The LinkedIn Network

Technically speaking, the LinkedIn Network is not a social site. It's a professional networking site whereby business people can connect with other associates, friends and potential clients.

LinkedIn is sometimes referred to as Facebook for professionals. As a small business owner, you really need to be on this service. Creating a profile is a simple process. Once done, you can start connecting with other business people.

Placing your profile on LinkedIn is free. Simply go to the LinkedIn Home Page and fill in your name and email address. You'll then be given instructions for creating your full account.

Getting Link Juice From LinkedIn

As of this writing, the LinkedIn Network allows you to place live links for up to three websites relating to your business.

Because LinkedIn is high-quality trusted site with the search engines, any links pointing from the LinkedIn network back to your site is a valuable link. LinkedIn provides strong search engine "Link Juice."

Unfortunately, most people that create new profiles on the LinkedIn network are not taking full advantage of these powerful incoming links. Here are some tips for setting up your incoming links.

Link Tip #1: If you have more than three websites, decide which three are your most valuable and set up a link for these three. Since you are introducing your company, it is probably best to point the link to your homepage, but you do have the option to point it to another area of your site.

Link Tip #2: If you have an RSS feed, include this feed as one of your three links.

Link Tip #3: If you only have one website, choose your homepage as your first link and then select two other important pages within your site. Perhaps your "About Us" page and a main sales page.

Link Tip #4: Create keyword-rich anchor text for all three web links.

This last tip requires a bit more explanation.

Creating Strong Anchor Text for Your Web Links

When you get to the part in your profile where you can set up your web links, there is a drop-down menu to select your link titles. If you select "My Website", you'll get a generic link labeled "My Website" that points to your website.

For search engine optimization purposes, it is much better to use anchor text that has keyword relevancy to the destination web page. To choose your anchor text, you must select "Other" from the drop-down menu. See the below screen for clarification.

By selecting "Other", you will be able to type in the specific anchor text related to your sites. In the below screen shot, you'll see I have links pointing to my website, my blog and my marketing ebook page.

LinkedIn Profile Options

As long as your user name is not already taken, you can customize the URL of your profile to reflect your personal name, business name or brand.

To change your profile, simply click on the "Edit" link within the public profile section. You can then type in and define the final portion of your LinkedIn profile URL. See the below screen shot for clarification.

I recommend you complete as much of your profile as possible, including your photo as well as past positions, work experience, interests, associations and awards.

Networking With LinkedIn

The LinkedIn network has a strong search feature. This makes it easy to find people related to your business interests. If you know someone by name, typing it into the search box will instantly pull up profiles of everyone using that name.

For common names (there are over 14,000 LinkedIn profiles for Bob Smith), LinkedIn gives you an additional menu to narrow down your search using additional parameters like the company name.

Connecting with people at LinkedIn is quite easy. When you come across a person and you wish to connect with them, you send them an invitation. This is done by clicking on the link titled "Add (person's name) to your network." When you click the invitation link, you will be asked how you know this person and can customize your invite message. See the screen below.

When viewing profiles, LinkedIn will also tell you how closely connected you are to that person. This is done by showing the degrees of separation between you and the profile you are viewing.

For example, in the LinkedIn screen below, I'm not currently connected to Marty but my friend Barry is. This information is helpful in identifying people with similar interests or involved in similar LinkedIn groups. In addition, someone looking for your services may be more apt to click on your profile if they see one of their trusted friends is already linked to you.

Final Recommendations

In conclusion, the LinkedIn network is a great way to establish a professional web presence outside of your main business website or blog.

I highly recommend you use this wonderful networking service. While the LinkedIn network does provide membership services, the free version is all you should need to start building your business network.

I encourage you to make your LinkedIn profile as complete as possible. To help you, LinkedIn will give you a percentage telling you how complete your profile is. Try getting up to at least a 90% completeness level.

Finally, think about taking advantage of the many LinkedIn Groups that are available. If you don't find one you like, create your own. It's a great way to increase your connections with like-minded professionals.