With over 100 million users and a recent IPO, LinkedIn continues to be a popular place for business professionals and owners to increase their networks and find new sources of revenue. With a huge pool of users, you want your profile to be returned in the LinkedIn search results when someone is looking for your services, products, or skill set.
The Summary section of your LinkedIn profile (located underneath the light blue box containing your essential information) is an often overlooked opportunity to include important content. The ability for people to find your profile depends on LinkedIn’s search engine that links your name to certain keywords. Just as it is important to put keywords on your website for search engine optimization, it is important to include keywords in your summary.
Many people’s summaries are only a few sentences or 1 or 2 paragraphs. Since the Summary section has a 2,000 character limit, you have an opportunity include several decent-sized paragraphs about why it would be a good idea to do business with or hire you. Including words and phrases that people are likely to use in a search for someone like you is a smart strategy. In short, the more content and pertinent words and phrases you include in your Summary, the more searchable you become.
When you write or revise your Summary, try to think like someone who would be looking for you. What words or phrases would they likely use? Also, if you have a business that is dependant on a certain geographic area, it wouldn’t hurt to include that city or region in your summary. Take advantage of the space that LinkedIn gives you and get found!