5 LinkedIn marketing tricks to boost your social traffic

Web 2.0 blog TechCrunch today revealed that LinkedIn is fast surpassing Twitter as a social driver of traffic to its site, attributing much of this growth to the new LinkedIn Today product. The chances are that you have a LinkedIn account that you use to connect with business contacts. But are you making full use of LinkedIn marketing opportunities?

LinkedIn may not yet pose a serious threat to Facebook, but intelligent features coupled with user growth make it an increasingly strong component of a social media strategy.

If your profile is lying dormant, here are five simple strategies which will help to exploit its potential:

1. Company profiles

One of the lesser-known perks of setting up a company profile is the function to add company products to LinkedIn. ProBlogger did just this with its book and has already attracted 18 professional recommendations. Click here to see social peer-to-peer recommendation in full effect.

2. LinkedIn Today

Launched in March, LinkedIn Today aggregates news from LinkedIn and Twitter, yet serves as much more than just a news source for anyone that publishes content online. Consider getting aggregated via a LinkedIn Share button on your site to exploit its traffic-generating possibilities. Find more information on getting set up here.

3. Status updates

Everybody is familiar with the status update feature reminiscent of Facebook and Twitter. To maximise your reach be sure to share links to every blog you post, as well as links out to other sites. Use the tool to pose questions and spark conversations in your network, taking time to respond to any feedback.

4. Groups

Set up a group on your industry or blog’s topic. Not only will you automatically become an authority in your sector, but you’ll also create potential for extra targeted networking.

5. Source guest writers

One of LinkedIn’s USP’s is the high calibre of its user base. Harness this by searching for people with relevant expertise and approaching them to write a guest post for your business blog.

Tips adapted from ProBlogger.net