If you’re an established lawyer, chances are that you aren’t considering social media when it comes to spreading the word about your service. Here’s the thing: social media plays a big role in how potential clients view you. It has an impact on your client base.

Creating an Engaging Lawyer’s Profile on Linkedin in 6 Easy Steps

Master the profile basics

All the fancy tips in the world won’t get you anywhere if you don’t have a solid grip on the basics. That’s true about everything in life– not just creating a lawyer’s profile on Linkedin!

The good news is that we’re here to offer some guidance. If you’ve decided it’s time to start building the basics of your lawyer’s profile on Linkedin, here’s our best advice for mastering those building blocks:

• Prioritize a good profile photo to ensure a great first impression
  • Use good lighting, wear appropriate clothing, and make sure you look your best
• Select a professional personal cover photo like a logo, a unique office scenario image, or other attorney-at-work image
  • This gives more depth to your profile; it keeps Linkedin feeling dynamic
• Set up your vanity URL so that it’s easy for people to get to your profile
• Include contact information— it’s easy to forget, but how else will readers get in touch?

Think of Linkedin as a beacon for your digital reputation– not just your online resume

If you’re just looking to use Linkedin as a digital resume, you’re not going to get as much use out of it as you could. Linkedin is the perfect platform to build your reputation on the web.  It’s a place to share content that you create and to let your audience find out about you.

According to the ABA, most lawyers (about 80% of them) use or maintain their presence on social media for professional purposes. How many of those use Linkedin?  82%– it’s actually the most popular social network for attorneys.

There’s a reason for Linkedin’s popularity amongst legal professionals. It’s the perfect platform to build an entire reputation instead of creating a basic outline of your experience.

Try using a schedule to help you stay on top of Linkedin profile building and maintenance

It can be tough to keep track of everything you want to do to improve your Linkedin presence.  Instead of letting your intentions get lost in the hustle and bustle of maintaining a legal practice, try out a schedule to help keep things in check.

• Set aside 10-20 minutes per day to work on building and curating your Linkedin
• At first, you can use these blocks of time to build the foundation of your account (your profile, your written content, etc.)
• Once your Linkedin account is established, you can use this time to network and make improvements to your presence on the site

Stay away from classic mistakes

For some reason, there are certain mistakes that lots of lawyers make when it comes to using Linkedin. It’s best to be aware of these pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Missing photos aren’t a good look

Neither are distracting or unprofessional pictures. Even though you might not care about setting a profile picture, the people who are looking at your profile do. Make sure you have detailed and professional photos to highlight you and your services.

Your profile needs to be consistent (and complete)

It’s sort of like a missing picture– empty sections of your lawyer’s profile on Linkedin just don’t look good. Make sure you fill out every detail that you can when you’re setting up your account on LinkedIn. Take the time to look over what you’ve written and make sure everything is consistent. Information should be up-to-date, writing should flow from one area of your profile to the next, and so on.

Avoid ethics blunders

If you work in the legal sphere, you already know that ethics are central to the profession. It’s painfully easy to make mistakes on the web — and even if you don’t mean to, you could end up crossing ethical lines via Linkedin.

• Legal and advertising ethics for lawyers still apply on Linkedin
• Never use words in your lawyer’s profile on Linkedin that you wouldn’t (or couldn’t) use somewhere else
• Include required disclaimers
• Manage your endorsements and recommendations– ensure they fall within ethical guidelines

“See More” counts for a lot — don’t ignore your profile summary

It really doesn’t matter if you have the best heading in the world. Without a good profile summary, lawyers are guaranteed to lose a good chunk of their Linkedin audience.

Not everyone on Linkedin has lots of time to spare.  If they see your headline and they’re intrigued, that’s great– but how are you going to explain why they might benefit from your input before they move on to someone else’s profile? The busy people you’re trying to network with are smart; if you don’t offer them enough right off the bat, they’ll look for what they need somewhere else.

You need to network with others

One of the strongest benefits Linkedin has to offer is the fact that it allows you to network with other legal professionals. If you aren’t using the platform to communicate with your fellow lawyers, you’re making a mistake.

• Connect with other lawyers at your firm
• Search for people in your legal department
• Look for law school classmates
• Interact with lawyers you meet at conferences and events
• Get in touch with former colleagues

You can even use Linkedin to network with current and potential clients. You can “mine” data about your clients from Linkedin to ensure that your practice is growing in the best way for you and for them.

For attorneys in competitive industries, it’s imperative that you begin considering yourself in terms of your personal brand. An engaging lawyer’s profile on Linkedin is one of the easiest, most efficient ways to enhance your personal brand as a legal professional. 

The prospect of putting together a cohesive attorney’s Linkedin profile can feel a little daunting. The fortunate news is that a handful of simple tricks can help elevate the process from confounding to cohesive.