Because a personal website is professional personal branding, per se.
So, why do you even have to bother doing personal branding? Well aside from it matters (which I'll expound on later), you are already doing it via social media.
Now, professional personal branding is a different species of the same context. You share who you are, but for "selling" yourself either to employers, clients, or networks.
I know you are now starting to imagine the information you only want to show to a professional network in your industry, right?
And you are also right to realize that it is critical to building your online presence.
According to a CareerBuilder survey, 70% of employment searches are done online. So, if you aren't careful with what you upload there, it might backfire on you.
Thus, you must start orienting those building blocks of professional reputation that can open more and better opportunities for you.
What Is Professional Personal Branding?
Professional reputation = professional personal branding.
We used to live in those days that a resume is enough to provide a remarkable first impression which makes HR want to hire you on the spot.
But nowadays, a resume may not suffice and an impression doesn't last that long.
In this increasingly competitive world, recruiters and even company owners themselves are looking at value rather than impression. They want to see how you go about situations to help them assess your potential.
Aside from your background and skills, employers want to see other things that add better value to them should they invest in you.
From resumes, we now have portfolios. And portfolios impact the way you do our professional personal branding.
Portfolios are a showcase of your capabilities, capacities, and potentials. In essence, it embodies your strengths and your edge in your industry.
A strong professional personal branding makes employers and clients want to work with you.
Now, a portfolio in this digital world is more effective in cramming as many competitive edge points in your profile minus the information overload.
Yes, I'm talking about a portfolio on a personal website.
But first, you ought to know that LinkedIn exists for the same reason as a personal website.
And once upon a time, social media and a personal website crossed paths through LinkedIn.
As a social media platform, LinkedIn can serve as a personal profile website and a network builder for professionals who want to connect in their respective industries. This is to help them look for advancement opportunities or to simply jumpstart their careers.
And you ought to know that a network fuels your professional personal branding. Without the means to share your portfolio, it won't get to your clients and employers. You need a platform for that.
A LinkedIn personal website is a good starting point.
Now, LinkedIn developers make sure that the whole platform will denote professional experience all the time. The interconnectivity, UI, and content all align with professionalism.
White background, check.
Profile and resume info highlights, check.
Network connections, check.
To create mileage with LinkedIn, you can follow these tips and tricks:
· Create a company page then link your personal profile.
· Of course, do the same on your personal page.
· Make time to update your information and add more relevant experiences that boost activity on your page.
· Associate a personal portfolio website to provide a better visual experience.
· Join other online communities in your industry circle.
· Create your own group.
· Create a team and connect with them to have a centralized professional working environment.
· Put premium in writing error-free content that is also search engine optimized.
· Be careful with your online footprint.
Create a company page then link your personal profile.
This helps add more flair to your branding efforts.
Of course, do the same on your personal page.
Do the highlighting and boosting your personal page of your business.
Make time to update your information and add more relevant experiences that boost activity on your page.
This helps your profile show up more constantly in your network.
Associate a personal portfolio website to provide a better visual experience.
A personal portfolio website adds another dimension in showcasing your skills. Aside from containing your relevant experience, it can help you provide proof of your outputs.
Join other online communities in your industry circle.
This can boost your network connections and pass your profile around.
Create your own group.
This way, you have better control of the people you want to be in your network. You can also have a more proper platform for your initiatives.
Create a team and connect with them to have a centralized professional working environment.
Aside from helping yourself monitor their activities, you also solidify your network better.
Put premium in writing error-free content that is also search engine optimized.
It improves your credibility and emphasizes your academic competencies.
Socialize!
LinkedIn is a social media platform, after all. Be part of a professional network but also create meaningful connections. It's not all about work but having people around whom you can share similar interests and visions.
Be careful with your online footprint.
Bringing more information in your LinkedIn personal website comes with responsibility. For once, it shouldn't contain false information about yourself just to boost your credibility. It shouldn't also be used to defame colleagues you might have had bad relationships with.
Make it work to your advantage but also note that your actions may impact your industry as a whole. Use power responsibly.
Now, it may sound like a complete experience, but as the landscape continuously evolves, LinkedIn seems to incompletely cater to all types of professionals.
Artists and professionals like photographers and graphic designers might not completely get the most out of LinkedIn.
It lacks visual value.
But as I've mentioned, our professional personal branding is only as good as our network. Our portfolio has to reach as many clients or else, we cannot achieve the branding and career growth we want.
You need that LinkedIn account and a personal website.
Personal Website
To maximize your benefits out of a personal website, it has to have these essential elements:
· Complete information
· Engaging visual appeal
· Reviews or testimonials
· Portfolio gallery
· Value-adding and search engine optimized content
Complete Information
We are talking about contact information to be added to your personal profile website like (so employers and clients can reach you), academic background, relevant training, soft and hard skills, and work experience.
Visual Appeal
Aesthetics bring impression and sustains interest. Most especially if you work around visuals, make your audience's journey in your personal website a beautiful experience.
Testimonials
This helps compel more clients to believe your claims about yourself. Ask your colleagues and past clients to write some testimonials about your work, which you can also do the same for them in return.
Portfolio Gallery
Run through your audience to a visual delight. Help them experience your style with images of your work.
SEO
Needless to say, SEO builds the network from the inside. It helps you connect with LinkedIn's massive network so that your target audience and market will find it regardless of wherever you are in the world.
There are a lot of resources online on how to design a personal website. Aside from going through the DIY route, you can also take advantage of personal website templates for inspiration.
In this data-driven era, a personal website can empower your background, skills, and experience to bring more purpose and direction to your career.
Your personal website is a powerful representation of your potential and even your aspirations in your career. And clients or employers are looking for people who are also driven by success as they are.
Professional personal website templates can help you start building your brand. And to maximize both worlds, did you know that you can add personal website to LinkedIn?
Enter, LinkedIn One
Because we want to help you make the most out of your LinkedIn experience, we've come up with a LinkedIn profile builder and personal website templates in one - LinkedIn One.
LinkedIn Oneclick helps turn your LinkedIn information into a more appealing and more comprehensive showcase of your skills and portfolio. You can get an impressionable mobile-optimized resume and personal website that will drive opportunities for you.
And did we say it's free?
Here's a good list of what you can get from LinkedIn One:
· A dynamic background that easily captivates potential employers and clients, even your colleagues
· Provide you an option to display your Instagram feed to give your audience a peek of your personal life and dreams
· A portfolio gallery where you can showcase your design style, successful projects, or even those accolades
· Your uploaded resume in PDF format
· Featured testimonials from colleagues and clients you worked with
· A blog site where you can share learnings, tips and tricks, experiences, or anything that are relatable and value-adding in your industry
Here at Strikingly, we aim at making our products user-oriented and intuitive, hence we guarantee a professional-looking resume website in 10 seconds.
Leverage Yourself
A personal website helps set yourself in a position of authority and credibility in your industry. With LinkedIn One-Click Personal Website Builder, we want to help take your professional personal branding to the next level. Try it for yourself here.
