Archive for December, 2008
Alex Gambini’s Review of Social Media Marketing (SMM) Part 2: LinkedIN
by Alex on Dec.01, 2008, under SEO | SEM
Back in March of 2008 I discovered LinkedIn and have been an avid user since. Apparently, I was a little late to the party – as this phenomenal social networking site’s inception dates back to May 2003. I use LinkedIn for an assortment of task that is unparalleled by any other social networking site. It’s an excellent medium for staying in touch with colleagues, business partners, and even family. However, LinkedIn’s best use is not merely for staying in touch – it is answers; via connections and groups. LinkedIn follows a similar trend that other social networking sites do. LinkedIn allows users to establish connections, which operate similar to friends on Facebook or Myspace.
On any social networking site it is always preferable to have a lot of “friends,” or connections. However, in LinkedIn’s case, the more connections you have, the more it benefits you in reality – not just online. It’s great to stay in touch with people you once knew, but LinkedIn is different – it is professionally based. It grants users the ability to stay connected with business partners, and establish new business partners in your field (or even other fields, depending on your needs). The site is incredibly flexible; it caters to professionals, meaning (in general) it isn’t filled with 10 year olds looking for free music, or spam. The population of LinkedIn (again, in general) is comprised of fairly intelligent and articulate individuals that are generally there to help and receive help.
LinkedIn’s “about us” page breaks its purpose down into three general purposes; “Re-connect, Power Your Career, and Get answers.” Staying in touch with anyone is simple – merely lookup the name, workplace, school, or residence of your friend, classmate, family member or business partner and LinkedIn provides you with a results page with accuracy reminiscent of the mighty Google. Powering Your Career is also fairly simple. This area of the site is where you need to be creative. By establishing good connections, joining good groups, and having a well setup profile anyone can boost their career to the next level. Getting answers is probably my personal favorite part of the site. When you join a group, or have a solid amount of connections, you can pose a question. LinkedIn allows you to post this question in a variety of methods – in group boards, or your “wall” (they don’t have an actual name, so I’m using Facebook’s example). Posing the question in a group is generally the most effective. Groups are filled with intelligent and articulate people; I nearly always get excellent answers, even to questions that are incredibly specific. When asking a general question, only people you are connected to can see the question (and answer it). So unless your connections are avid LinkedIn checkers, it’s generally best to pose a question in a specific board.
LinkedIn is not just a great social networking site. It is also incredibly useful for SEO purposes. You can create personal profiles, and corporate profiles. Corporate profiles are wonderful because they provide people with your company’s philosophy and synopsis of practices as well as contact information. Personal profiles (if done correctly) can majorly influence your online identity. When doing a Google search for your name (if you have a LinkedIn profile) it will nearly always come up on the first page, unless your name is exceedingly common – like Mike Smith for example. LinkedIn will also generate inbound links to your website and indirectly affect your overall web visibility.
