Blog and backup to improve LinkedIn presence, expert says

Start-ups can improve their LinkedIn presence this year by integrating blog content, enhancing their company profile, using company updates and preserving their contacts, an expert says.

Jennifer Bishop is the director of Content and Copy Australia, an inbound marketing business focused on producing quality content and SEO to generate maximum return-on-investment.

Bishop says while many business owners already use LinkedIn as a way of networking, “there are often dual feelings of enthusiasm and uncertainty”.

“This lack of knowledge of how LinkedIn can impact your brand reputation [and] findability on Google… has left many aspects of this incredible business tool untapped,” Bishop says.

With regard to improving your LinkedIn presence in 2012, Bishop’s first tip is to review and update LinkedIn group membership and activity settings.

“Cut out those that have lots of spam and that you do not get value from,” Bishop says.

Bishop advises business owners to search “LinkedIn group statistics” and look for groups that contain their target market, pinpointing any groups that grew in 2011.

“Also look for groups with good spam moderation. As LinkedIn becomes more crowded, only the groups with good spam moderation will continue to thrive and grow,” she says.

“I suggest you opt for a weekly group update from most groups, and perhaps choose two or three to get daily updates from. This puts you in control of the number of emails received.”

Bishop’s next tip is to “get blogging” and integrate your blog content into your LinkedIn profile.

“Try and rethink your marketing budget for 2012. Do some tests on leads acquired from blogging versus leads acquired by advertising. Then measure the ROI,” she says.

“You can integrate WordPress.com directly into your LinkedIn professional and company profiles.”

“Because of LinkedIn’s massive SEO power, and its Twitter integration via Signal, your blog articles are more likely to be found here than just via your own company brand.”

Bishop strongly urges business owners to take advantage of their LinkedIn company profile, warning those who don’t risk limiting their SEO.

“Ensure your company page shows job vacancies, key corporate messages, video [and] landing page links… All these lovely back-links add massive SEO traction,” Bishop says.

Bishop also advises businesses to start using LinkedIn company updates, describing them as “SEO gems”.

“Your LinkedIn company profile updates are able to be seen by your entire LinkedIn network,” she says.

“They are also searchable via Google so go get your company updates working for brand awareness and engagement.”

Bishop’s final tip is to use LinkedIn’s export contacts function to preserve your LinkedIn contacts, particularly if you are a recruiter, involved in HR or management consulting.

“It’s a good idea to back up your LinkedIn contacts regularly to a CSV file or Excel or your own internal CRM system,” she says.

“If you have a large number of contacts, I suggest giving each contact an ID number so similar names do not cause confusion.”

“This means if LinkedIn goes down for maintenance or… has technical issues, you still have a backup of your contacts”.