LinkedIn is a powerful tool for professionals, as it can provide your contacts and potential clients information about what you do and why you are valuable. However, there are different ways to optimize your profile, so people who are most likely to connect with you can easily find you. That is, after all, LinkedIn’s ultimate goal—to connect professionals.

How do you achieve that goal, though? You need to improve your visibility, and we can help. One of the best ways to get more followers on LinkedIn is by building connections with people who are already following you or people who have similar skill sets as you do.

Listed below are various strategies you can use to do that.

Post Regularly

More than anything else, LinkedIn is a social media network. But unlike Facebook, it focuses on professional rather than social connections. Like any other social media, though, you need to get noticed.

As such, you do what you would on other social media platforms, say, Instagram, for instance—post regularly. You do not have to post every day, but you should at least aim for once a week. Remember, too, that your posts will have more weight if they are insightful and interesting. People are not likely to share your content if they do not find it valuable.

Posting regularly ensures your posts are not lost in the sea of other posts. Also, that would ensure your connections know you are actively engaged, which can:

• Boost your online presence: If your LinkedIn posts include links to your website, anyone who clicks it is additional traffic to your page. And as you know, the more views a page gets, the better your search ranking and, ultimately, website performance. It is a double win, too, as you not only get more site views but also more exposure on the platform.
• Become an industry thought leader: Posting valuable information adds to your credibility and turns you into an authority in your industry. As such, it is incredibly important to be selective and careful about posting. It may help to know, though, that LinkedIn posts are longer than tweets, allowing you to say more. Just do not go overboard, or you may end up boring your readers.
• Reach the right people and build relationships: The more LinkedIn connections you have, the more useful you are to your network. Posting will help you connect with people within and outside your industry, which can lead to new leads or even your next job.

Publish Articles

LinkedIn has an entire ecosystem of knowledge bases directly accessible from its platform. That allows you to post article-type content directly from your profile, which is useful even if you are not a writer. It is also a great way to share your thoughts and become a thought leader.

To get as much traffic as possible from your articles, though, you need to take a few extra steps. It is a good idea to include a picture related to the article’s topic for one. Ensure your title captures the interest of your audience, too. It should not only be worth clicking but something that also prepares them for what is to come. Updating published articles from time to time also helps to keep the information relevant.

Reach Potential Customers through LinkedIn Groups

One of the easiest ways to become part of LinkedIn Groups is to follow groups you are interested in—meant for your industry or those that share your passion. Once you are in, start posting.

What you need to know most is that LinkedIn Groups are created to help users build professional relationships. So, spamming fellow members will likely be unappreciated. Instead, participate and be willing to help out. You can respond to questions or even have one-on-one conversations with people seeking advice.

Share Content Other Than Yours

No one wants a show-off, so consider sharing other people’s content, too. Be very careful, though, when sharing content. Look for content posted by industry experts and make sure it is factual, accurate, and easy to understand. The main point, after all, is to show that you are up-to-date on trends and news relevant to your work and would like to help others.

Be sure to mix it up with original content, though otherwise, you may be dubbed a parrot.

Use the Live Feature

People love it when they can connect with the humans behind popular social media profiles, so it is important to show your human side. You can share your thoughts, feelings, and interests using LinkedIn Live, giving viewers an opportunity to interact with you directly. You can also use this feature to do live video coverages of events and projects you are involved in.

LinkedIn Live can give you more time to share more insights, too, which can attract more people to connect with you. As with everything else, do not overdo it. It works best if used for large audiences.

Post Videos and Graphics When You Can

While writing articles is a good way to establish your authority, we have to admit that not everyone can write well. If you belong to this category but are a great speaker or have a talent for visual arts, a better content sharing option could be posting videos and graphics. But like articles, you need to ensure they are relevant to your profession.

This tactic also works because 59% of professionals prefer videos over written texts.

Graphics like images are great attention grabbers if you want to emphasize certain points. Memes are very popular, and you can easily upload them to accompany posts.

The Bottom Line

LinkedIn, as we established, is a great way to find new leads, potential customers, industry thought leaders, and even future employers. But doing all that requires a good, relevant, and informative profile. That said, you need to pay special attention to the type of content you post.

Remember that no one likes irrelevant posts, especially since LinkedIn is meant for professionals. So, follow the basics we outlined here, and you will not go wrong. What are you waiting for? Start connecting with fellow professionals by posting now.