When it comes to personal brand marketing, LinkedIn is a very important site. It is certainly different to other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter that are based on people’s personal lives and social calendars. LinkedIn, in contrast, is all about your business life and is seen as an excellent network tool whether you’re looking for a new job or simply new business. It’s vital to have a compelling professional profile, and this article aims to help with that process.

1. Strong profile photos make the best first impression

The rules that apply to any social network site apply on LinkedIn as well. Therefore, the profiles that have no profile images create the worst impression. However, it’s also important that you select a profile image that is right for business purposes. So, the image you use on your personal Facebook page may not be the right choice here. Some women are also reporting that some men use LinkedIn as a dating site, so that’s another reason to use professional and conservative images that won’t attract unwanted attention.

2. Your headline and profile summary should be accurate and engaging

After your profile image, the next most important things on your profile are your headline and profile summary. Your headline is how you describe yourself in one line, so for most people, this will be your current job title. If you’re self-employed, then it could be your areas of expertise for example.

The profile summary is similar to what you would write at the top of your CV or resume. Of course, the key things here are to express what you have to offer, summarise your experience and your key skills. It’s known that people don’t always read everything on a page, so it’s vital to grab their attention early. This is what you will achieve with an accurate headline and engaging profile summary.

3. Detail is important when it comes to career experience

It’s important to remember that LinkedIn operates in a similar way to your resume or CV. Of course, it’s clear that you may want to be selective about what you include. However, you will want to add the detail to each piece of career experience that is included. Despite this, many profiles only include the job title, company but no added detail.

If your experience is within a big brand, then people viewing your profile may have some idea of what you do. However, if that’s not the case, then it may well be unclear what you are responsible for. Remember that it’s now possible to apply for jobs directly using your LinkedIn profile so you will want to ensure it’s as strong as your resume or CV.

While most people will still see a resume or CV as the key job searching document, a strong LinkedIn profile has become vitally important. It’s crucial to take a lot of care with your profile photos, headline, profile summary and to add detail to your experience. Hopefully, the content outlined here will help you create a professional profile which will aid you with career opportunities and will also make the most of online networking.