Perfect Your LinkedIn Profile in Just 7 Easy Steps

On LinkedIn, everyone wants to create a profile to impress future clients, recruiters and employers,. But how do you ensure your profile is professional enough to win the gig you want? 

LinkedIn has a great guide to creating a better profile. Here are seven ideas on how to create a LinkedIn profile that brings eyes to your page and boosts your engagement. 

1. Choose the right profile picture. 

The importance of a strong profile picture can’t be overstated. Studies show the human brain forms judgments about competence and trustworthiness in milliseconds. It’s critically important for you to have a profile picture on LinkedIn, and more specifically, it should be a professional and effective one. 

Grab a recent, high-quality headshot where your head fills 60% of the frame. Dress for one level above how you normally dress in the office. If you typically wear business casual, go full business formal. Smile with your eyes, not just your mouth. An authentic smile that reaches your eyes builds rapport immediately. 

2. Make your headline more than a job title. 

Job titles are overrated. Your headline is a valuable piece of real estate where you can more precisely describe the value you offer in a compelling way. It’s an opportunity to position yourself as a thought leader at the start of your profile. Try this formula: role + value + outcome. Here’s an example of an effective headline: “CEO & Founder | Helping SaaS Startups Scale Revenue 300% Through Data-Driven Growth Strategies | $50M+ in Client Results.” 

3. Turn your “About “section into your story. 

LinkedIn’s About section is where you can transform transactions into relationships. Ditch the old bullet point list of professional achievements instead write a story that ties together your background and connect it directly to the needs of your audience. 

Use this three-part structure: 

• Hook: A short statement that connects with what’s meaningful to you. 
• Credibility: Select a few key achievements that help you build authority. 
• Connection: How you help others and what they get from working with you. 

4. List your relevant skills. 

LinkedIn’s skills section is also a valuable opportunity to subtly position yourself. Think of it as creating an accurate map of where your skills align with the business needs you meet for clients or employers. Choose only five to 10 skills. The goal is to be as precise and focused as possible. While it’s important to keep skills current, I also recommend you focus on those that are more relevant to your immediate business goals. 

5. Showcase your credentials. 

Licenses, certifications, and coursework certificates are powerful tools to cut through the online noise of unqualified “professionals.” The entire point of building out your LinkedIn profile is to have quality, not just quantity, of business relationships. Credentials are an objective way to help business audiences easily recognize the real you—someone who has earned trusted qualifications and proven professional development. 

Another way to showcase your credentials is when you finish LinkedIn Learning courses, make sure you add the certificates to your profile right away. Share the update with your network and post it on your feed. Stay top-of-mind by signaling to your audience that you’re someone who values growth and development. 

6. Share relevant content from your LinkedIn feed. 

Passive networking is over. The active sharing of your insights in your network’s feeds helps position you as a go-to source. Share useful content, comment, and add value on other people’s posts, and sprinkle your unique voice into the topics being discussed in your network. Sharing and interacting over time builds top-of-mind awareness and recall. When a business need presents itself, your network will reach out to you because you’re the person who comes to mind as someone who provides value. 

7. Follow relevant influencers in your industry. 

Finally, who you follow on LinkedIn is an important part of telling your business story. When potential clients, employers and recruiters look at your network, the thought leaders you follow send strong signals about your interests and involvement. Even better, many will be posting relevant content where you can meaningfully engage and possibly connect with people who follow them, too. Finally, follow influencers with an audience that would likely be part of your ideal clients or partner networks. Most importantly, genuinely engage and comment on some of their posts. 

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