LinkedIn and Above-the-Fold: 3 Ways to Get Noticed
The Term “Above the Fold” goes back to the early days of newspapers. It was always great to be on the front page but even better to be front page AND “Above the Fold” – back then and even today, larger newspapers are typically folded in half vertically.
Now, it generally refers to “information that comes first”. This relates well to websites as the information seen before you start to scroll down the page should be important and have the reader wanting more. Let’s talk specifically about LinkedIn and what is Above the Fold when someone visits your profile page.
Like any of the online platforms, different devices show different things Above the Fold. With an overwhelming amount of people online these days, helping people find your profile will allow them to see who you are, and most importantly, how you can help them.
Here are the top three things you can do on your LinkedIn profile that will help you make a connection quicker.
1. Professional Headshot
Being a Headshot Photographer, you had to know that this would be top of list!! But it is here for an incredibly good reason.
Humans are hard wired make a snap judgement when they see another person. We are not evil because of this, it’s just a learned survival technique. Just like back when we were banging rocks together to make fire, those who could, stayed warm and survived. Those who could not, got cold and had a harder time surviving.
The better I can determine friend of foe when I first see someone – even a photo - the better chance I have of not being hurt. So, when you have a headshot that shows “friendly”, which involves more then just a great smile, you can be considered as a non-threat, and they will want to find out more about you.
2. Your Name
Seems obvious but it needs to be said!
Nothing says unprofessionalism more than an all-lower-case name or worse, YELLING YOUR NAME with all caps. I see it ALL the time and its sooooo easy to get right!
Whichever way your name stands out, go with it!!
3. Headline
This is a lesser known but VERY POWERFUL part of your LinkedIn “Above the Fold” profile…. AND you can hack it!
The Headline is what shows up immediately under your name on your LinkedIn profile page. Here is what MOST people headlines look like…
If you go look at your LinkedIn profile page, you may see you latest position. LinkedIn helps you out a bit by automatically updating this field with your current Job Title.
It used to be that character limit was a standard 120 characters, but it has been bumped up to a whopping 220 characters. Not to say you should use all of them, but why not take advantage of this little-known networking gift from the LinkedIn gods and let people who you are and how you can help them.
Instead of just putting your tile or position, why not craft an efficient description about what you do and explain how you can help people. This can take a bit of time, but it can be a rewarding exercise for you go through. Not only that, but it’s always good to have ready when you are networking and someone askes you what you do.
Be short, to the point, and write in everyday talk – don’t get all wordy trying to impress people with your high-society verbiage.
Try to include things like:
· Why you do what you do
· How you can help
· Who you can help
THEN add in:
· Your title
· Company you work for
Oh - handing tip, a typical line of text in Word or Google Docs at size 11 font, is about 100 characters.
Here is what mine says…
I help business professionals visually connect with potential clients and fellow colleagues via their headshots | Headshot Photographer | Founder of Infinite Eye Photography
And just like I mentioned, when I went back to read it again, I thought of a change to help give more details. – I took out “their” after “via headshots” and added in “professional” because that is more specific on what I do – provide them “professional headshots”. So NOW it reads…
Ohhhh, that’s good! I like that better now. I am sure it will improve over time but this is a great start to help people better understand how I can be of service to them.
What do you think? How else can we increase our “Above the Fold” impact with LinkedIn?
