Since its launch in May 2003, LinkedIn has attracted 175 million members (around 3 million of those are Australian), with an increase of about 170,000 new users each day. With so many active users, as well as features such as people searching and the “people you may know” tool, it’s easy to see why it’s one of the most popular social media sites amongst professionals.
In a recent blog about LinkedIn social media commentator Jeff Bullas indicated that the ability to join groups on LinkedIn was popular among current members with 79.6% of them placing it in their top 3 favourite features.
You could say that LinkedIn groups present people with a fast and easy way to expand their professional network. Users are also reporting that the website is not only good for researching individuals and businesses, but is also extremely helpful in reconnecting with past business associates and forming new network relationships.
Because LinkedIn profiles are essentially reflections of your professional image, an incomplete profile can definitely have a negative impact. It is interesting to note that:
- The higher your profile’s percentage of “completeness” is, the more visible you are to other professionals using LinkedIn.
- The website itself states that adding a profile picture increases search relevancy by 7 fold, and providing descriptions of two past jobs increases visibility by 12 fold.
- In fact, users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities via LinkedIn.
- LinkedIn also notes that profile completion also includes a decent network size, and unless you have at least 50 network connections, your profile will remain incomplete.
The ability to join groups that are relevant to your industry to learn and share information is also an essential tool for building a professional profile.
The ability to link a blog is also a handy feature as this provides you with an easy way to update content simultaneously on your blog and your LinkedIn profile.
For example, this recent blog about LinkedIn appears on my website: www.infodec.com.au and my LinkedIn profile http://au.linkedin.com/pub/joanne-ryan/9/784/21.
Infodec Communications, Phone: 9531 5595 or 0421 059 866