How and why you should optimize your LinkedIn profile for real estate
Let’s be honest. When is the last time you combed through your LinkedIn profile? Here’s how and why you should optimize your LinkedIn profile for real estate.
For many agents, LinkedIn is not the platform where a lot of time is spent, but because of this, there is an opportunity to be one of only a handful of agents who are successfully generating new leads from the platform.
LinkedIn success starts with a great profile, so in this article, we’ve provided a step-by-step guide to help you optimize your profile and promote your brand in the best possible light.
Your Headline
Every time you post, your headline appears so you really want to be telling your viewers to main things; who you help and how you help them.
Generally speaking, you can figure these things out through the common questions you get or the things your clients thank you for.
Your Picture
You have two options in terms of your picture:
- Formal headshot – a popular choice given it oozes professionalism. It’s hard to go wrong with this, you just need to ensure you keep your photo up to date
- ‘Glance into your life’ – this choice is more aligned with modern marketing today and by using a professional but un-staged photo, you can start to build up a story around who you actually are and why you’re different. Just make sure this less formal photo is still professional enough to instil confidence in your abilities.
Contact information
Because this information is hidden on your profile, it’s worth a quick check to ensure your phone and email contact information is still up to date and there is nothing lurking there that you’d rather not have.
LinkedIn URL
This aspect of your profile is mostly for ease of finding you. If you haven’t already, customize the URL so it’s www.linkedin.com/in/YOURNAME. A lot of the time your name will be unavailable, so couple it “real-estate-agent.” This coupling also helps your visibility in LinkedIn and Google searches.
Include this customized URL on your business cards. We all lose business cards, but we rarely ‘unconnected with someone on LinkedIn.
Connections
The number of connections you have is vital. Unlike other networks, LinkedIn makes it hard for you to see a person’s profile or posts if you aren’t at least a 2nd or 3rd-degree connection with them.
This means the more connections you have the more people that can find you. You should be sure to send a connection request to everyone you’ve met in person. It’s ok to send requests to people you haven’t met as long as you explain yourself in the invitation.
Content
Do you write a blog? If so, this is the perfect place for you to display your work. Put your most popular articles here and you’ll get a great stream of traffic going from your profile to your blog.
You’ll want to place a notification in your calendar reminding you to change these articles monthly. If you’re producing content, it’s likely that you’ll have a better-performing article every month. Be sure to place that article here for maximum effectiveness.
Experience
This isn’t the place to put your resume. This is the place to explain to buyers and sellers why you’re the best real estate agent in your area. Go look at your experience now. How does it look to buyers researching you online? If you were listing a house soon, would this experience section entice you to list with you?
Honours & Awards
Fill out this section from the perspective of buyers and sellers once again. Be sure to highlight it if you’ve won several impressive awards. It will really improve your Linkedin profile and provide credibility for your brand.
Recommendations
Recommendations are gold on any LinkedIn profile.
Ask your best clients to recommend you on LinkedIn. It will go a long way. You can then mention your recommendations in your summary. This, with strong call-to-action compelling buyers and sellers to connect with you, will dramatically increase the number of leads you get off of LinkedIn.
Remember, if LinkedIn connections are how you get found, your profile is why people interact with you. Your LinkedIn profile is one of the view places where it’s acceptable to make it all about you, so take advantage of it to help unearth more opportunities and more potential leads.
