Social media is the hot topic on the web these days. Lots of companies and firms are jumping head over heals to get involved in each new wave and site that comes out. In my opinion, the first place lawyers should start building their presence is on LinkedIn. Utilizing LinkedIn gives you a valuable resource for networking. There are over 43 million professionals on LinkedIn and growing.

Below are five ideas for improving your LinkedIn profile:

1. Make A Good First Impression – Whether you like it or not, a good first impression is critical when networking professionally. Making a good first impression can be the difference between success and failure with you networking. Your headline and picture are your first impressions on LinkedIn. Utilize a professional picture on your profile. Your headline should be straightforward and represent your niche in the legal world. If you are looking for lawyers to add to your law firm, looking for employment at a firm, or looking for advice on a case, then put that in your headline.

2. Customize Your Url – Take the time to customize your LinkedIn URL. This is a great opportunity to brand yourself and allow people to easily find you. It also can help get your profile found in Google when someone searches for your name.

3. Add Keywords Throughout Your Profile – Do some thinking about your particular legal niche and what types of keywords a client, professional, or colleague might search for. Add these keywords to your profile so that when a search is performed in LinkedIn, your profile shows up.

4. Include Links To Your Firm’s Website – You are able to add up to 3 websites on your profile. I suggest that you add your law firm’s website, your blog, and perhaps your profile from another social media network such as Twitter. Be sure to customize the name of each link on the profile.

5. Join Relevant LinkedIn Groups – LinkedIn offers a great way to connect and join the conversation with their groups. You can search for relevant groups to your legal area, join them, and get involved networking.

Tags: advertising for lawyers, attorney advertising, law, lawyer marketing, legal, Linkedin, marketing, online marketing, Social Media

This entry was posted on September 30, 2009 at 2:55 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Social Media by Jeff Berman No Comments Yet