Do you want to improve your online reputation? Have you considered using the world’s biggest B2B social network to leverage personal branding opportunities?

Start by taking my top five tips for LinkedIn.  Don’t forget to connect with me there too!

Home to almost 500 million users, LinkedIn is the go-to professional social media network.

As a result, the network has long been an effective tool for both recruitment and B2B marketing. But at the same time, it can also become a core part of managing your online reputation.

Here are five steps to take on LinkedIn that will reliably boost your credibility in your industry

1) Build an Engaging Profile

Everything on LinkedIn starts with your profile. Think of it as an online resume, with added benefits.

Here, you can list your previous work experience and professional memberships, along with skills that might be relevant to your career.

When anyone searches for your name on Google or other search engines, your LinkedIn profile will be one of the first items to appear. As a result, getting it right is a crucial part of managing (and improving) your online reputation.

Here are some steps to get you started on LinkedIn

• Upload a professional image of yourself, ideally a headshot. Do not crop an image from your favourite wedding party!
• Follow LinkedIn’s guidelines on completing your profile, which should include your current position along with at least two past positions, as well as at least three relevant skills to your industry.
• Optimise your profile for searches on the network by incorporating keywords into your summary and headline that others in your industry might search for.
• Add visual media to your profile, such as examples of past work, infographics that showcase your success, or videos that highlight your career.
• Showcase past awards, volunteer experience, association membership, and any other cursory information that fits into your personal brand.
• Pay special attention to your professional headline, which will appear next to anything you post on the network. That becomes especially important for the next four steps.

LinkedIn has provided a comprehensive overview on how to optimise your profile using these and other tips. Your profile links to each of the points below, which is what makes this the most crucial variable for your online reputation.

2) Connect With Industry Professionals

Next, it’s time to build your network. Connect with current and past colleagues, who can also enhance your profile through written recommendations related to your experience and explicit endorsement of your skills. But don’t be afraid to branch out beyond your existing professional connections, either.

Professionals across industries have come to recognise LinkedIn as a great networking tool. If they view your profile, and see its relevance to their own career, they tend to be happy to connect and begin to chat.

It’s an easy way to build your online visibility.

3) Participate in Relevant Groups

Another important feature of LinkedIn, particularly when it comes to building your online reputation, are its groups. In all, more than 2 million groups exist on the network in almost every conceivable industry or topic of professional interest.

In these groups, professionals discuss industry news, share tips and best practices, and connect about professional development opportunities.

For you, these same groups are an ideal opportunity to enhance your visibility within your industry. Find the groups most relevant to your career, join them, and get active.

You can even go one step further and connect with the managers of the more active groups to get involved. By becoming a moderator or administrator, you will begin to more easily make contacts with others and build your online reputation in that regard.

4) Curate Thought Leadership Content

Of course, you should not forget about one of LinkedIn’s core features: the ability to make simple status updates. Particularly if you have already expanded your connections to include not just colleagues but other industry professionals, posting relevant updates can position you as more credible in the eyes of your peers.

If you work in digital marketing, you might come across an article on effective SEO tactics that discusses mobile success.

Simply share that link, while adding your own original thoughts. If your network includes other digital marketing managers, they will be happy to engage with your update.

5) Take Advantage of the Pulse Platform

Finally, LinkedIn differs from other social networks in that it allows you to easily post long-form content on the platform, which automatically gets promoted to other professionals in your industry.

Publishing articles on LinkedIn is a simple process.

Just be sure that you start with an engaging headline, and provide content that is both relevant and original. Break up long paragraphs, add bullet points, and include visuals to keep your audience’s attention.

Then, include keywords relevant to your industry to make sure that your article gets in front of relevant professionals.

In addition to being added automatically to your profile (thereby enhancing it further), articles also get fed automatically into the news feeds of users whose keywords and industry matches yours.

As a result, you can easily enhance your online reputation and visibility within the confines of LinkedIn.

Building an online reputation is a complex process, but LinkedIn is looking to streamline it.

It starts with an effective and comprehensive profile, and includes various ways of sharing content that makes your audience regard you in a positive and professional light.

To learn more about LinkedIn, and how you can use it to build your personal brand why not contact us for a tailored workshop?