It’s never been more important than it is today to create, maintain and build a consistent presence on LinkedIn. It’s an essential part of your personal brand.

Whether you use LinkedIn every day, once a week, once a month or once a year, it is still either your number one or number two Google search result, underscoring the importance of your profile.

Here are three essential and (easy) things to do on LinkedIn today that will enhance your visibility and business.

1. Add a cover image with your contact information (email and phone number). This is prime real estate at the top of your profile. Leverage it to make it easy for people to find and contact you. Add your branding too.

2. Customize your headline. You get 220 characters to describe what you do, for whom you do it and what makes you different than your competitors and your peers. If you don’t customize it, LinkedIn will use your current job title and headline. You can do so much better. Describe what you do, how you do it and for whom with results-oriented words without using overly self-promotional adjectives like “expert” or “pioneer.”

3. Add your summary section. This is your bio and it’s important because it enables you to tell your professional story and use keywords to describe what you do. Write it in the first-person and in a conversational tone. Not having a summary is usually what is holding you back from obtaining All-Star status, which is important for enhancing your visibility and searchability on LinkedIn. A good LinkedIn summary has short paragraphs, it’s written in the first person, it’s conversational and it’s not overly self-promotional.

Take these simple steps today and watch your LinkedIn visibility increase. This is how you make your LinkedIn profile work more effectively for you.

What do you think of these tips?

Here’s a video with more on this.