When it comes to online lead generation, LinkedIn has long been a go to social network for business professionals for many reasons. The site isn't filled with distractions in the same way that a Facebook timeline can be. It doesn't feature the same constraints of 140 characters that Twitter imposes on you.

Primarily, it's a great way to connect with new leads and grow your business networking base--the root of what most real estate professionals are trying to achieve by increasing their networking profile is to generate leads for their business. Today, I'm going to go over some tips on how to get the most out of LinkedIn and optimize your profile to start generating leads.

Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile To Start Generating Leads

Optimize for Keyword Searches

The first thing you'll want to do on LinkedIn is make sure your profile is filled out to its fullest. The goal for your profile is to be findable for certain keywords using LinkedIn's search feature, as well as general search engines like Google and Bing.

Figure out what your niche keywords are. So if you're a company that specializes in Real Estate Marketing or Luxury Real Estate Services, make sure to include those terms in your headline, current work experience, past work experience and specialties sections of your profile. Here are a few simple tips on how you can push your LinkedIn profile strength to All-Star levels.

Add Your Websites

Often the easiest way to get a lead is to get them to visit your website, so it's important to link to them properly. Instead of generic terms like Our Site, Our Blog, use descriptive terms to make your links pop. Choose the other option in the websites dropdown as it enables you to customize your anchor text.

Beef Up Your Author Profile

Under the publications section, you can add additional links to publications you contribute to, be they newspaper columns or blogs. It's a great way to add exposure for your work. If you've written a whitepaper or an eBook as a tool to generate leads through your site, feel free to link to it using the publications feature. The more you can flesh out your LinkedIn profile, the better it is for attracting search traffic.

Start Making Connections

While I'm sure everyone has connected with their friends, families and colleagues, consider connecting people you have weak ties to. In a recent Wired article, they outlined how casual acquaintances can often prove better than close friends for generating leads. While that article focuses on the differences between Twitter and Facebook, this can definitely apply many of the same traits to LinkedIn and building your network there.

Consider adding pretty much everyone you can. While LinkedIn is pretty stringent about rules on connecting with people you actually know, that doesn't stop you from extending your network within their constraints. They allow you to import contacts from your email and that is a great way of shaking out new contacts. Remember that Thursday night baseball league you played in threeyears ago? You can connect with all those people who were on the email list in a professional context. It really becomes easy to build out your network when extending to these so called "weak ties."

And the best part about LinkedIn is how the more people you add, the more likely you are to shake out more common connections as LinkedIn starts seeing who is connected to who. So people you might have met through friends or colleagues will start being suggested for you.

Get Involved In Groups

There are a few different ways to get involved with groups. You can join existing groups that cater to your niche, as well as local organizations. Many local business associations and trade groups have active groups going.

The second way is to start your own groups. This way you can put your knowledge in your niche on display and engage with other members. The bonus to this is you can from time to time email group members and spur discussions within the group. The best bet is to join groups within your niche and start engaging to get your feet wet. Then once you're comfortable, create your own group and start leading the conversation.

Get Following

LinkedIn allows you to follow companies and topics as well as individual users. You can connect with local companies and services and get your name out there within your community. You never know when a real estate lead might come from at times.

LinkedIn is no different than any other social network. With a little effort, time and patience you will start seeing the dividends from your hard work. Putting the legwork into optimizing your profile, building your network of contacts and being active within the community will pay off in the long run.

Have some great tips for optimizing your LinkedIn profile? Tell us in the comments below.

To view the original article, visit the Lone Wolf blog.