you if your profile doesn’t meet their search terms. Make sure your Summary and other sections are packed with quality, targeted keywords that will increase your odds of showing up in relevant searches.

3. Check Your Name. Search your own name. You might find that there are numerous users with the same name. Help people distinguish between you and others by incorporating your middle initial or other information. For example, you might have your LinkedIn name is, “Isabella E. Doe, Esq.” This helps searchers distinguish you from others will similar names.

4. Revise Your Headline. Again, your headline should be keyword packed. There are two good schools of thought: leadership or value-add headline, and descriptive headline. For example, you might write, “Franklin E. Doe, Esq. | Family Law For Small Business Owners” (as an example of a keyword rich headline), or “Franklin E. Doe, Esq. | Protecting What’s Most Important To You” (as an example of a philosophical or leadership style, or a value-add, headline). Or you could combine the two (subject to LinkedIn’s current character restrictions): “Franklin E. Doe, Esq. | Protecting What’s Most Important To You | Family Law For Small Business Owners.”

5. Be Active Inside LinkedIn. Yes, you should send invitations to connect to people you know. Also join groups, ask and answer questions, introduce yourself to people, link in your (professional!) Twitter or blog accounts, and form more connections. The more valuable content you contribute to the LinkedIn community, the more you will show up in search results and the more likely you will build productive relationships.

6. Become An Open Networker. LinkedIn has several groups devoted to open networkers (also called LIONs, short for “LinkedIn Open Networkers”). Join those groups and invite people to connect with you. You can even purchase subscriptions for lists of LIONs you can connect with, or put your name on those subscription lists so that open networkers can connect with you. This is an easy way to build a lot of “loose” contacts that may turn out to be valueless or valuable, but you won’t know until you try.

7. Be Active Outside LinkedIn. Get out there and meet people! Go to events, publish, and network so that you’re more and more someone that people will seek out. Add your LinkedIn profile link to your email signature line, to your networking cards, and other places. Make it easy for people to find you and connect with you.