When was the last time you

When was the last time you did some of the following things?

At a recent networking event I asked the attendees some questions. One of them was when was the last time you updated your website?

Here is my list of questions (raise your hand if):

  • How many of your have a website?
  • How many of your have a Facebook personal page?
  • How many of you have a company Facebook page?
  • How many of you have a LinkedIn profile?
  • How many of you have a company LinkedIn profile?

Then the questions were asked about when the last time any of those were updated.

It is great if you have a website! When was the last time it was updated? When was the last time you wrote a new blog post? How old is the content that the search bots will find. Are they totally ignoring your site right now?

It is great if you have a company LinkedIn or Facebook page! When was the last time you posted something to it?

LinkedIn itself has seen brands that post once a month gain followers six times faster than those who keep a lower profile. That pattern continues with more frequent posting: companies that post weekly see twice the engagement, while brands that post daily gain even more traction. Credit

Posting times vary based on your clients, type of business, and whether you are B2B or B2C. In my experience with B2B clients, once a day at the beginning of the work day tends to give the most engagement. That may not be the case for your business.

So, when was the last time you updated, posted or thought about how the search engines are finding you, let alone how potential customers are finding you. If you would like to have a more in-depth conversation, please reach out and let’s talk about your options.

Using a Boolean Search

How can you take advantage of a Boolean Search?

All of the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing let you enter keywords you select to find the topics you are researching. This works the same way in LinkedIn and many other platforms. If someone doesn’t know your name, but enters the words for things you provide, will they find you?

I do a great deal of work with job seekers. Since LinkedIn is my passion, it is only natural to spend time teaching job seekers how to make the most of their profile. One of the suggestions is to make sure that their profile is able to be found when the right string of keywords is entered into the search parameters.What are your keywords?

When teaching hands-on LinkedIn classes, I demonstrate how recruiters may enter six or seven keywords to limit the number of search results they obtain when seeking candidates. The goal the recruiter is seeking is 3-6 people who have all of recruiters keywords entered in their profile. You can use this same technique searching for a recruiter or a potential client.

I recently found this article from Beyond.com about using the various Boolean search patterns. While this article was written for job seekers, it is transferable to business owners to understand how someone may find them when doing a search. I don’t want to start an entire discussion on SEO, but understanding how Boolean search works will help you make sure that the right keywords are listed on your various webpages and social media profiles.

Please contact me if I can assist you with your LinkedIn personal or company profile. I am happy to consult with you in-person or through a webinar to help you optimize your LinkedIn or social media presence.

Delete a Duplicate Account on LinkedIn

How many of you have a second or duplicate account on LinkedIn?

Sometimes a duplicate account on LinkedIn happens because you have left a company and no longer have access to that email address and you had not added a back-up email address on your account. Occasionally, people will set up an account meant to be their business account but created it under a personal profile.

If you do have a second, or third, or fourth account, read on to find out how to delete a duplicate account on LinkedIn. The best practice is to only have one personal profile on LinkedIn and create a company profile to represent your business.

How-to – Delete a Duplicate Account on LinkedIn

Search for yourself on LinkedIn or ask a friend to search for you. If you have a common name, you may need to narrow the search results with the search tools on the left side of the screen.Duplicate Account on LinkedIn 1

 

 

 

 

 

Once you have discovered that you need to eliminate a duplicate account on LinkedIn:

  • Reach out to the Help Center
  • Locate the Help Center at the bottom of a screen on any page that does not continue adding new information as you scroll down.

LI Help Center

 

 

Select Help Center
In the search box, type Duplicate Profile in the search box

LI duplicate A

 

 

 

 

When the results render, Select Duplicate Accounts – in the list below it is #2

LI duplicate B

 

 

 

 

 

 

The article will give you the details about how to remove duplicate accounts.  In most situations, you have a duplicate account because you cannot remember your password and no longer have access to the email address to receive a password update email. If you cannot remember your password to the other accounts, you will need to send a message by in-mail (LinkedIn email) to the Contact Us at the top of the screen and include the following information:

  • The URL for the profile you want to remove (e.g. http://www.linkedin.com/abc123).
  • The email address(es) associated with that account.
  • Your name as it appears on LinkedIn, and any alternate names you may have used.

This will eliminate the extra accounts from LinkedIn and help avoid any confusion when someone is trying to reach out to you on the platform.

To make the elimination of the duplicate account on LinkedIn process as simple as possible for the staff at LinkedIn, click on the profile (see top image) that you think is a duplicate. When that profile opens, find the account number (in image below) and send that link to LinkedIn. If it is not immediately visable, you may have to select the “Contact Information” to find the link.
Duplicate account on LinkedIn 2

 

 

 

 

Hopefully, you can eliminate any confusion for people who are searching for you on LinkedIn by having only one profile.

To read more tips for your personal profile on LinkedIn, check out my Top 5 tips series – series on the following: PhotosCompleteConnectionsInvitationsParticipate

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