A
large part of mastering social selling and connecting with both sales prospects
and job applicants/recruiters depends on your advanced use of LinkedIn. In
order to do this you must master how LinkedIn works on the backend and how you
can take full advantage of the search algorithm – after all, search LinkedIn
is not much different than searching Google, SEO matters! It matters so much
that it bleeds outside of LinkedIn and into Google. BrandYourselfreleased findings that show LinkedIn is the social network most often appearingat the top of Google search results.
In
no particular order, let’s look at some of the criteria that LinkedIn uses when
determining its search results.
Your Headline
LinkedIn’s algorithm crawls your headline and looks whether or not the keyword (from the search) appears in the headline.
LinkedIn’s algorithm crawls your headline and looks whether or not the keyword (from the search) appears in the headline.
Your Profile Completeness
LinkedIn favours profiles that are 100% complete. This means that if you want to be taken
seriously by LinkedIn’s search algorithm you must keep your profile complete
and updated when LinkedIn adds new fields and options.
Your Name
The
algorithm also looks at your name to looks for a keyword match. This basically means
that if you were a sales manager named John Doe, and listed your name as John
Doe Sales you would rank higher in a search containing “sales”. This however is
not recommended as you should only use your real name and increase the
likelihood of being flagged.
Your Job History
While
computing search results, LinkedIn also looks at your current and past job
description to see if or how many times the keyword appears which also
contributes to your search-ability for that specific keyword.
Your Connections
This
area illustrates Jill Rowley’s revamp of ABC – Always Be Connecting. The search
results that are returned to each and every person is unique to them in that it
will display people in your network giving weight to how distant they are to
you. LinkedIn refers to this as “relevance” in their search algorithm. This
makes sense since the lower the degree of separation is the more likely you
will be to connect and be able to get introduced through a contact.
Key Takeaways & Extra Nuggets For A LinkedIn Action Plan:
- A LinkedIn profile has an ever growing number of different sections, but LinkedIn’s Search algorithm weights some of these heavier than others. Keywords in your Name, Headline, Company Name, Job Title and Skills rank higher in the search results.
- LinkedIn allows you to choose up to 50 Skills. If you’ve selected anything less than 50, you’re putting yourself at a distinct disadvantage.
- LinkedIn uses relevance in its search algorithm so if you want to show up on people’s radars, always be connecting and growing your network.