Building your online brand for job seekers: Part Two

Increasing your brand’s online visibility    

            To understand why this is important, here’s a basic rundown of how search engines work. Search engines use algorithms to rank webpages based on relevancy in a given search query. A number of variables are used to calculate these algorithms, including:
·         Keywords relevant to the search query – displayed prominently on the page and optimized in the site code.

·         Fresh content – websites with copy updated regularly will rank higher than sites with stale content.

·         Publisher’s online authority – some search engines establish individual authority based on the publisher’s content social interactions.

·         Social interactions – search engines look favorably on webpages the more content is shared, discussed or liked on social media sites

           

            Our goal is to improve the ranking of your online content, starting with your LinkedIn Profile.

Building an Optimized LinkedIn Profile

            LinkedIn is an incredibly valuable resource for job seekers. LinkedIn is free to join and offers levels of paid membership you can upgrade to after you create your profile. It’s also extremely easy to optimize this profile for success in search engine results, and here’s how:

Step #1: Adjust profile settings for visibility

            Make your profile public – search engines and potential employers will not be able to access your LinkedIn profile if it is set to private. LinkedIn is about expanding your network, not closing yourself off.

*Privacy settings are managed from the drop down menu from your name in the top right hand corner of the home page.

            Claim your vanity URL – this will establish a Domain Name for your profile. The default LinkedIn URLs typically look something like this:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/io23jr9823u98

            Claiming a personalized URL will help your LinkedIn profile’s ranking in outside search engine results. Personalized URLs also look cleaner, for example:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/flavinsean

*Select Edit Profile under the Profile tab on the main menu. Your URL will be right under your profile picture, click Edit. Instructions to customize your URL will be in the right column of the next page.

Step #2: Optimize keywords in your profile

            This involves creating informative, interesting and enhanced copy for every section of your profile. Use the words you developed earlier when researching your career path of choice, and write keyword enriched copy for your headline, personal summary and description sections.

            Search engines use your headline as a critical factor in ranking your profile, and it appears directly under your name in LinkedIn search results. LinkedIn will automatically default your headline to your current job title unless you change it. Your headline should be description of you as a professional, not your current occupation. Write headlines for the career you want, not the job you have.

            For example, my current title is news announcer/reporter, which is actually representative of my desired career path. However, I changed my headline to “Multimedia Journalist.” Because “News Announcer/Report” is still prominent on my profile under the Experience section, this will increase the amount of relevant-industry terms on my profile.

            Here is a hypothetical example. You’re a graduating senior studying business administration and marketing. But, you haven’t started working in the field yet and your current title is “Barista at Starbucks.” You can change your headline to something more relevant without lying or deceiving potential employers.

            Assuming you are actually retaining the information taught in your business courses, a headline like “Business Analysis and Marketing Expert” is still true. The term professional is also not misleading; it is essential for college students to look at themselves as professionals in their field from the moment they choose their major. This attitude establishes a personal identity, and displays the confidence employers are looking for.

 Step #3: Add connections

            Search engine ranking algorithms value the authority (popularity/expertise) of the individual associated with the account. The more connected a LinkedIn profile is, the more authority the profile will have. LinkedIn recommends connections for you, add people you know or send invites to professionals in your industry.

            The site also recommends professional groups to join and companies to follow, this allows job seekers to build online visibility and engage with industry professionals.

Step #4: Share and link to other social media profiles

            Adding other social media profiles, websites and blogs will enhance your ability to share content. It also gives viewers of your profile easy access to learning more about you.

Enhance other social media sites

            Using multiple social media sites provides candidates with more channels to engage potential employers, share content and deliver a consistent online brand. The instinct for young job seekers is to overcompensate with too many social media profiles. It’s better to operate a few social media sites effectively, so I recommend limiting yourself to three social media sites.

            After LinkedIn, I think Google Plus is the most efficient. Google consistently returns market shares of close to 70 percent, according toan industry report earlier this year. Therefore, it only makes sense to optimize Google’s social media platform. You can build your Google Plus profile with the same content as LinkedIn and tweak sections as you become more comfortable with the platform.

Conclusion

            The driving force of technology mandates a two-step process for successful online communication. Successful communicators develop engaging and informative messages that resonate with audiences, and publish messages online in a manner that is easy to find. For young professionals searching for a dream career, creating a brand that resonates with employers and is optimized for online delivery is essential.