Social media, as we all know, is a must-have marketing tool for real estate agents and attorneys and LinkedIn should be an important part of your game plan. 

Unlike Facebook, Instagram or Twitter which are designed for consumer connections, LinkedIn is designed entirely for business to business connections. On LinkedIn, you can manage your professional network and connect with like-minded brands, individuals and even potential clients. 

By crafting the perfect profile, creating relevant content and maximizing engagement, you can use LinkedIn to stay connected to your sphere of influence, build relationships in the real estate industry and increase your Google SEO (search engine optimization) results that drive business. 

Craft The Perfect Profile

One of the most important steps in creating the perfect profile is, by no surprise, to have a professional profile picture. 

Your photo is the first thing people see next to your name when visiting your profile, so having a professional headshot on a network designed for business is not negotiable.

If you don’t have one to use, we do recommend hiring a branding photographer to snap your professional headshot to use on your website, in listing presentations and across each of your social media platforms. Even if you love that “headshot” that you cropped from a friend’s wedding, LinkedIn is not the place for it! 

Once you’ve established your profile picture, it’s important to understand how your LinkedIn profile has the ability to boost your Google SEO results. 

The first step to do this is to adjust your display name in the first and last name fields. Use your full name, or whatever name you use professionally and would expect people to search if Googling you. If your name is Elizabeth Jones but you have gone by Beth your whole life, use Beth. If your name is Elizabeth but only your close friends and family call you Beth, then use your full name. 

Then, enter a few industry keywords after your name. This will help you rank in Google searches when users are seeking local real estate agents or attorneys.

As an example, if your name is Megan Jones, in the first name field you’d enter “Megan” and in the last name field you’d enter “Jones – Chicago Real Estate Agent.” When someone searches you, it appears as Megan Jones – Chicago Real Estate Agent. 

Another tip for a professional profile and boosting your Google SEO results is to improve your profile headline. On LinkedIn, this is the section that appears at the top of a LinkedIn profile where you describe your job in 120 characters or less. It’s important to let users know that yes, you’re a real estate agent or attorney, but to assist with SEO and higher LinkedIn profile clicks, you should make it clear who you are here for and how you intend to help. As an example, your headline could read “Established Real Estate Agent: Helping Chicago Residents Find Their Home.” 

Content For Connection

Now that you have a fully-optimized profile, it’s time to increase your presence on LinkedIn. The main goal of LinkedIn is to connect with relevant people in your industry. So what drives the connection? You guessed it — content! 

Your content should be a direct reflection of your goals, objectives and services you offer. It’s a great way to show off your area of expertise to your audience.

To increase your profile’s presence and drive connection to current clients, potential clients and colleagues we recommended sharing a mix of the following: 

• Blog Posts: Blogging is still a great way to build rapport and showcase your expertise to establish yourself as a leader and mentor in the industry on topics you’re passionate about. LinkedIn is a great place to blog because you don’t need to have a separate website or blogging software — simply use LinkedIn’s publishing platform to share 500-word updates about current events, 

• Industry Articles: Since LinkedIn is designed for business, users log on searching for industry updates and news. Contributing to LinkedIn’s home feed by sharing the latest news offers your connections the opportunity to engage with your profile. Support colleagues by sharing their posts or keep some of your favorite news sources and real estate publications bookmarked for easy sharing. 

• Quick Tips with Eye-Catching Visuals: Sharing quick tips on leadership, professional success and real estate practices designed with eye-catching visuals is a great way to showcase your branding, leadership and professional insight. We love using Canva to create eye-catching graphics. 

• Client Success Photos and Videos: Last but not least, sharing a photo (or video!) is a great way to show off your personality and highlight client relationships. Whether it’s a photo of a recent closing, networking event or company outing, photos and videos receive better engagement on LinkedIn than short-form text posts.

Maximize Engagement 

Social media is constantly evolving and LinkedIn is no exception. To maximize the engagement of your compelling content, it’s important to be consistent with your posts. Post regularly, and try to post during business hours or when your audience is most likely to be online. While it’s not critical that you post at the exact same time every day, we suggest posting first thing in the morning, around 3:00 p.m. (that afternoon slump!) or at the end of the business day when people might be checking social media on the commute home.  

Another way to maximize engagement and stay consistently connected is to join industry groups. Groups, such as the Real Estate Professionals Group, are one of the best components of LinkedIn that offer new opportunities to network. 

You get to strengthen connections within a forum and most importantly, you have the opportunity to send all members of the group a direct message, a feature that isn’t available on LinkedIn to users you aren’t connected with outside the group. This is great for starting relevant discussions with new users.

What else would you like to know about LinkedIn? Connect with us by following our LinkedIn page and be sure to comment on a recent post to say hello!