When questioned later, they'll admit that they were confused about the site's value, and therefore neglected to build connections or accept invitations.

When my executive clients have went through this routine, I find that they usually didn't realize that LinkedIn is a hot tool for job search, with a significant effect on their success.

LinkedIn, just by the measure of its internal tools and resources, is a great place to conduct an executive job hunt.

The site contains methods that you can use to find company insiders, tap into a new group of professionals and recruiters, stake a presence on the LinkedIn forums, and use internal industry memberships--all to your advantage.

However, the best reason get familiar with LinkedIn and maintain your profile REGULARLY is that it replaces older information about you on the Web--and makes it easy for others to see your executive qualifications during your search.

You can set yourself up for increased success, just by making the connection between personal Internet promotion and your job search. Here are 3 crucial concepts and must-know tips:

1) Keep Your Online Information Relevant to Your Goals.

Suppose you've been at a disadvantage in the job hunt for some time, and you finally realize why.

After performing an online search on your name, you find out that an old lawsuit against your homeowner's association is coming up online. Now, your name is connected to negative information.

Taking this a step further, most executive recruiters WILL look for you online before they ever contact you for an interview.

What will they see first? That's right, and what they find may NOT be supporting your leadership goals.

When "digital dirt" catches up with you, it can bring your executive job hunt to a standstill. Irrelevant information--with your valuable name on it--can float around the Internet for years. However, there are ways to address this issue head-on.

2) Fight Negative Information In Any Way Possible.

Once you find something like this with your name on it, it's tough to eradicate, especially if it's contained in a news release.

Defending yourself can require substantial investments of both your time and financial resources.

However, you CAN focus attention on other aspects of your professional life. The BEST way to do this is to grab every chance you can to publish positive, professional information about your executive career, starting with LinkedIn.

Search engines love fresh data, and will quickly pick up anything that is continually updated. So, the key is to update your LinkedIn information, making it much more relevant to searches on your name.

Essentially, you are giving Google, Yahoo, and others more interesting information that pushes down older data about you, and makes your LinkedIn profile front-page news.

Another technique for anyone facing negative online information is to claim each business information profile that has picked up your name as a keyword.

You can find these engines, including Zoominfo, Spoke, and Jigsaw, by performing a search for your name. Look further down in the online results, as these profiles often show up as older, more outdated entries.

3) Continually Add Activity to Counteract Stagnant Information.

Keeping in mind the habits of search engines, any activity is golden. This means that even if you just add LinkedIn connections on a regular basis, the profile relevance will rise considerably.

The best part? By not only writing the information yourself, but keeping it on top, you are nearly guaranteeing that anyone who searches for your name will find the data that YOU wrote and disseminated--making it a PR message of sorts about your qualifications.

And who doesn't need a little more promotion during a job hunt right about now?

The takeaway here is that LinkedIn, and other social/business networking sites, really are a source of references for anyone who is interested in hiring you.

Your best bet is to take a proactive approach, and regularly publish information to the Internet that can get others to see the value in your executive background.

This will make it easier for others to not just find you, but to tap into the BEST source of information on your leadership competencies, strengths, skills, and career history--all factors that can support your chances of landing that perfect job.