It is very important to think about your name and title on LinkedIn. They are important because, along with your image, they are associated with your account and presence on LinkedIn.
Consistency is important across all social media sources as well as hard-copy sources. So many people spell their names and titles differently across platforms. This is neither professional nor helpful to your brand!
Check your messaging! Here is a checklist to help:
- Use your full name, both first and last, completely spelled out with proper capitalization. Do not use capitals throughout.
- Do not add nicknames, or other endearing keywords, to your name on LinkedIn. What name do people know you by most? What name will people associate with you; this is the name that will be searched.
- Do not use special characters or symbols
- Use the exact same version of your name on all your branding tools
- Include your maiden name, if appropriate and necessary, in parentheses
- Put the correct name in the correct field
It is also important to check if you have other accounts open and unnecessary under your name. There are many idle accounts with different name spellings but all associated to you. This is very confusing to the LinkedIn search algorithm and lessens your ability to be found. Again, having additional profiles, with no content, is neither professional nor beneficial.