With the almost sudden rise of the social media playing field and the immediate need for everyone to join as many as they can as quickly as possible, it’s often a common mistake to overlook some of the most important social networks and their features.

Most Internet ‘power users’ have a profile on all the major social networks and have reserved their own personal URL. The average user does not realize the potential and the impact that the web will have on important professional changes. I highly recommend reconsidering your internet presence. Is it just a dumb MySpace page and an empty Twitter account? Before you do anything else, visit Go Daddy or any other major domain/hosting provider and reserve (if available) your own personal URL, starting with your first and last name (.com). Next, head over to LinkedIn.

If you haven’t set up a LinkedIn profile yet, do so now. LinkedIn is a place where you can connect professionally with those you’ve interacted with. It removes all the games, silly photo albums and other unnecessary and unprofessional stuff out of the picture and provides a place to really build on your professional network. This is important on several levels, but first and foremost, it is quickly becoming the first place employers turn to post jobs and the most trusted source for submitting resumes. So whether you’re looking for a job or not, LinkedIn is an important piece of your personal online puzzle. Treat LinkedIn like a professional portfolio, your resume online and visible to a huge network of other professionals.

Here are some top tips for new or experienced LinkedIn users to help get you on track.

1. Complete your profile – LinkedIn offers a helpful ‘progress bar’ as you settle in that points you in the right direction. Focus on the important things like adding a full work history, importing contacts, adding education, listing awards, and one of the most common areas left unaddressed…adding a photo. Most companies and schools are available in a picklist within LinkedIn that helps you automatically connect with others with the same credentials. Finally, be sure to add a summary. This is like the cover letter and should detail the important achievements and qualifications that help set you apart from the rest.
2. Add professional experience in detail – Your experience is vital for a complete LinkedIn profile. Treat this like a resume and keep it short, but be sure to list any highlights or notable tasks you were responsible for. Also, be sure to try to keep the dates you were employed as accurate as possible for each of the companies you worked with.
3. Join groups – Groups are a fun way to connect with others who share similar interests. Adding groups adds credibility to your profile and shows viewers at a glance what interests you most. Contributing by adding threads or commenting on other threads helps build your notoriety within these groups. Proactive groups host local meetups with highly informative speakers that also allow you to network with other like-minded professionals.
4. Link to Twitter account – This is a fact. LinkedIn asks you to do this in various places and at different times during your profile setup. This will allow you to easily connect a Twitter account that will work as an automatic status updater for Twitter and LinkedIn profiles. Once linked, you won’t have to visit both sites individually to post status updates; if you post something on Twitter, it will carry over.
5. Get recommendations – Being recommended is one of the most important and beneficial features of LinkedIn. As I said earlier, LinkedIn is becoming the source that companies turn to first when posting job availability and their trust for job seekers through the service is better than if you were to simply submit a resume in person. LinkedIn adds credibility through recommendations backed by real people, because while anyone can add bogus recommendations to a printed resume, LinkedIn recommendations are written by real people that potential employers can reach.

There you have it, 5 simple tips to help you start or restart your LinkedIn profile. Be sure to keep your LinkedIn profile public so it shows up in search. Unless you’re hiding something, keep it public. Good luck!