As you pursue your engagement strategy on LinkedIn, it can be extremely useful to keep an eye on some key metrics in order to help track your progress.
One of the most obvious measurements you can use to judge your performance is your LinkedIn profile views count. However, this can also become a bit of a trap distracting you from pursuing the most important activities on the site, i.e. posting high-quality content, reaching out to other professionals, and engaging with your key connections.
Nonetheless, it is undeniable that an increase in profile views will, in most cases, also lead to better engagement on the platform in general. After all, your profile is a showcase of you as a professional and is one of the key ways to sell yourself to the wider audience on LinkedIn.
However, simply creating high-quality content and crafting excellent posts may not be enough to drive increased traffic to your page. By using some of the techniques below, you can help to increase your LinkedIn profile views in an organic and effective way that will play into your wider engagement strategy as well.
1. Leverage LinkedIn’s Publishing platform
Often, when it comes to getting ahead of the competition on LinkedIn the best approach is to make use of more advanced and lesser-known features on the platform which they are, more than likely, not making use of themselves.
One of the best content sharing tools that LinkedIn provides is the publishing platform. This allows you to ensure that your content is seen beyond your existing network and is shared with other users that LinkedIn thinks will find it interesting or relevant. Don’t worry, you still retain all rights to it and can delete it at any time – so feel free to also publish it across other online platforms as well (though you may want to alter the wording for SEO purposes).
If you consistently publish high-quality and engaging content via the publishing platform, the chances are that other users will then do a lot of the leg-work for you by sharing this content across their own networks. This will often lead to an influx of new traffic to your profile as people want to find out more about the author of the content they are enjoying.
2. Check In On Other People’s Profiles
A big principle, when trying to build engagement on LinkedIn, is reciprocity. If you comment on someone else’s content they are more likely to comment on yours, if you take the time to congratulate them then the chances are they will do the same when you hit a big milestone and so on. So, when you are trying to get more people to view your profile perhaps the simplest approach is to click on theirs.
However to take this to the next level why not also use your visit to the prospect’s profile to try and learn more about them. Find out if you have any professional or personal interests in common. This information can then be used to initiate conversations that will lead to engagement that, more than likely, will include them going on to look at your profile in more detail too.
When deciding on which profiles to visit for this purpose, make sure to use LinkedIn’s advanced search facility in order to make sure you are targeting the most relevant professionals on the platform.
3. Increase Your Engagement With Others
We talk a lot about this one but it bears repeating: the best way to increase engagement with your profile is to engage with others! Make sure, however, that you commit to doing this in a professional and effective way.
Aside from posting your own content on LinkedIn – including via the publishing platform as mentioned above – you can also drive engagement with others by striking up interesting conversations via the messaging feature. If you aren’t sure how to go about this, why not start by simply ‘checking in’ to see how your key connections are doing? People will usually appreciate this as it shows you are interested in them as an individual and it also allows them to talk about themselves!
If you both work in the same general field why not ask their opinion on an ongoing development that is occurring within it. Or else you could let them know about content and news that they might find interesting and relevant and ask for their opinions (however always remember to steer clear of potentially controversial topics, unless you are sure your connection is OK with this!)
You may well have a large network of connections some of whom may not have visited your profile in some time and therefore might be missing out on the latest and greatest version of it. Engaging with these contacts in an effective and natural manner will often persuade them to check back in with you in turn and will thus make sure they see your most up-to-date, well-written, and relevant information
4. Work on Your Profile
This might seem counter-intuitive, after all, you are trying to get more people to look at it in the first place! But people often forget that certain parts of your profile ARE visible to others across the platform without them having to actually visit it. Your profile photo and headline are the two key features of your profile that will be visible even to non-connections, yet these are often neglected when attempting to drive more traffic to it.
As part of your ongoing work on your profile page, why not update your picture – if necessary – by uploading a sharp and professional shot that best represents you as an individual. Similarly, you should make sure that your profile headline really stands out and concisely informs users of what sets you apart from others working in your area of professional expertise.
If you make sure that your overall profile – and especially these key elements that can be seen across the platform – is as polished and professional as possible, not only will you help to drive traffic to it, but you will also make sure that it will make the greatest possible impact on those who do choose to visit it.
5. Drive Traffic From Off-Site
Often, when crafting our LinkedIn engagement strategy we become so obsessed with the many intricacies and features on the site itself that we forget the many other tools that we can use beyond LinkedIn that will help increase our visibility on the platform.
Too many people have an excellent LinkedIn profile and regularly upload quality content to the site itself but then forget to spread awareness of its existence elsewhere.
Nowadays, many professionals make use of multiple social platforms as part of their online strategy. If you have a presence on multiple platforms make sure you are directing people towards your LinkedIn profile from all of these where appropriate in order to maximize your exposure and views.
This can even be extended to the non-internet world! People get so caught up with their digital strategies that they forget that good old-fashioned means of spreading awareness – such as word of mouth, real-world networking events, and business cards – should also form a part of any overall LinkedIn business strategy. Make use of them!
Conclusion
There is more to LinkedIn than just increasing your profile views. However, the more people you can get to look at your profile the wider impact it is going to have. Don’t get too obsessed with boosting your profile views at any cost but do make sure that you follow some of the advice above to help you pursue a strategy that will drive relevant, high-quality traffic to your page!
