If it’s been a while since you’ve updated your LinkedIn account now might be the time to do so. Switch out those unappealing profile pictures and update your bio, as a recent change from the professional networking platform means more people could be looking at your profile than before.
John Nemo, a LinkenIn expert and author of the LinkedInRiches blog, explained in a recent post how a change made to the platform’s terms and services means users’ profiles will experience higher visibility from third party providers, such as email clients Outlook and Gmail.
LinkedIn said in April it is now allowing these third party providers to show LinkedIn profiles to their users, in much the same way that LinkedIn profiles appear in search engine results.
While individuals can opt-out of the change, Nemo says the update is advantageous to any business owners who are trying to generate leads or gather clients through LinkedIn, or who are just hoping for higher visibility from organic searches.
Read more: How to grab people’s attention on LinkedIn with one key sentence
“If you want to sell your products or services through LinkedIn, this recent update is phenomenal news, because it makes it even easier for prospects to find you anywhere online, not just on the platform!” Nemo says.
“And, if you want to generate business from LinkedIn, why would you hide? This is a social platform, a social network for professionals, so you want to be ‘out there’ professionally, letting anyone and everyone easily find you, learn about who you are and what you do.”
For individuals wanting to turn this feature on or off, the setting can be found under the “Privacy” section of your account settings, under “Data Privacy and Advertising”.
These changes affect users’ public profile, which is what non-LinkedIn members see when searching for your profile. Your public profile is different to what your connections on LinkedIn see, and users can enable or disable their public profile through settings within their LinkedIn account.
And while you’re sprucing up your LinkedIn profile, you make also want to make sure it doesn’t contain one of these top 10 buzzwords.
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Dominic Powell is a journalist at SmartCompany and a tech and music geek. When he’s not writing, you can find him reading or browsing record shops.
