Are Keywords Still Important in a LinkedIn Profile?

The short answer is YES.

I received this question from a colleague who was wondering, since LinkedIn has changed its search functions with the 2017 update ("the new desktop experience"), relegating many of the higher-level search functions to paid accounts. With the vast majority of LinkedIn users still using the Free level, the question was: Are keywords still important in a LinkedIn profile?

Let's take a closer look at where keywords can be helpful.

Industry is still included as a field in the search filters -- even on Free level -- so it's helpful for SEO there (with the idea that the ultimate purpose of SEO is to be found). Although note that the "default" search categories are limited to fields similar to your own unless you type in an industry category ("+Add").

(Click on Industries):

There is also a Keywords-specific search box:

It's only been in the last two months that LinkedIn has updated their SEO algorithm for the "new desktop experience" -- you can see the latest details on this page:
https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/4447?query=keywords

Most relevant on that page is this quote:

"More keywords aren't always better. Our advice would be to avoid overfilling your profile with keywords and only include the keywords that best reflect your expertise and experience. If you integrate an extended list of keywords into your profile, it's likely that your profile will be filtered out by our spam detection algorithms, which will negatively impact your rank in search results."

Quality over quantity. "More keywords aren't always better."

That said, I think that it's premature to say that because LinkedIn has reduced the prominence of showing the Summary on both the desktop and mobile versions that SEO/keywords aren't as important. I saw an article a couple of months ago that addressed this (I don't know if I could find it again), but it said the Summary is now more like a cover letter for LinkedIn users -- instead of how we used to position it as an "executive summary" for clients. If you provide compelling content in those first few words/lines, they'll click to read through, but it's vital to put good information in the entire profile to be found by the search engines, but once you've been found, you have to compel the human reader too. (The more things change in job search -- and technology -- the more things stay the same!)

Like with the ATS, the keywords have to be in the content in order to appear in search results. But the best strategy for jobseekers remains to use LinkedIn to build their networks (and increase their visibility through LinkedIn Publishing and liking and commenting on content -- since this appears on your LinkedIn profile page) and keeping in contact with their LinkedIn connections.

So, in lengthy summary -- I wouldn't advise any change in strategy for content based on the new desktop experience.

Is Your Search Optimization Strategy Working?

You may have heard a lot about SEO. (I've written about it before a couple times on this blog.) It stands for "search engine optimization" and is important to the algorithms that can put your resume writing website at the top of the search results page on Google or Bing or leave you at the bottom. Here are some ways to measure if your efforts are getting noticed.

You first need a basic understanding of SEO. When people search the Internet, they use keywords or phrases to find what they are looking for amongst the hundreds of thousands of web pages that have been created. If you've ever looked in the upper left-hand corner of your search engine results, often certain words return millions of results. For example, this search for "Resume Writer" on Google returned 3.8 million results. Yikes!

No one bothers to go through all of those. They rarely look beyond the first or second page. So that is where you want your web pages, content, videos, and blog to appear, in order to be found by those who are looking. (And here's another trick: Don't try to rank nationally for "Resume Writer" -- instead, try to rank for "Resume Writer (Your Area of Expertise or Geographic Area)" -- i.e., "Resume Writer Baltimore" or "Resume Writer Elementary School Teacher.")

You have to do some work first. SEO is not an exact science. But, you can use keyword programs (for free) to help you find out which have the highest amount of competition and which are underused. From there, the trial and error begins. Some recommend using one keyword per web page to see which ones are drawing the most traffic for you. Also be sure that your website is registered with the major search engines.

Some Ways to Measure SEO Success:

• Backlinks. These are the external links that link back to your website from other places. You can create backlinks by using the resource box when submitting content to article directories, bio boxes when guest blogging, as well as signature lines on forums and places like that. (You can also get a backlink by becoming a member of BeAResumeWriter.com -- there are two member directories on the site -- one for free members, and one for paid members -- that can provide a backlink with high authority.)

• Traffic metrics. How many unique visitors do you have compared to returning visitors? What you want are unique visitors because these are new faces that are being drawn in by your marketing strategies. You can also look at revenue generated against visitors at any given time. You can find out your traffic by using Google Analytics. This free program gives you lots of information to calculate your SEO success. Test your keywords for at least three months to get an accurate picture of whether or not they're working.

What you ultimately want is for people to buy from you. You want that conversion from casual visitor to customer. It is essential that you include a call to action on your website pages that will compel the reader to make that conversion. You can track this metric as well.

Help your prospective resume clients find you online by maximizing your efforts at "Search Engine Optimization Success."

Search Engine Optimization Strategies for Resume Writers: Part 2

This is the second in a series of five posts on "Search Engine Optimization Strategies for Resume Writers." Yesterday's post addressed the What and Why of SEO. Future posts will address SEO Basics, Setting Up Google Places, and Google Places Best Practices. These posts are excerpted from the "Resume Writers Online Marketing Guidebook."

Today's post is about Keyword Research.

Keywords are the words or terms that people use to search in Google. If you do a search for “Cheap Flights” on Google, then the keyword is: cheap flight.

Keyword brainstorming and research is an important first step in any Local SEO plan. These general steps will get you off to a good start.

• Brainstorm — Sit down and make a list of every keyword term that someone would search for to find your resume writing business. Don’t worry about local terms right now — just think of what people would search in any part of the world to find a service like yours.

Write down as many terms as possible. Think of a wide variety of terms, all the way from one-word terms (short-tail) to 3+-word terms (long-tail). I would also ask friends and family for their input. This will give you an outside perspective from an everyday person.

If you get stuck thinking about terms, you can get some help from Google itself. Just take one of the keyword terms you thought of and enter it into the Google Keyword Tool. This will give you a list of related terms and their estimated search numbers. Keep in mind we will localize these terms, so the amount of searches will not be directly applicable — but it still gives you an idea of what keywords are searched more often.

Spend a good chunk of time on this, and try to get a list of 30-50 keyword terms.

• Consolidate — Go through this list and take out your five most-desired keywords. You can use personal preference, a hunch, the search results from Google Keyword Tool, and common sense. Until you actually test your terms, you won’t know much about them. So take these five terms and write them down on their own. Keep your other keywords handy though! These will be the five you will start with, but eventually through the power of blogging, you will be ranking for all of the terms.

• Localize — Now that you have your list of five terms, simply localize them. Add your location (town or city, maybe the state/province if you are in a city with common name). If your resume writing services are in demand in a number of towns, then add the other towns in front of the keyword as well. For example...

City One + Keyword One

City One + Keyword Two

City Two + Keyword One

City Two + Keyword Two

Etc...

So each new town you use will be another five local keyword terms. Once you have localized your keywords, you will now have a list of local keyword terms that you can begin ranking for. While this is a basic form of keyword research, it is leagues ahead of most of the online marketing that local businesses do.

Tomorrow's blog post is about SEO Basics.

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This blog post is just one small part of the "Resume Writers Online Marketing Guidebook." Purchase the 42-page special report for just $14 and receive two bonus special reports for free: "How to Add a Facebook 'Like' Box on Any Page" and "How to Use Facebook Ads In Your Resume Writing Business."