Wherever you're at in your career, you need a stand-out LinkedIn profile

With over a billion users worldwide, LinkedIn is easily the largest professional network on the planet. If you're serious about your career and professional advancement, you need to present an optimized and up-to-date LinkedIn profile. It's your chance to get your name and face in front of hundreds (or even thousands) of professionals in your industry, build a network, and apply for jobs. 

Why is your LinkedIn profile important?

Wherever you're at in your career, LinkedIn is a helpful tool to help you progress. Even if you're not actively job hunting at the moment, an up-to-date profile is always a good idea; you'll regret neglecting your profile and your connections when you're ready to move on, and recruiters can approach you about opportunities at any time.

It's not enough to just set up a basic LinkedIn page. You need a fully-complete, all-star LinkedIn profile that draws attention, says the right things, and helps you to really connect with the people who can help you to develop your career. In this article, we present 12 simple tips on creating the perfect LinkedIn profile and share advice on how to maximize your visibility on the platform. 

How to make your LinkedIn stand out

1. Add a headshot

The simplest thing that you can do is to put a face to your name and add a LinkedIn profile picture – and a good one at that. Be creative if that fits with what you do or who you are, but remember that this is the first impression people will get from your page. If you don't currently have a professional headshot to use, it's worth the investment. With the huge numbers of people on LinkedIn, those without a photo are easily pushed aside. 

While photos aren't recommended on resumes, due to discrimination legislation, it's considered one of the most critical LinkedIn profile best practices. LinkedIn stats tell us that a profile can get up to 21 times more views if it includes a photo.

2. Create an eye-catching headline

Your headline is positioned right below your name on your LinkedIn profile and will be the first thing that profile visitors read. The default settings will fill this in with your current position and that's okay for starters – but you can change it to whatever you want. You have 120 characters to work with, so why not write something that really pops? If you're asking how to stand out on LinkedIn, this is a great place to start as visitors see your headline before they even click to view your full profile. 

Think of it as a small billboard advertisement for you and what you do. Instead of just stating your job title, why not mention your specialty and how you benefit your company or customers? Don't forget to keep your target audience in mind. Are you speaking to industry peers, customers, or headhunters? Write for your target audience. For example:

Advertising Sales Rep helping clients create winning branding strategies. Over 900 successful clients.

Just like that you've told them your job, what you bring to the table, and provided a little credibility. It's an easy and effective way of encouraging your profile visitors to continue reading.

3. Craft an interesting About section

A big part of learning how to create a good LinkedIn profile is recognizing that your LinkedIn About section gives you the perfect opportunity to tell your story. It's really just a longer form of your headline, but you have 2,000 characters to work with, so you can dive in a little deeper. Don't just focus on your past experience, but also on what you do well and what you can bring to a prospective employer.

Be creative and paint a picture of who you really are as a professional. Keep it interesting and, most importantly, give readers a reason to contact you. 

Here's a LinkedIn About example that we love from our article, How to Write a Powerful LinkedIn Profile Summary:

“As an Information Security Analyst at Acme Hospital in Sacramento, I manage the day-to-day flow of information into and out of five hospitals and two emergency centers. With a focus on database management, my job ensures critical computer systems, medical files, and patient history remain active and never fail. 

My team and I stay updated on the latest trends in information security, to not only keep Acme Hospital safe but also on the cutting edge.

Feel free to connect with me or drop me a message – I usually reply within a day or so.”

A strong and engaging About section will really make your LinkedIn profile stand out. 

4. Use the right keywords

As you craft your summary and other sections of your LinkedIn profile, don't forget to include relevant job- and industry-specific keywords. Use of keywords is one of the most important best practices for a LinkedIn profile. To select the right keywords for your profile, you should conduct a search of job descriptions attached to open positions in your field that are of interest to you. Select some of the most commonly cited skills and duties and make sure to include those specific words and phrases naturally throughout your profile text. 

Why are keywords so important? Well, anyone who conducts a search for employees with the same job title and responsibilities as you will likely use some of those common words and phrases in their search parameters. By creating a strong LinkedIn profile that uses those terms, you can make yourself more visible to recruiters and others with an interest in locating people in your field.

5. Highlight your experience

You can do better than simply listing your job titles and employers here. Why not show off your skills and experience further by providing a bit more information? Don't just simply cut and paste your resume into your LinkedIn profile, though. You don't have the same two-page rule here, but you do have internet readers with short attention spans. 

Use engaging action words to show not just what you did, but what you accomplished in each position. The key is to demonstrate the impact you've had, the change you've enacted, the initiatives you've led, and the results you've delivered. Don't forget to use those relevant keywords, too!

6. Don't neglect your skills

When you're thinking about how to make your LinkedIn stand out, don't forget important basic information like your skills. Any recruiter who comes across your profile is going to want to ensure that you have the right skill set for the open positions they're trying to fill. Review your skill section regularly and either add or update information about your most relevant and marketable skills. Again, the job adverts you're looking at will give you some clues about what to include here. 

7. Use visual media

Did you know that you can add a background photo on LinkedIn, just as you can on Twitter and Facebook? It's simple to do and makes your LinkedIn profile stand out, so pick a theme that speaks to your profession or personality.

LinkedIn also allows you to connect other media to your profile like YouTube videos, infographics, articles – you name it. Get creative to make your page jump off the screen, look more attractive, and demand attention.

8. Customize your URL

Your LinkedIn URL is the web address for your personal profile. When setting up a LinkedIn profile, the default URL will have your name plus a random sequence of letters and numbers. Why not make it something more relevant and memorable? 

Along the right-hand side of your profile, you will see the option to edit your public LinkedIn URL. Use that option to make your URL more punchy – it only takes a couple of minutes. You could consider using your name, your industry, your specialism, your location… the options are endless, just keep it short and professional. 

9. Start making connections

Now that you know how to make your LinkedIn stand out, it's time to start making connections. It seems obvious, but it can be easy to forget just how important it is to focus on your network. It's important to keep growing your network – firstly, because your connections will be able to provide support with job searches and secondly, because having a lot of connections helps to keep you visible to others on LinkedIn. 

Aim to connect with individuals you know personally, have worked with, or have met in a professional capacity. If you do decide to connect with individuals you haven't met, or don't have a direct connection to, send a note with your request explaining who you are and why you'd like to connect.

10. Ask for recommendations and endorsements

This is a big one. Think of people that you've developed a great working relationship with in the past. When you edit your profile, there's a link to click that says Ask for Recommendations. Click on it. You can personalize a note to send with the request and hopefully your contact will send you a glowing recommendation for your profile. They're like references, but visible to your entire network. 

Recommendations and endorsements are key to making your LinkedIn profile stand out. Employers want to know that others have approved of your work. Many people still neglect this important feature and miss out on a great opportunity to demonstrate their value in the marketplace.

You can increase the chances of getting others to write recommendations for you by providing recommendations for them first!

11. Keep your page active

LinkedIn is more than just an online resume – it's a networking site. That means that to get the most out of it, you need to remain active. Check out what other people are posting, engage them with thoughtful comments, and like and share posts that strike you as helpful.

You can also join groups on LinkedIn. Whatever your professional interests are, from marketing to accounting, there are going to be groups talking about it. Join one or two and interact within that group. It's a great way to meet some new people and share ideas.

One great way to be active on LinkedIn is to regularly post informative and relevant content. Your goal should be to use your LinkedIn profile to market yourself as an expert in your field, and the content you post will be the most effective way to establish that expertise. Try to stay abreast of new developments in your industry and share that information – and anything else that might be of interest to your network and anyone else who sees it.

12. Complete as many additional sections as possible

You'll have noticed that there are also other fields that you can complete as part of your profile, such as languages, publications, education, organizations and more. Fill in as many as you can that are relevant to your career and next steps. The more complete your profile is, the more likely you are to be awarded “all-star” status.  

Bonus Tips: Don't neglect the obvious

In addition to those main tips for helping you learn how to make a good LinkedIn profile, it's important to also cover some of the more basic things that many people sometimes neglect. For example:

  • Make sure that your contact information is accurate and up to date. Recruiters may sometimes want to reach out via email or text, or even call you in person. If you forget to include those updated contact details, you could miss out on some great opportunities.

  • If you want your profile to be found, make sure to set your privacy settings so that they are open to the public. That will enable anyone who conducts a search to have a better chance of finding you.

  • Be thorough when you add information to your profile. If you list educational achievements, don't just include the date you started class; add the completion date as well. Go through your entire profile and make sure that these seemingly minor details are all properly covered.

  • Whenever you have a change in your employment status, skill set, or similar areas of importance, update your LinkedIn profile as soon as possible. That way, your profile is always current. The goal is to make sure that your profile is always ready when you need it.

  • If you're accessing LinkedIn on your cell phone, you can add the pronunciation of your name. That can be useful if you have an unusual or tricky name.  

  • Don't be tempted to use AI to write or respond to posts - there's a growing backlash against people who do this and they can be spotted a mile off. If you're keen to leverage the power of AI when using LinkedIn, restrict it to simply generating ideas for posts or producing the accompanying images. 

How do I increase my LinkedIn profile views? 

So you have an all-star profile, how do you get eyeballs on it? Well, following the steps above is a good start – with keywords and connections you'll be easily found. Consider these options to further maximize your visibility:

  • Create frequent posts that resonate and engage with your target audience

  • Add pictures, photos, or videos to your posts to drive further engagement

  • Ask questions in your posts, to encourage responses

  • Respond to comments on your posts

  • Like, comment on, and react to posts by others

  • Add your LinkedIn profile URL to your resume, email signature, cover letter, and other correspondence to generate inbound links

  • Use the green “open to work” banner to advertise your availability

  • Write a LinkedIn article to showcase your expertise

Expert tip: Find out more in our article How to get noticed on LinkedIn

Use your LinkedIn to get noticed!

LinkedIn is a powerful tool and one that's really easy to use and take advantage of as a key part of your job search strategy. Make the most of it by learning how to make a LinkedIn profile that stands out in a sea of candidates, sells your skills, and validates your accomplishments. 

You want your page to be visually appealing to visitors, while making it easy for them to get a feel for who you are and what you can do for them professionally. These LinkedIn profile tips for how to make your LinkedIn stand out can help you to get a great start on building your winning LinkedIn profile.

Is your LinkedIn profile getting you noticed? Let one of our resume experts optimize it today! 

This article was originally written by Tyler Omoth and has been updated by Ken Chase and Jen David.

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