LinkedIn SEO

I was having a look at how to use LinkedIn more and more for SEO purposes and connecting with the right people in your industry/ location.

LinkedIn is without a doubt the best business Social Networking website. Google Plus also does seem to be doing a decent job, but LinkedIn functionality and user numbers are far superior.

In this post I am looking at 2 areas of Linked:

1. Using LinkedIn to connect with your local industry peers.
2. Using LinkedIn to increase your SEO

We will do these tasks in order by simply using the advanced search functionality on LinkedIn. This is a simply yet effective approach to harness the power of LinkedIn.

If you are business hungry and want to get out there and network, this article will be useful.

Scenario: You have just started work in the social media/ digial media industry in Sydney, Australia.

You work for yourself and want to connect with industry peers and also increase the SEO on your company website.

1. Connecting with your Industry Peers

People Search

The people search on LinkedIn allows your to search by:

– Keyword (eg social media)
– Location (eg Sydney)
– Industry (eg Marketing and Advertising)
– Groups (you can search people who are members of a particular group that you are also a member of).

Finding the correct industry peers through LinkedIn can definitely help get your business started. Send introductions to members you think will be open to contact.

If you notice members have their own personal or company blog, make a list of them and read/ comment on a regular basis. If you do this consistently for a couple months other readers will become familiar with your name. Don’t be ashamed to do a little self promotion but don’t go overboard.

Group Search

LinkedIn has advanced groups functionality. Search for groups that align with your business/ industry and join then.

Initially comment on other discussions and then after awhile consider creating your own. Don’t go overboard but it can’t hurt dropping your website link here and there with an explanation how it relates to the topic of conversation.

If you provide a great value to the discussion people are more likely to view your profile and also visit your web links.

If you are looking to increase the SEO of your website consider joining guest blogging groups, or Industry Association groups and see if they may allow you to guest blog on their websites as an ‘outsider/ expert opinion’.

LinkedIn Answers

LinkedIn answers is a great way to showcase your professional opinion and insights in a public forum. Often you will find leaders of an organisation reach out to LinkedIn with a particular niche industry question.

Show the community your expertise and comment on a few answers per week. I used to do 1 per day (if i found something suitable to comment on). Over time you will notice a lot more people viewing your LinkedIn profile. Again if you have a website or blog post on the topic being discussed it would be appropriate to post your Link inside your response.
2. LinkedIn SEO

One of the main benefits in my opinion of LinkedIn is being able to find a high quality and quantity of industry peers in your space. Say there are 100 very active Social Media ‘faces’ in Sydney on LinkedIn, and half of these people have blogs – collectively their network and reach is huge and probably has worldwide exposure.

If you can find the best contacts in your space, and say of these 100 about 50 have blogs – it is worth finding the time to read and get involved on each of them. Ask if they will accept a guest post from you and if you do one a week in a years time you will have a high number of relevant incoming links.

Sometimes you won’t be able to do a blog post, so why not offer a free piece of advice/ information / expertise. Sometimes if you go out your way to help someone they will feel obliged to offer you something back in return. I often go out my way to help people in the social media space with no monetary gain. Build up a list of people who owe you a ‘favour’ and maybe in the future you can call on their for help. Or just be straight out tell them you are working on SEO and if they can give you a link.

Once you believe you have built up your name amongst your peers, consider reach out to Industry Associations or Not for Profits. Ask them if you could provide them a free piece of material and information to their audience again in the form of a blog posts or article.

Conclusion

We are always looking for new and innovative ways to use LinkedIn. Some people may think ‘I am too busy’ / ‘This is not worth my time’. Well in my opinion all social media marketing activities you undertake are worth it – and the end of the day it all adds up. Going the extra mile is what separates you from the rest.

You may also like to read our previous article about Social Media SEO.

Take social media to the next level and get more social with your LinkedIn network – they certainly are ‘open for business’.