What is this “Rich Media” that they speak of? Do you need it to boost your LinkedIn profile?
Rich media is any form of digital content which allows users to interact and engage with it i.e. direct links, pop-ups, audio files, videos, power-point presentations, images etc. By this definition, a LinkedIn Profile has many features that allow the use of rich media to:
1. Improve Viewer Engagement of Profile:
Each & every credible report about content marketing states that rich media increases viewer engagement. Even though the metrics changed, the most conservative figure cited a 2X improvement in audience engagement after the inclusion of images in posts. If they were featured posts there was a significant increase in profile views.
Moreover, surveys of infographic based posts showed much higher engagement as compared to other images. Recently, videos have emerged as the new tool of engagement. According to LinkedIn’s own numbers of 2017, users spent 3X time on viewing & 20X attempts on sharing of videos as compared to static content.
2. Let’s Get Techie! Create an SEO Friendly Profile
Search a word on any popular search engine & it would return with results of text, images, videos, news, location &/or shopping. Conduct a search on LinkedIn & it will give you results for people, posts, companies, groups & jobs. This means that even though the input is in text, every Search Engine Result Page (SERP) also yields results for rich media. Hence, inclusion of rich media can improve your visibility in SERPs by:
a. Improving the result rankings of your Profile across all filters & categories of the search engine & LinkedIn.
b. Improving the Social Selling Index (SSI) score of the profile due to better use of more Profile features. This means that users with rich media have a better conversion rate of profile views to connection requests and InMails.
Understood – Now How to Do It?
Compile the Right Media:
Every profession involves the creation of content in the form of documents, presentations, videos, audio files, blogs or web pages. A majority of these files are compatible with LinkedIn & they can be easily uploaded onto your profile. In fact it supports 12 types of video extensions, 3 types of audio formats of Mp3, AAC & Vorbis, & many types of document & image formats.
Most professionals may have easy access to such media & ignore the need to create a folder of relevant media. Some obvious sources being promotional content of the company, presentations, conference recordings, white papers, reports, e-books, publications, instructional videos, blogs & work related websites.
Then again, it is always a good practice to categorise & compile such media by making sure that:
a. You are legally permitted to use the rich media in your profile. In case it is not clear whether you have the right to use such content, you can ask your employer, client or content host to give you explicit permission to upload it in your profile.
b. The source files & source links of your media remain functional. If a webpage or online publication changes its URL or ceases to exist, the rich media embedded on your profile may no longer be accessible. This also applies to links that lead back to your profile, especially when you update the custom URL of the LinkedIn Profile.
c. The media format & size are compatible with LinkedIn. In terms of file size, it should not exceed 100 MB, page count of 300, the word count of a million or image resolution of 36 megapixels. Usually, this type of rich media is hosted elsewhere, preferably on pages that link back to your LinkedIn profile.
d. Each media file is saved under a matching keyword that is part of the current profile. This makes it easier to re-optimise the profile with every revision of your priorities & target audience. For example, media that is useful for lead generation may not be as effective in attracting profile views by recruiters.
Optimise the Profile using Rich Media:
A LinkedIn profile has 4 pre-assigned sub-sections for hosting rich media files. You can optimise them by signing in via browser, clicking on your profile picture icon on the left of your homepage & selecting the view profile option. Next, you must click on the “add more sections” tab & edit the following sections from the drop down tab:
1. Featured Section:
Choose the media sub-section under the Feature Tab & upload the relevant files from your device. You could include a video-intro about you or your company, a resume, a Slideshare presentation or any other media that you frequently re-purpose for other posts & articles. You can also do this by using the + icon on your Featured tab. The other options of this section i.e. Posts, articles & links will only ask you to paste a URL. Here, you could select links of content that includes Media from your featured section or external links that generate inbound traffic for your LinkedIn profile.
HACK!!
If you’ve explored the Featured section of your profile, you may have figured out that .mp4 and .movs are not supported.
Say you have a video and you want to include it in your Profile’s Featured or Experience section. Here’s the solution:
- Upload your .mp4 or .mov as a native video
- For the Featured section, just click on the star and “Feature on top of profile”.
- If you want to add the video to an experience section,
- Grab the link from the Native Video post and then add it as a link in Media
- Customise your title and description
- Click on Apply
When viewers click “View” on the Native Video inside of your Profile’s Media section, it will send them over to the post of the video where they can like, comment, or share it.
Having the video on your timeline and your profile serves two slightly different functions. One’s branding, the other is encouraging engagement.
2. Background:
Three tabs in this section allow the user to upload rich media content, namely:
a. Work Experience: This tab opens a pop-up with an editable single page format for every designation in your work history. Herein, every role carries a blue button to upload some form of rich media or link associated with that title. It is better to use files that can be renamed with Skill based keywords & hosted on LinkedIn.
b. Education: Designed in the same format as Work Experience, you can upload the related documents for each qualification, but rename them with better keywords. For example, a file named Economics Graduate will always do better in SEO, as compared Bachelor of Arts.
c. License & Certifications: Unlike accomplishments & skill badge sections, you can upload license & certification copies to your profile. Furthermore, it is better to use documents that specify a certain qualification of eligibility.
All other sections of the profile allow the submission of a relevant URL or backlink. By using all the rich media tools at your disposal, you can create a profile that scores high on SERPs, audience engagement, social media activity & networking.
To have your LinkedIn profile optimised for you, learn more here: https://www.trevisanconsulting.com//linkedin-profile-creation/
For bespoke LinkedIn marketing advice schedule an initial phone consultation here: http://bit.ly/LinkedIndiscoverycall
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