Education

LinkedIn for Doctors: Top 10 Strategies Dentists Can Use to Get Ahead

With a reach of over 700 million members globally, LinkedIn is the largest professional networking site in the world. As such, it provides a wealth of opportunities to help you gain visibility in the industry, enhance your professional reputation, and network with other healthcare professionals.

So if you want to establish yourself as a thought leader in the industry, gain more speaking engagements, earn press mentions (and more), optimizing your LinkedIn profile is the way to go.

Below are the top 10 strategies dentists and doctors of any specialty can use to get ahead on this platform.

How Dentists and Doctors Can Optimize Their LinkedIn Profiles

  1. Add your professional headshot

Statistically, LinkedIn profiles with user headshots are more likely to be seen. Include your current headshot and make sure it’s not one of you from 20 years ago. Look professional and do not have coworkers, spouses, children, or pets in your profile photo.

Your LinkedIn profile is about you, and as a professional networking site, you want to appear as professional as possible.

  1. Insert a background photo

Every LinkedIn profile has the option of adding a background photo. It’s a great way to capture additional information about your specialty or practice. You can also add a photograph of your business (preferably one that shows its name).

Here you can include a team photo – but make sure your practice’s name is visible. 

  1. Write a descriptive professional headline

You’re given 120 characters to write a fantastic, descriptive headline. Use it! My recommendation is to use keywords and be thorough. Don’t be humorous, it can often confuse other professionals and work against you.

One of the first sections viewers see when they see your profile in a search is your headline, so make sure it describes your specialty and expertise.

  1. Optimize your URL

Every profile on LinkedIn has a system-generated URL. What you want to do is make it unique to you or your specialty to improve search results. For example, John-Doe-Dentist or Jane-Doe-Oral-Surgeon.

First, you want to make sure your first and last names are included. Second, if you have a common name and that URL is taken, then add your profession or specialty after it.

  1. Write a compelling summary

LinkedIn gives you a 2000 character count to be able to craft an exemplary summary. Use it! First, this means being strategic about the information you include. Second, it’s also an opportunity to make sure you’ve included popular keywords.

LinkedIn’s algorithm crawls for keywords and when others in the industry are searching for areas that pertain to your niche, they’re searching keywords too.

  1. Get endorsements and add your skills

The whole premise of LinkedIn is to establish yourself as a professional, thought leader, or influencer. To do this effectively, you should be strategic about the endorsements and skills that are listed in your profile.

LinkedIn’s “Request a recommendation” feature allows you to reach out to folks you’re connected with and ask them for a professional endorsement. My suggestion is to reach out to dentists or thought leaders in your industry who you have a good working relationship with.

  1. Include your accomplishments

If you want to be seen as a leader, then you need to demonstrate your expertise. The best way to show this on LinkedIn is to list out awards, languages you speak, and organizations you’re affiliated with. In addition to that, if you’ve published a book or clinical research in a professional journal, then add those as well.

Best of all, you can even provide links to your work so others can read it. This is not the time to be shy and modest about your expertise, LinkedIn specifically has these sections, so use them to your advantage.

  1. Add your contact information and personal website

On LinkedIn, people can contact you by sending a direct message through the platform. While you should remain active on it, as a busy dentist, we know that’s not always possible. So, if this is the case, include the email address listed on your website so inquiries can be funneled into an inbox you or your team actively check.

In addition, a trick most people don’t know is to add your contact email to your “Summary” as part of your call to action. As the largest professional networking site, LinkedIn for doctors and dentists can truly help you skyrocket your career.

  1. Write blurbs under the “Experience” section

LinkedIn has a section where you can include your work experience. Keep in mind that this is not the area to copy and paste your resume. The best option here is to include the most relevant jobs you’ve had that relate to your industry. Then, write a blurb about your responsibilities and accomplishments in that role.

If you were an associate dentist and aided in increasing the conversion rate at the dental practice you worked at by 30%, then write that. However, do not lie about anything because all this information can be viewed by others and verified through personal fact-checking, which would lessen your credibility.

  1. Have at least 100 connections

You don’t have to have several hundred connections (though that would be great), but having too few doesn’t place you as an expert or someone who is revered professionally. LinkedIn is not like Facebook; you don’t have to know everyone you are connected to personally.

That’s why it’s a great networking tool — you can request connections to folks in the industry who you look up to or who may know who you are simply because you’re a big name in the industry. Just don’t overdo it with the “stranger” requests. 

Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader Through LinkedIn

As a dentist, it’s important to think like an entrepreneur if you want to further your career. Establishing yourself as a thought leader on LinkedIn brings many benefits. In addition to that, it shows other professionals in your industry that you are a doctor with extensive experience.

Take some time on the weekend to optimize your LinkedIn profile, or join if you aren’t a member (it’s free). Make sure everything you write is SEO-friendly and written without spelling errors, which will count against you.

More than that, go in every few months to improve your copy and optimize the content further. Plus, if you are honored with awards or interviewed, publish that to the site.

To learn more about LinkedIn for doctors or becoming an entrepreneur dentist, reach out to the experts at Dental Whale. Their team of industry leaders is making breakthroughs in dentistry and is highly sought after to speak at dental conferences and events. 

To learn more about how to further your dental career, visit us at https://www.dentalwhale.com/education/. And feel free to leave us a comment below. We love to hear about what’s on your mind