Do you know how keywords can help you win on your LinkedIn profile and your resume? If you want to be found on LinkedIn or make it through applicant tracking systems (ATS) as a job seeker, keywords are essential.

Keywords can help you win to have an optimized LinkedIn profile and gobsmacking customized resume. 

Make sure you use keywords in your LinkedIn profile as an entrepreneur, solopreneur, or small business owner as well as employed, underemployed, or unemployed.

As a job seeker, you need to match your resume to the job description for keywords and phrases, so you always want to customize a resume from your base resume and replace keywords that match the job description. 

However, you can only have one LinkedIn profile, so you need to research the best words to use. When in Rome, do and the Romans. When on LinkedIn, do as the Linkedtonians!

Here is one way that I use to compare keywords:

1. Click on the Jobs tab at the top
2. Enter a keyword in the left search bar
3. Hit the tab button and enter “Greater Philadelphia” (not in quotes)
4. Look at the top left for the number of jobs
5. Record the word in one column in a spreadsheet and the number in another
6. Enter a new word in the left search bar
7. Click search
8. Record the word in one column in a spreadsheet and the number in another
9. Keyword, search, rinse & repeat
10. Analyze your data by sorting most to least 
11. Copy and paste your list so you can also review it alphabetically and don’t forget any words that relate to your skillset

I want my clients (and students at my LinkedIn workshops at the library and elsewhere) to use the best synonym of their keywords on their LinkedIn profiles. Hence, I engage in a data-driven decision-making process. Here are examples below, and I bolded the largest numbers from my analysis.

The biggest number is not always the best. Sometimes individuals have very “nichey” skillsets, and there will be smaller numbers of keywords. Unique purple squirrels and unicorns may have an edge!

EXAMPLE 1

Project Manager 5,558

Project Management 15,152

EXAMPLE 2

Budget 11,616

Budgets 9,830

Budgeting 8,686

Forecasts 1,148

Forecasting 5,472

Budgets & Forecasts 161

Budgeting & Forecasting 516

EXAMPLE 3

Attorney 905

Counsel 1432

Lawyer 504

PA Lawyer 6

Pennsylvania Lawyer 385

Here is another way to compare keywords using Google Trends:

Typically, I have found that LinkedIn mirrors Google Trends, and you can perform this same exercise comparing keywords by area in the past “x number” of hours, days, months, or years. 

On Google Trends, you can select what is pertinent to your needs. You can also choose by category and web search, image search, news search, Google shopping, or Youtube search. Google Trends will give you a line graph with a different color for each word you enter. 

Here is another way using LinkedIn’s Resume Builder (only available on desktop):

1. Click the Jobs tab at the top of your profile
2. Click the Resume Builder in the far left column
3. You can either Create from profile or Upload resume
4. To start, choose Create from profile and enter your desired Job title (which must be in LinkedIn’s database)
5. Click Apply
6. On the far right column, LinkedIn will provide Resume Insights and tell you what keywords are Found in your resume and what Suggested keywords you might add
7. LinkedIn also notes, “LinkedIn resumes are formatted to be compatible with the typical resume screening software used by recruiters”
8. If you have a free account, the above steps will still work, but LinkedIn might note that you can unlock more keywords with Premium
9. You can also Upload resume and repeat the same process. Just know that LinkedIn adds the company logos to your resume and a 2-page resume, for example, may now be longer than 2 pages using their system.

Here are some previous articles on keywords that may also help you, if you would like to do some further reading.