The LinkedIn headline is possibly the most important part on your profile. It gives you 120 characters to grab the attention of people looking for you on LinkedIn search. It needs to be about what you do as opposed to what you are. It should be memorable, informative, perhaps even entertaining, but mostly enticing enough for someone to click on your profile and not your competitors.
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Getting started with LinkedIn
Before you get started with updating your LinkedIn profile headline & summary, it is good to turn off Broadcasting. Broadcasting will announce to you audience any changes and updates to your profile. While this is not always a bad thing, if you are making lots of little changes it can become annoying to see ever single one.
Note: Always start building your profile off line, if nothing else, spell checker works better in word then on a browser.
Your LinkedIn Profile Headline
LinkedIn Name, Keep it simple, first name and last name. leave phone numbers and qualifications out, the same goes for symbols. If someone is searching for you by name make it as easy as possible. The exception to this my be to add any other name you might be known by, whether a maiden name or a nickname. There is a specific field to add this information when you are setting up or updating.
Your Professional headline, this little box holds a lot more information, up to 120 characters. My advice is to use every last one. I nice touch by LinkedIn allows you to see examples from your connections. The default here is ‘position’ at ‘company’.for else where. The exception here is Former Name, use this for maiden name, nickname, or the common misspelling of your name. You have the option of changing the visibility of this information.
- Use keywords that describe you and your industry here to helps with search.
- Speak to your audience
- Describe what you do, showcase your speciality or value proposition.
“Digital marketer specialising in content inbound marketing & web strategy. Helping you grow your business, increase leads”
Make your profile stand out, this is still an over looked area on most LinkedIn profiles, and make sure the key information is near the front, within the first 75-80 characters. This keeps your most important information visible on a laptop and on a mobile device.
Keeping the most important information of your LinkedIn Profile headline within the first 75 characters makes sure it is visible on mobile devices.
Your LinkedIn Profile Contact Information
While you are here it’s a good time to look at your contact info, although LinkedIn now hides this away, it is still worth filling out. Add your website links by selecting Other and giving the link a name. Rather than using the default Company website or Personal websites options. Try and be descriptive.
Finally, update the url to your page, vital if you are adding a link to your profile to your email footer.
Instead of uk.linkedin.com/pub/first-lastnamer/2b/910/667 you can have uk.linkedin.com/in/dsayce/
Your LinkedIn Photo
Save the party photo and beach shot for your Facebook page. For LinkedIn try and get a professional photo taken. If you wear a suit for work, wear it for the photo.
Keep it recent too, remember if people are meeting you for the first time they have probably viewed your LinkedIn profile to find out more about you, including what you look like.
The most important part of your photo is to smile!
Your LinkedIn Summary
The summary, this is the one place where you get to tell your story, tell them who you are and ‘what is in it for them’. Tell them your story, keep it short and to the point. Add a call to action and tell the reader what you would like them to do next. Make it personal, authentic, you are your brand ambassador.
At this point people are just as interested in you as the business or service you are offering. Remember, your LinkedIn profile headline and the summary really are a first impression.