As the largest networking platform in the world, LinkedIn is a digital space you should be present and active. To show up authentically and highlight the best of who you are and what you can bring to any position or opportunity, it’s important to evaluate your presence regularly and keep your account active and up to date. Because there are many areas to review and it can be time-consuming, this guide to auditing your LinkedIn account and activity will be broken up into three posts starting here with your Name, Headline, Photos, Location, About Section, and Featured Content. The second post will cover your experience, education and skills, followed by the final portion of the audit to include your connections, activity and engagement.
In addition to tips and action items, there will also be checklists to hold you accountable from one week to the next. Get ready to take your LinkedIn presence to the next level.
Name
This should be the easiest place to start, but there are a few areas to keep in mind when you think about the way you want to be addressed and how it varies. On LinkedIn your name should be listed the way you would want a stranger to speak to you. For thought leaders who are actively presenting on panels and publishing peer-reviewed articles or books, their formal name and credentials should be used. If that’s not the case and your family and friends refer to you in a different name than your colleagues, list the name that would be used by your colleagues.
Ex. If Jacqueline is addressed as Jackie by everyone except her mom and a few family members, Jackie would be the best name to use, but if she’s known professionally as Dr. Jackie and published as Dr. Jacqueline, her LinkedIn should show Dr. Jacqueline. When she feels comfortable she can let a new connection know that it’s acceptable or preferred to begin addressing her as Jackie. This establishes consistency and reduces confusion. Just as there is more than one Jasmine Tate, there’s likely someone who shares your name as well. Although I began using my middle initial before discovering two other women named Jasmine Tate at my college, most people know that without the “C” it wasn’t created or approved by me.
Your name should be consistent across all your public social media channels. Adding your credentials is a matter of personal preference, but is not as important if it doesn’t connect with your career or area of expertise except in the case of a doctoral degree.
Headline
When you create a LinkedIn account, the platform automatically populates your current job title as the headline. We are so much more than our job titles. Your headline should tell viewers who you are and what you do professionally. For some that is layered, but your headline should be what would be most important to your current or future LinkedIn network. If you want to keep your job title in your headline, add to it.
Danita Johnson does a great job of this. Being a President and COO is a prestigious role that encompasses many responsibilities, but she adds context to it and provides a preview of her drive and expertise in sales, marketing and strategy.
Another approach to building your headline is to include your experience and expertise outside of your main position like Jennifer Williams, shown below, who is the Athletic Director at Alabama State University, but shares her added responsibilities as a higher education professional, sports enthusiast and influencer. This is another example using the headline to entice people to view more of your profile.
Although she lists several adjectives to describe her career, her headline is still concise enough for a viewer to see it without clicking to her profile, which is important. Based on her headline alone, a potential new connection could follow her immediately. If your headline is cut anywhere, it’s too long.
Location
Be strategic about the location listed on your profile. Where you live and/or work could be the best listing if
you're looking for job opportunities in a specific area
made a recent move and are hoping to make some new connections there
have been in a city for an extended period of time and want to diversify your network.
If you're not job searching or specifically looking for new connections in your area, set your location to the largest market closest to where you live and/or work instead of your specific city.
Ex. I list Orange County, CA vs. Irvine, CA.
This will broaden the potential for connections and opportunities, whether they are career-related or not. It’s also another connection point for someone interested in your profile or a potential opportunity.
About / Summary
Your about section is like your cover letter. It should provide a broad overview of your skills and experience, a peak of your personality and help viewers discover where they want to go next on your profile.
Ex. If you mention a passion for volunteerism or community service, they might go to volunteer experience to see the organizations you've volunteered with. If you mention exceeding clients' expectations, they might go straight to your recommendations and/or endorsements.
There are many debates about how long a summary should be, but the quality of the content is more important than how long it is. A few best practices to navigate length challenges include adding bulleted information, replacing redundant words and phrases and identifying the top three points you want to make and making them with clarity and conciseness. Don’t skip the personality piece. When you make a personal connection here it could lead to an added member to your network, follower of your content or a potential partnership because your experience and skills will back it up. We’ll cover more of that in the part two of the audit.
Profile Photo
If your headshot is older than five it's time to replace it. An outdated or missing photo symbolizes an inactive account/ user.
How you present yourself is up to you. Many professionals in the remote work era amid COVID-19 are swapping professional, polished headshots for more natural photos to reflect the new normal of their workday. No matter your preference your profile photo should check each of the following boxes.
__ Was taken from the shoulder(s) up and shows a clear view of your face. Users should see more of your face than your hair, body, background, hands, etc.
__ Is not a selfie
__ Does not include anyone but you. No one else’s shoulder or arm should be peaking into your photo. Whether you use your self-timer or a professional shot, you should be in the spotlight.
__ Was taken in the last five years. See explanation above.
__ Has a clean background that doesn't distract from your face
__ Does not crop any part of your head
__ Shows warmth through a smile. Approachability starts with a smile whether you’re in person or online. If you’re on LinkedIn you want to put your best face forward, and your best face is always the one with a smile. :)
Background Photo
Because your LinkedIn Profile is filled with words, the cover photo should be visual. It's an opportunity to boldly express who you are, what you do and how your experience and expertise can be valuable to someone visiting your profile for the first time. While it could showcase a more direct summary of who you are, it should do so in a simple yet creative way.
The worst background photo you can have is a blank one. Don’t waste this space. Use it to your advantage. I recently completed an audit for the Vice President of Programs and Education at TGR Foundation - A Tiger Woods Charity. Dr. Bihr is one of the faces of the organization, adding the simple collage shows her credibility as a thought leader and ability to be in the spotlight whether she’s on stage at a conferences, on air with Ryan Seacrest, participating on a panel or behind the camera for an interview. The only change to her photo after the initial update was to zoom into the profile photo to show more of her face. Be sure your skin and hair don’t blend in with the background.
Although a photo or graphic option is the best, showing a graphic that’s visually appealing through words is also acceptable. Deisha Barnett’s background photo is a great example of this. Whether you use a photo or graphic, keep your circular profile photo in mind for the bottom left corner on a desktop and centered for mobile access.
Featured Content
The featured section should be dedicated to you vs. your work samples and what you've done professionally. It could include Q&As, personal blogs, etc. Your work samples should be shown in the media section of the experience section, which I'll cover in the next part of this audit series.
Try to feature a variety of content here and showcase your experience over your career vs. all recent articles. It helps to share the journey from where you started to where you are now in your career. If you prefer all recent coverage or the recent coverage is the best, be sure that it's not repetitive content sharing the same information about you. If you were featured in three articles for an award you won, pick the best one. If there were several placements on the same award or achievement and you have more options spread them out.
Ex. Award -> About -> About -> Award
You don’t have to limit this section to traditional external or self-published content in the form of articles, you can also include other media and use your creativity to add a headline to the caption.
Ex. “Meet Jasmine C. Tate” with a post linked to Instagram or Five things you should know about “Southern Miss Alumna, Jasmine C. Tate.”
This concludes Part One of the LinkedIn Audit. Please share your results or questions below and join me next week to tackle your experience and education sections.
(Virtual) Hugs & Handshakes,
Jasmine C. Tate
