As of this writing, Alexa ranks Linkedin as the 29th most visited site in the world. Because of its online dominance chiropractors should be actively building a presence within this powerful networking tool.
According to Wikipedia, Linkedin is a business-oriented social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. As of 8 April 2010, Linkedin had more than 65 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The site is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
The purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. The people in the list are called Connections. Users can invite anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection.
This list of connections can then be used in a number of ways:
- A contact network is built up consisting of their direct connections, the connections of each of their connections (termed second-degree connections) and also the connections of second-degree connections (termed third-degree connections). This can be used to gain an introduction to someone a person wishes to know through a mutual, trusted contact.
- It can then be used to find jobs, people and business opportunities recommended by someone in one’s contact network.
- Employers can list jobs and search for potential candidates.
- Job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers and discover which of their existing contacts can introduce them.
- Users can post their own photos and view photos of others to aid in identification.
To make the most of Linkedin, chiropractors need to concentrate on completing their personal profiles in their entirety. By not doing so, they limit their ability in being found via major search engines like Google and Bing.
Nevertheless, the following four tips are essential toward creating a search engine optimized profile on Linkedin.
1. Use keyword-rich titles.
Instead of using titles like Owner, President, or CEO, be more descriptive.
For example, look at the titles I use on my profile. Notice how they describe what I do for chiropractors instead of just listing a generic title of company ownership.
2. Connect Twitter to your account.
Busy chiropractors need ways to efficiently update their networks without having to login to each site individually. Tools like Ping.fm make this a reality.
However, on November 9, 2009, Linkedin Reid Hoffman, Co-founder of Linkedin, and Biz Stone, Co-founder of Twitter, also announced the ability to update your Linkedin status through Twitter.
So, to learn how to take advantage of this feature and increase your social media efficiency, read my post titled How to Connect Your Twitter Account to Your LinkedIn Profile.
For example, when I send out a tweet through Twitter, it automatically updates my Linkedin status as illustrated in the following image.
3. Use keyword-rich titles for your websites.
Instead of listing the name of your chiropractic website or blog, it pays big dividends to describe what your website or blog is about.
For example, look how I use keyword-rich descriptions for each one of my sites.
4.Use keyword-rich words in your summary.
Are you seeing a pattern here?
Keywords are essential to maximize search engine optimization so that you’re more easily found — both within Linkedin’s built-in search as well as major search engines.
So, don’t forget to fill in your summary with keyword-rich headers as well as specialties.
For an example, take a look at how my summary is written. By following this method, I’m more easily found when one searches on those keywords.
In closing, don’t underestimate the power of Linkedin. It will continue to play a major role within social media for many years to come. Plus, with its easily accessible catalog of professional resumes, connecting both B2B and B2C will be its lifeblood for entrepreneurs world-wide.
Question: Is your Linkedin profile 100% complete? If not, what challenges are you facing that’s holding you back?
Let’s us know in the {comments} section below.
About Dr. Patrick MacNamara
Dr. MacNamara,
Great post, and it was just what I need to improve my LinkedIn profile. Thanks for the SEO tips they always help. It seems that in order for potential patients to find my information, I always have to put …. Springfield, VA on the end of the sentence. For SEO purposes is this just something that I will always have to do in order to make it search engine friendly for local searches.
Thanks,
Todd P. Sullivan, DC
Dr. Sullivan :: I’m glad you found the post helpful. That’s always my goal for each post I publish.
To answer you question, yes you’ll always need to include your city and state as top keywords if you’re trying to reach local prospects.
However, if you ever start a membership site that is designed to reach a global audience, then obviously the answer would be no.
So, it just depends on your focus and the audience you’re trying to reach.
Great read…going to make sure all of your suggestions are being followed. I’m sure there is much room for improvement.
I especially like the tips about the keyword rich descriptive on the websites.
Cindi :: Thanks for the comment! And, I’m glad the information was helpful. I may sound like a broken record but keyword-rich words are the name of the game.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!
Awesome post doc. I’m getting on this first thing today. As always, you’re blog provides such valuable content.
Dr. Beck :: I appreciate it!
Also, thank you for mentioning me in your post today titled 3 Chiropractic Marketing Articles you Must Read.
Dr. Mac,
Great post. I would add Hootsuite.com is an excellent way to manage multiple social media platforms, as well as enabling staff to get involved. Brightkite is okay for personal use, but lacks the business analytics of Hootsuite.
LinkedIn has served me best when I join and keep up with local groups in my area. Keeps me informed on networking events and what business topics are being discussed.
I might also add it is key for chiropractors to use keywords distinguishing their area of practice, including location identifiers.
Dr. Doughty :: All great points, doc! The bottom line is to use niche-specific, keyword-rich words that’ll target your local area as a practicing chiropractor.
I, too, enjoy Hootsuite but mainly use it to pull relevant RSS into my Twitter timeline.
My favorite Twitter app is Tweetie for everyday conversation and my favorite automator is MarketMeTweet.
With that said, I’ve been playing around with TweetDeck again since its most recent update offers some powerful options.
It can be overwhelming at times but that’s the beauty of innovation.
More good stuff to look into. I’ve got these on my list to research, thanks for the suggestions on the Twitter related sites.
Tweetdeck has been great. I’ve been using it lately to track my Facebook account too.
Hi. The article is very helpful, but I would be very thankful if somebody showed me the difference between, say, facebook and linkedin. As far as I can see, facebook is the social networking website for anybody but linkedin is more toward business networking, is that right?
That is correct. But, to be fair, the answer requires much more input. So, I’ll refer you to the following link that should make things more clear:
Linkedin vs. Facebook
I got it. Thank you very much.
Glad I could help, doc!
Thanks for the suggestions! I had integrated twitter into my linkedin, but never really considered optimizing my page for keywords before…
Glad this post was helpful, Dr. Chambers.
By the way, I absolutely LOVE your website! It’s clean, professional, utilizes WordPress well, and is easy to navigate through. Kudos to &Pixels!