Best Kept Secret to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Best Kept Secret to Optimize Your Profile Executive recruiters and hiring decision makers at your target companies search online using relevant keywords to locate good-fit candidates. Your profile offers several choice locations to insert the right keywords to help elevate your search rankings â€" or Search Engine Optimization (SEO) â€" and the likelihood you’ll be found and considered by them. The professional headline and summary section are two prime examples. But theres another powerful, and often overlooked, above-the-fold spot to add in a keyword phrase. Your profile URL. Take a look at your existing profile URL. To find it, go to Edit Profile under Profile in the drop-down menu across the top of your profile. Just below your name, headline and profile photo (if youve posted one), youll see your URL. Is it a mishmash of letters and numbers like this? www..com/in/john-smith/5/224a/123/ If you have a common name, such as John Smith, that is the kind of default URL will assign to you, to distinguish you from all the other John Smiths. With 200+ million users on , unless you have an UNcommon name, youre NOT likely to capture the following URL: www..com/in/yourname But see if such a URL is available. If not, another option is changing your URL to include yourname  with an appropriate short keyword phrase, such as the following: www..com/in/johnsmithbiotechexecutive This  not only distinguishes you from others with your name, but also  helps boost your keyword recognition in online searches (Google, Bing and other search engines). Heres how to personalize and optimize your URL: Still in Edit Profile mode, click on the blue Edit link next to your existing URL. Scroll down a bit and look for a graphic box in the right-hand sidebar that says Your public profile URL. Under Your current URL, click on Customize your public profile URL to make the change. Youre allowed up to 30 characters for the URL. Once youve changed the URL, dont forget to go back and change it wherever youve used the old one, such as: Your email signature Your digital resume and/or other digital career documents Your Google+ profile and other online profiles Your social networking sites. Your website and/or  web pages. Your badge, created for your website and/or web pages. Disclaimer: At this writing, after searching s Help Center, I found nothing to suggest wont allow customizing your profile URL in this way. But theres no guarantee this wont change. Related posts: 29 Biggest Mistakes How To Write a Invitation to Connect Best Tips: Find Groups to Join photo by Steven Depolo 00 0