This is part two of a four post series on building your online reputation. Jay's other post is available on maintaining your online reputation through proper name conventions.
By Jay Buerck
It is a social network that has over 150 million users and one that you are most likely using in your job search. Did you know that having a LinkedIn account should also be part of your online reputation management strategy?
Without question, LinkedIn is the preferred social networking service for the unemployed as well as the employed. The topic of LinkedIn has been covered many times, this includes how to leverage your LinkedIn profile as well as how not to use LinkedIn.
Using LinkedIn as a reputation management tool is easy as the social network carries a lot of weight in the search engines for searches involving your name. Google your friend's name, you will likely come across their LinkedIn profile on the first page.
Customize your Public Profile URL
One of the first things you will want to do is customize your public profile URL so that your full name is in the URL.
You can do that by going to Edit Profile and then moving down to your Public Profile and clicking edit next to your URL. You will then be allowed to change what can be shown in your public profile.
Obtaining a clean URL with your name in LinkedIn is always the first place to start with cleaning up or protecting your online reputation.
Connect Your Online Properties
LinkedIn allows you to connect your social media profiles such as Twitter and your personal website to your profile. You can set it up so that whatever you tweet goes on your LinkedIn feed.
If you have created yourname.com this is a great place to link to it from your profile. You can link to it from your profile page by clicking Edit and writing in your name as the anchor text for the link.
Another thing to do is link to your LinkedIn profile from your personal domain.
Your LinkedIn profile can not only connect you to hiring managers, industry leaders, and companies directly but it can also play a key part in your online profile. Making a simple tweaks to your LinkedIn profile can prove beneficial in more ways than one.
Jay Buerck is the COO of an Online Reputation Management company and has worked as an online marketing specialist for over 8 years including stints with 3 Inc. 500 Award Companies. You can find more great tips and strategies by following him on Twitter (@jaybuerck).
