Matt's Musings

Posts tagged: LinkedIn

PageRank and Other January Musings

Google updated their PageRank on December 31st. Did you notice?

I must admit that I missed the blessed event which is strange considering that I was working on that date. Still, Google did what has now become an uncommon event: they exported their PageRank to the Google toolbar.

business card What this means is that everyone’s site has been reevaluated and assigned a fresh rank based on Google’s algorithm, a formula which remains a mystery to all except for those who are part of Google’s inner circle. Everyone has an opinion on how PageRank works, but unless your name is Matt Cutts and you’re talking, then then the rest of us should doubt what is being said.

For the record, Matt’s Musings remains at PR3 while my three other main sites are also now at PR3. The Article Writer dropped a notch, Word Journey climbed a notch, while Auto Trends remains the same. Talk about ranking parity when the traffic patterns for all four sites vary widely! Still, my linking strategies must have changed otherwise Google wouldn’t have adjusted their rankings accordingly.

So, what does this mean? Not much. Given that the toolbar export happens weeks after Google reassigns PageRank internally and that PageRank is a constantly fluctuating commodity, the ranking you see isn’t particularly accurate. Or at least it isn’t so today.

I haven’t dismissed PageRank completely, but I use other measuring points to gauge traffic including Google Analytics and Alexa. All three combined plus Compete and checking backlinks give me a better picture on how my sites are doing, but I’m sure that there are other measurements out there. I just don’t want to pay for them.

Beyond Matt Cutts there is much more to add today. But, I won’t bore you with trivialities or boorish behavior.

Revisiting LinkedIn

I was considering amending something I mentioned on New Year’s Day about LinkedIn, but decided against it. Instead, all I want to add about that is if you are on LinkedIn, you need to fill out your profile completely and obtain at least two recommendations in order for your information to be fully visible.

LinkedIn can also be valuable if you add the right keywords and keyword phrases to your profile. I stick these under “Specialties” which is part of the Summary section in my profile. Those words tell a lot about who I am and what I do for my customers, but they also add some SEO benefit to my page.

As mentioned previously and confirmed by so many others in the industry, Google loves LinkedIn profiles which means that when you Google your (unique) name, your LinkedIn data should appear on the first page of the search engine results page (SERP). Thank you, Matt Cutts!

Writing Better

Lastly, I want to encourage each of my readers who are inspiring writers to step up a notch in 2010. I know of at least two people who want to expand their writing so that their works might appear on high profile sites and in select print publications for the very first time.

In order to do that, you must work at improving your writing. Certainly a writing class can help, but most bloggers have that down pat. They just need to incorporate some generally accepted rules to bring their writing up to the next level.

There are three books that can help you write better, each of which I own, but none which are offering me compensation to plug them (disclaimer). They are: The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (AP Stylebook); Grammar Smart: A Guide to Perfect Usage (The Princeton Review); and The Chicago Manual of Style.

The AP stylebook is a must but if you find the Chicago Manual too bulky, then Grammar Smart can do the trick. In any case you will want to invest in yourself by purchasing materials which can advance your work. Read and study them; apply what you learn to your writings. And if you get published, let me know!

Tags: AP Stylebook, Google, January, LinkedIn, Matt Cutts, PageRank

General | Matthew C. Keegan, 5 Jan 10 | Comments (16)

Getting LinkedIn For 2010

Do you use LinkedIn? I do, having been a member of this professional networking site for several years now. Admittedly, I wasn’t keeping my profile up to date or active on the site until recently. Just before Christmas I decided that a makeover of my profile was necessary and could go a long way in helping me update my image online.

And that is what sets LinkedIn apart from just about every other online networking site: instead of connecting with people socially with perhaps a business component included, LinkedIn reverses that by putting the emphasis on connecting with people professionally. There is a social component thanks to groups, questions and answers, and a Twitter connection, but LinkedIn is all about enhancing your professional position online, perhaps finding a job as you connect with influential people in your field.

No posting pictures of your cat nor should you tell everyone what you ate for breakfast.

LinkedIn Backgrounder

First, some background details about LinkedIn for the novice: Officially launched in May 2003, LinkedIn is based in Mountain View, California, home to Google and other internet start ups. Much like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn has been experiencing an explosive growth in the past year, topping 53 million members from 200 countries as of early December. Most people, myself included, use the free account to connect, but a paid business account gives you even deeper access to other members.

My reason for using LinkedIn parallels what the site is all about: connecting with people professionally. Your main connection with other members is your personal profile, a detailed page which can and should become your online resume (more about that later). Until recently, my profile had been wanting until I began to clean it up. There are some more changes that I will still make, but I’m satisfied that what appears there right now accurately reflects who I am and what I can do for my customers today.

Tips For Linking In

When you sign in to your LinkedIn account, you will be brought to a page crowded with information including your inbox, network updates (status, recommendations, profile changes, events, and more), group updates, and more. But the section you will want to work on can be found on the navigation bar (see below).

Click on Profile > View Profile and you will see the same page that everyone else finds when they look for you on LinkedIn. If you are not satisfied with your details > Edit Profile and make your changes. This is where you will be bringing your information up to date, adding details just as you would with your resume.

But it is better than an ordinary online resume. Your LinkedIn profile can be supercharged to include your personal photograph, links to your website or blogs, your career summary, specialties, and work history. I write my information in the third person, but I have noticed that others use their profiles differently, often as a way to market themselves directly to their customers.

Sample LinkedIn Profile Page

Maintaining Your Connections

Your connections are what puts you front and center with other people. Though some folks are happy with a small group of manageable connections, I have chosen a path favored by many others: connecting with the most people possible.

You can do this by joining groups that make it easy to connect. One of the first things you learn about LinkedIn, is that you really need the help of others to link to others still. Sure, go ahead and import your email contacts as LinkedIn will find out which of those are already LinkedIn, allowing them to connect to you.

Be careful though: you don’t want to include people who do not know you as they may reject your connection request, instructing LinkedIn that they do not know you. LinkedIn will then restrict your ability to connect with others until you agreed to abide by their terms (which you thought you were doing), a small nuisance but one to keep in mind.

I have also been able to connect with thousands of people by joining a the LION group – Linked In Open Network – which I have added to my name. LION identifies me as someone who accepts all invitations without restriction. That also means that I can add hundreds of new people when their weekly opt-in email list arrives with new members willing to connect to you. Simply follow the instructions given and your email inbox will soon be flooded with acceptances.

Yes, there is a drawback here as you will receive more messages in your inbox then you may get in a week, perhaps a month. Use it on occasion as you’ll be busy checking profiles, answering personal requests, and deleting messages.

Recommendations Are Critical

The most important feature of LinkedIn for me is the recommendations others give for your work. For each position you feature and school attended, you can ask other people to recommend your work. This is important as their recommendation is the equivalent of a reference. Ask your customers who are already LinkedIn to first connect with you and then once connected to recommend you.

You can seek recommendations for jobs held & schooling too.

I should have been more diligent about this feature as I only had one recommendation until recently. Now I have four and I am working on several more. Soon, I will be updating my contact information on this blog and on my main The Article Writer website to offer a link to my profile on LinkedIn.

This offers a huge advantage to me: instead of writing pages of “about me” stuff and posting on various sites I own, I can offer one link to my LinkedIn profile, with everything people need to know about me. This can be a real time saver as it ensures that I maintain a consistent public face across the internet. By the way, when you google your name, your LinkedIn profile should appear on the first page of the results, provided your name is unique.

Questions & Answers

My favorite way of connecting with people on LinkedIn is by participating in their question and answer feature. Go to More… > Answers and you will be able to ask people a question or answer questions already posted by other members. As long as the question remains open, you can add your answer which will be one of many answers received.

Ask a question or answer a question on LinkedIn.

Importantly, if your answer is spot on and you have written an article related to that answer, you can include that link in the web resources section following your reply. You can also notify other experts to forward the question to for them to answer and send an optional personal note to the person who asked the question in the first place.

Don’t be surprised if you hear back from the person who asked the question in the first place. Several times I’ve had people contact me directly to express their gratitude for my help.

Should You Upgrade?

While the basic package offers many features, LinkedIn also allows users to upgrade their accounts as a way to find and email influential people directly. I am not very familiar with what is offered and the price is not cheap, but there are some people who insist that the extra $25, $50, even $500 per month is worth it to them.

I suppose if you are looking for a new job, then the cost of an upgrade beats what you would pay a headhunter or recruiter for their services. I recommend starting out with a basic account first, upgrading once you understand what benefits are available to you.

Get Linked In

I have only touched on the benefits of LinkedIn from my own perspective, therefore I have also reviewed several additional resources which can help complete that picture for you.

2010 is here, so let us hope that it is a good year for one and all. If you are looking for work, then one of your resolutions should include starting or updating a LinkedIn account, perhaps the best way for professionals to connect online.