Tag: SEO

How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Sales Success

I recently spoke at the Construction Writers Association Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, and fellow panelist Kimberly Kayler of Constructive Communications told us many of her construction-related clients find LinkedIn to be one of their most powerful social media tools. Prospective clients will often view Linked-In profiles to find out more about key associates within a firm. In addition to making sure that all employee profiles are 100 percent complete, businesses can take the next step to optimize those results for search engines.

1) Employees should link to your website or websites.

LinkedIn is an authoritative site and chances are good that your LinkedIn Profile will be one of the first listings you see in search of your name. The more employees linking to your company website, the better it is for your company’s search engine rankings. LinkedIn provides an opportunity to link to three sites. Use them all. Instead of listing only the web addresses, you can use keywords to name the site. Instead of “Blog” , I might want to name this link Content for Biz Blog.

2. Optimize your profile for keywords.

Your headline is the information that search engines will pull into the search results, so be sure to include important keywords that potential clients might type in a search. If your business is local include important geographic keywords. Be sure your profile is visible.

3. Create a vanity URL.

One way to ensure your LinkedIn profile will show up in a search is to customize the default LinkedIn URL with your name. My vanity URL on LinkedIn is
http://www.linkedin.com/in/joannecostin.

The summary is also an important area that can be keyword-rich while describing the unique benefits and skills you offer. Use the space wisely to introduce yourself and your accomplishments, keeping in mind the needs of a prospective client. Don’t be afraid to stand out from the crowd. If you aren’t comfortable writing about yourself, solicit some help from colleagues or professional writers.

3. Add content

Google likes content shared on LinkedIn. Share your content with your contacts through regular updates. You can feed both twitter and blog posts directly to your LinkedIn account.

4. Join Groups and Share Your Knowledge on LinkedIn Answers

Groups are a great way to reach out beyond your professional network and impress others with your expertise. Post your content or answer questions related to your profession using LinkedIn Answers

Monitor weekly searches to see who is viewing your profile to measure the impact of your optimization efforts. Identify the most effective headlines and profiles. Linked in Profile Stats Pro is an upgrade that lets you see the complete list of who has filled your profile. It’s included with a LinkedIn Pro membership of $19.95 per month.

Like any social media site or website, content needs to be reviewed on an ongoing basis. It is amazing how quickly things can get out of date.Writing this post forced me to re-evaluate several areas of my LinkedIn Profile. I will let you know well the optimization plan worked.

How to Get Top Management Support for Content Marketing Needs


The Website Grade for www.contentforbiz.com!
As a B2B communications professional, one thing you need to understand about top management is that they are very competitive. While they may not understand B2B content marketing or SEO, they know they want to be No. 1 in searches on Google. One way to persuade top management that they need to invest in content is to compare your website vs. your competition. A free tool from HubSpot call the Website Grader makes the job easy.

HubSpot’s Website Grader measures effectiveness based on factors such as traffic, SEO, blogging and social popularity

The Website Grader can be used to evaluate your site, as well as your competition, to see how you rank on important criteria such as website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. It takes just a few minutes and all you need to do is type in your domain name and that of your competition.

I recently used this tool to help explain  to a client why they were no longer listed on page one of Google and what they needed to do about it. The client was just about ready to spend money to hire an SEO expert, perhaps using up her limited budget for content.

While my client’s overall website score was as good or better than  the competition (86 out of a possible 100), the competitive analysis was revealing. One competitor had more than 60 inbound links, while my client’s site had 30. Because inbound links are Google’s way of recognizing a site’s authority; this is probably a big reason why the search engine rankings have fallen.

Another area that was lacking was blogging. I had already planted the seed that the current blog was underutilized, and was an area of opportunity. I proposed developing a content strategy based on the needs of the company’s target market; increasing the frequency of blog posts; and adding WordPress Plug-ins to optimize content and help users share it via social media channels.  I am confident seeing a blog score of 41 next to the competition’s 86 will help the client to recognize the importance of blogging better and more frequently than the competition.

Top management responds to quantitative data that fuels their competitive spirit

In my experience, top management and business owners prefer quantitative analysis to theory. If you can demonstrate how your website  performs relative to the competition and have a strategy to outperform the competition, I think they will be more receptive to your request for content support. Thanks to HubSpot for this great tool.

What other tools have you found to be effective in evaluating website performance? We’d love to hear about them.