COMMENTS
If you use "other" and then use anchor text your link will be no followed. Using one of the pre-defined options allows you link to get followed. Guess its anchor text vs. SEO benefit.
I am primarily referring to making your links more clear and distinguishing between different types of links so aren't all "my website"...I believe all of the profile links are "nofollow".
Awesome post! What do you think of connecting with people that are in the same industry? I guess what I am trying to get to profile with 100 connections looks better then profile with 10. Wonder if Google gives more credit to profiles with higher connections due to amount of links going back to that profile. Do you have any info on that?
Ben & Rebecca~
Looks like my LinkedIn uses a redirect rather than nofollow for both standard ("My Blog," My Company") as well as custom ("Twitter...") websites.
Vancouver~
I'm sure you have a stack of business cards hanging around somewhere.. and if you don't get out there and network! I enter every email address I receive under the "Add Connections" green link @ the top right. Protip: Try to do this within a week of you receiving their card. You have a much better chance of them accepting the connection.
Regarding profiles without photos, would the writer care to expand on how she came across the 'fact' that profiles without pictures are rarely used?
I picked up some of these tips on the IMU course which was great. Thanks for summarising it for people who havent done the course.
Great post. I would just add that you want to make sure that your profile is searchable within LinkedIn. By adding keywords, such as "Inbound Marketer for Technology Businesses" in your headline, work experience, and summary. This will help you get found by prospective customers or even journalists looking for a story.
@Kristen and @Greg - great ideas.
One additional bonus tip is to make sure you also customize your LinkedIn profile URL - so rather than it being the jumbled URL they initially assign to your profile you can edit it to include your name.
Hi, I love this post because I've grown to really appreciate the power of LinkedIn for getting FOUND on the Net.
I do have one additional suggestion though, which I picked up from a webinar sponsored by the LI group Linked Strategies.
And that is to Do More with your headline than simply list your position. You can actually "fill it" with keywords.
You can check out my own profile on LI and/or my blog article: http://sharisax.com/2010/03/14/how-to-improve-your-linked-roi-by-tweaking-your-profile/
As was mentioned above, customizing the anchor text of your links will cause LinkedIn to add a "nofollow" tag to them. Hypothetically, this removes any SEO benefit they would have provided. I use the standard "my website," and "my blog," anchors on
my profile.