Adding links to your LinkedIn profile can be a great way to showcase your work and increase your visibility. LinkedIn allows you to include links in several sections of your profile, so you have multiple opportunities to direct viewers to websites or online content. Using links strategically can demonstrate your expertise, credibility, and online presence to prospective employers and connections.
Reasons to add links to your LinkedIn profile
Here are some of the key reasons you may want to add links to your LinkedIn profile:
- Showcase your work – Link to your professional website, blog, publications, portfolio, or other sites that highlight your projects, accomplishments, and skills.
- Prove expertise – Share presentations, research, or articles you’ve written to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
- Strengthen credibility – Linking to reputable publications and media featuring your work can validate your capabilities and knowledge.
- Increase search visibility – Quality links can improve your search engine optimization and make you more findable.
- Drive referral traffic – Direct LinkedIn visitors to your other online profiles and sites to increase engagement.
- Share your news and updates – Highlight recent achievements, news coverage, and events by linking to your announcements or press releases.
Where to add links on your LinkedIn profile
Here are some of the main sections of a LinkedIn profile where you can include links:
Headline
Your professional headline appears below your name at the top of your profile. You can include a link here to your website or blog to catch attention.
Featured section
The featured section includes media items like images, videos, slides, and links that appear prominently on your profile. You might highlight a portfolio site here.
About section
Your LinkedIn summary section offers space to tell your professional story. You can link to articles, projects, or sites to back up claims about your background.
Experience section
When detailing your work experiences, consider linking to company and project websites that are relevant. You can also include links to news articles about key initiatives you worked on.
Skills section
Along with listing out top skills, you can link to certifications, online courses, or examples of your work that demonstrate these abilities in action.
Education section
For each of your educational experiences, you can provide a link to the school website and potentially link to research papers, academic journal articles, or class projects you contributed to.
Accomplishments section
When highlighting awards, honors, publications, licenses, volunteering, courses, and other achievements, include links to validate and expand on each one.
Additional sections
Other profile sections like Projects, Organizations, Testimonials, and Interests also present opportunities to link to sites and online content that support your professional brand.
Best practices for adding links
Follow these tips when including links on your LinkedIn profile:
- Relevance – Only link to sites directly related to your background and qualifications.
- Quality over quantity – A few meaningful links are more valuable than lots of random ones.
- Variety – Link to different types of content (articles, websites, projects, media etc.) to demonstrate breadth.
- Keep it current – Rotate in new links as you take on new projects and roles.
- Consistency – Use links to reinforce key themes and strengths throughout your profile.
- Brevity – Avoid lengthy or complex URLs and link text. Keep it simple.
- Credibility – Link to reputable sites and use reliable sources.
- Permission – Only link to content you have rights to share publicly.
- Optimization – Use keywords in anchor text for SEO without over-optimizing.
Types of content to link to
To maximize your LinkedIn profile, incorporate links to various types of online content including:
- Your website or online portfolio showcasing qualifications and work samples.
- Professional blogs where you contribute expertise and thought leadership content.
- Your social media profiles like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
- Presentations or slide decks from conferences, seminars, or company meetings.
- Industry publications, journals, or news sites where you are published or featured.
- Projects or initiatives you contributed to with details on your role and responsibilities.
- Certifications, licenses, or courses confirming your skills and specializations.
- Non-profit organizations or volunteer work demonstrating your interests and leadership.
- Press releases or news articles related to your projects and accomplishments.
- Notable research papers, white papers, ebooks, or reports you authored.
Tips for improving linked content
To get the most impact from linked content on your profile:
- Ensure websites and pages are mobile-friendly with fast load times.
- Refresh sites with updated content showcasing your latest work and skills.
- Feature visually appealing designs and layouts for a positive user experience.
- Highlight key achievements, credentials, and kudos prominently.
- Use clear navigation, headings, and calls-to-action to guide visitors.
- Enable social sharing buttons so visitors can easily share and repost your content.
- Monitor analytics for your sites to see which links drive the most LinkedIn referrals.
- Check for broken links regularly to avoid sending visitors to error pages.
- Follow LinkedIn’s terms of service for any sites you link to from your profile.
Potential drawbacks to consider
While links can enhance your LinkedIn presence, there are some potential downsides to weigh:
- Too many links can appear spammy and damage your professional brand.
- Irrelevant, low-quality, or broken links reflect poorly on you.
- Violating copyright or sharing inappropriate content can risk account suspension.
- Outdated links show you are not maintaining your profile and managing your online presence.
- Some connections may dislike you driving them off LinkedIn to external sites.
- If not optimized properly, links may not increase your search visibility as intended.
Using LinkedIn’s link preview tool
LinkedIn offers a helpful link preview tool when adding links to your profile. Here is how to use it:
- Copy and paste a link into the website field of any profile section.
- The link preview box will automatically populate with information and images from that page.
- Review how the content will appear and make any edits needed to the title, description, or image.
- Adjust the link so it applies most relevantly to what you are featuring in that section.
- Repeat this preview process with any additional links to optimize their presentation.
The link preview gives you control over how links will appear on your profile. Take advantage of it so links are clear, informative, and engaging for profile visitors.
Measuring link results and impact
To see if your profile links are having the desired effect, consider tracking:
- Profile views – Are overall profile views increasing since adding links?
- Click-through rate – What percentage of visitors click on the links?
- Visitor actions – Do they visit your site, share or download content, or contact you after clicking?
- Inbound links – Have any other sites or profiles now linked to your content?
- Search traffic – Are more searchers finding your profiles and sites from keywords?
- Social shares – Have people been reposting or sharing your content on other networks?
Review your website analytics and LinkedIn profile traffic data regularly to gauge performance. Consider A/B testing different types of links and call-to-action messaging to see what resonates most with your audience.
Alternatives to linking
While links can be beneficial, you may want to explore some alternative options to drive visitors from LinkedIn:
Mentioning your website URL
You can include your website or domain name spelled out in your profile text without making it a live link. This may lead to less click-aways.
Using LinkedIn Articles
Post long-form content and thought leadership articles directly on LinkedIn to showcase expertise without driving visitors away.
Sharing profile recommendations
Collecting recommendations on your skills and work can establish credibility without needing off-site validation.
Including media assets
Use images, videos, slides, and infographics to demonstrate your work visually on your profile itself.
Promoting engagement
Encourage connections to like, share, and comment on your LinkedIn posts rather than linking them elsewhere.
Conclusion
Adding high-quality, relevant links to your LinkedIn profile in moderation can help you stand out from the crowd, validate your capabilities, and direct visitors to more information. However, balance external links judiciously with engaging directly on the LinkedIn platform. Track link results over time and adjust your strategy to optimize your profile’s performance and online presence.
