Have you ever wondered where you rank in the search results when other people search for you or people like you in LinkedIn?

Have you ever searched for yourself on LinkedIn?

Do you know here you rank in the results?

From my research and observations, most of what the LinkedIn experts and gurus advise with regard to LinkedIn profile optimization may be wrong. In fact, some of the things people are doing on LinkedIn in an attempt to positively affect their search ranking may have a dramatically opposite effect!

Let me show you what I’ve found.

What Happens When You Search for Yourself on LinkedIn?

When I search for myself, this is what I get:

I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but something told me I should be #1. Instead, I am the last on the list of results sorted by relevance, after people who aren’t even in my network.

None of the profiles, including my own, mention my name more than once.

Then I decided I would try searching for my name in the keywords field to see what would happen. The results are the same – I am dead last, and the top 2 results are people who have only 1 connection. The third result isn’t even spelled the exact way I searched for it, and it’s still ranked higher than me.

Does this happen to everyone who searches for themselves? Does LinkedIn always rank you last in your own search?

What happens when you search for yourself by first and last name in LinkedIn? Is your experience any different?

LinkedIn’s Answer to Search Result Ranking

To get to the bottom of this mystery, I thought I’d try checking into LinkedIn’s searchable customer support center. I’m not sure how many other people have really delved into all that is available there.

Surprisingly, it turns out they have an answer to the question of why my profile doesn’t rank at the top of LinkedIn search results. I suggest you read very carefully. Continue reading →