How Your Company Can Benefit from LinkedIn’s New Search Features

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LinkedIn updated its in-network search engine this week, creating a better experience for individual users and companies alike. Marketers and businesses who engage in content marketing will especially benefit from these changes. Read below to find out what changes were made and how they can help your marketing efforts.

What’s Different?

Personalized Searches– Instead of search queries giving you results from the millions of companies and people on the network, they will now be more personalized. These personalized results will be based more off of the user’s connections and profile information.
Improved Search for Non-Premium Members- One of the most noticeable features of the updated search engine are the improved results for non-premium LinkedIn members. Where non-premium members once saw an unknown face next to “LinkedIn Member” after performing various searches, they will now see a face next to its corresponding name. This simple change will make it much easier for those who aren’t willing to pay for LinkedIn’s services to find what they are looking for.
Search Will Show Relevant Uploaded Content- When searches were performed in the past, people, groups, and businesses would be displayed. The recent reengineering has updated the search engine to now display uploaded content that is relevant to the search query. Blog posts, Slideshare decks, and other types of content will now show up in searches along with other relevant companies, groups, and people.

What Does this Mean for Marketers?

LinkedIn is Even More Valuable- The fact that LinkedIn will now show relevant uploaded content makes the social network even more valuable to marketers than it was before. Content can now be leveraged in a more effective manner and will likely be seen by more users.
It is More Important to Share Content- Businesses must share their content on their personal profile and status updates to remain competitive in their industry. If your content isn’t shared on LinkedIn, then it will be the content of your competitor that shows up in search results instead of yours.
LinkedIn Better Facilitates B2B Connections- This update will make it easier for businesses to search for other businesses. For instance, home builders can now easily find sales tips and real estate services from professionals based on their experience and published content. Businesses will then have a feel for the professional’s level of expertise based on the content that appeared in the search.

Tips for Putting Content on LinkedIn

Use SlideShare to Your Advantage- In 2014, LinkedIn made it possible for users to add SlideShares to their profile. SlideShares are dynamic slide presentations that can be easily viewed online. Adding these documents to your profile is a great way to show off your industry expertise and increase the chances that you show up in LinkedIn searches.
Add Blog Posts to Your Personal Profile- Enable those who visit your personal profile to view knowledgeable industry posts you have written for your company. Your profile can easily be edited to show posts you are proud of! To do this, 1) scroll down to your personal LinkedIn Experience section on your profile page. 2) Hover your cursor in the top right corner of the section and click on the square symbol. 3) You will then see where you can add a link or upload a file.
Share Blog Posts in Company and Personal Status Updates – Ensure your company’s blog posts are shared in status updates on your company’s LinkedIn page. Additionally, share your company’s blog posts on your personal LinkedIn status updates and encourage your colleagues to share your company’s blog posts on their personal profiles, as well. LinkedIn reports that “members who share content on LinkedIn at least once a week are nearly 10 times more likely to be contacted for new opportunities than people who don’t share.”
Publish Blog Posts on LinkedIn using Publisher- LinkedIn’s Publisher feature was made available to all users in the past year. It is a fantastic platform that allows individual members to publish original content. This allows members to demonstrate their professional expertise, which benefits the companies they work for. Discover LinkedIn Publisher to get more value from LinkedIn.

For more information about effectively marketing your business on LinkedIn, check out these helpful posts: