No matter what type of law you practice, a strong presence on LinkedIn is a must. LinkedIn, the social networking site for professionals (including lawyers like yourself), is an opportunity to build referral relationships, increase your online presence, and create a mini-resume for future clients to view prior to giving you a call. Overwhelmed by LinkedIn and its constant updates? Or not convinced anyone will actually look at your profile? Do not despair… Not only does a LinkedIn profile generally show up in the top of search results (Google trusts LinkedIn and therefore gives it higher rankings), but it can serve as the differentiator you need to set yourself apart from your ‘competition.’
Read on to learn these 6 simple steps for tuning up your LinkedIn profile…
Step 1. Marketing. At its most basic level, LinkedIn is about marketing: marketing your law firm or marketing yourself. Use key words that have relevance to your practice area and fill out your profile in such a way that you impress your potential clients with your expertise and skill, rather than overloading them with a long history of your amazingness. Remember, this is a resume not a novella.
Step 2. Layer. We’re talking about key words again! Your headline is a key factor in search results, so pick your keyword or words wisely. Don’t be afraid to use key word developer tools to help you create the ‘perfect’ headline. To start, if you practice in a highly targeted market (i.e. personal injury), the keyword in your headline should reflect this niche. Next, work through your profile to replace some of the vague descriptions of skills, experience, and educational background with appropriate keywords.
Step 3. De-Clutter. You may have worked at several different law firms and held a dozen exciting internships during college and law school, but if that experience doesn’t contribute to your key word placement and current practice, you can remove it. Weed out everything that doesn’t support your professional goals and/or image. Certainly keep previous jobs in your work history, but limit the information to job title, company, and a brief description of duties.
Step 4. Shine. Focusing on the right key words and eliminating the clutter in your profile is important, but you need to give potential clients an idea of who you are and why they should call you. Fill out the personal aspects of the profile and show your ‘flair,’ or what sets you apart. Share why you love your practice and how you can be of assistance to a future client. Keep keywords in place, leave out what doesn’t support your goals, and be yourself.
Step 5. Say ‘Cheese!’ Here it is, the often-dreaded profile photo. No matter what you may believe, people trust people they can ‘see.’ Your profile photo is your logo and a bad one, or none at all, can definitely cause you to lose potential business. A good profile photo flatters and presents a professional image. Leave the picture of you and your puppy to your personal Facebook page.
Step 6. Get Recommendations. Most of us can’t resist reading testimonials, even when we know those testimonials were probably solicited. What’s more, as we shared in this blog post, client testimonials can go a long way to win a perspective client over. Additionally, recommendations add a real-life dimension to your a LinkedIn profile and allow other people to brag about you, which goes over better than shameless self-promotion.
Don’t have time to update and search engine optimize your LinkedIn profile? Don’t worry — the attorneys slash social media marketing professionals at WebPresence, Esq. can help. We understand the law, the importance of targeted social networking for lawyers, and need to always be building your client base. Let us help you apply these principles to your practice today.
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