LinkedIn Bios: Craft Your Story and Quick

Note: This is a second part in a series on how to improve your LinkedIn presence. Read the first one here.

One key aspect of any successful LinkedIn profile is a bio.

When done correctly, a bio summarizing your talents can help draw the right people to your profile. Whatever your reason for being on LinkedIn – job hunting, connecting with clients or looking for recruits – a good bio can help set you apart. A poorly done or nonexistent bio can hurt your chances of getting your profile read.

Here are tips to help you get found on LinkedIn and make that first impression the best.

Do It Yourself. Sometimes, LinkedIn will automate a bio for you, pulling from your work experience. That’s preferable to not having one, but you know yourself better than any algorithm does, so write your own story.

Write in First Person. Unless you’re Beyoncé, you probably don’t talk about yourself in third person. Write your bio like you’re talking directly to the reader. It will sound more personal and less robotic.

Imagine Being In An Elevator. If you had only 15 seconds in an elevator with someone you haven’t met — but want to — what would you?  There isn’t time to cover your whole career, so touch on key moments/milestones. If your LinkedIn goal is to connect with clients, use your bio to cover who you are and how you can help them.

Bragging is Okay. Don’t be embarrassed to note your accomplishments. Your competitors are doing it. Showcase your expertise; you want readers of your bio to know that you know what you’re talking about.

Be brief. Keep in mind that people have short attention spans. A short paragraph of three to four sentences can work. Make sure your most important information is in the top two lines so people don’t have to click “read more” to get the whole story. There is also a character limit for bios.

Use keywords. Make sure the main words you want to convey are in there — and close together – so when someone searches that term in LinkedIn, your profile comes up. You also can also list skills at the bottom with hashtags to make sure your profile is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly.

Be Yourself. Your online presence should match how you are in real life.