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LinkedIn today has over a billion users, of which 10 million are C-level executives. With such a large base of peers, it is important that you make your profile the most unique, noticeable, and creative one out there.

Your LinkedIn headline is arguably the most important part of your LinkedIn profile. It is the first thing after your name that catches the eye. A LinkedIn headline captures the essence of your work, role, and personality in less than 15 words. The more concise the messaging in a LinkedIn headline, the higher its impact.

Your LinkedIn header can make all the difference in gaining an inbound lead and losing a potential client. The most evident reason is that your LinkedIn headline is the first line about you that any other user can read even before visiting your profile. Be it a Google search or a LinkedIn connection recommendation appearing on someone’s feed, it is your LinkedIn header that defines who you are. Moreover, as you comment, share, message, or connect, it is your profile picture and headline that you get judged by.

What Makes A Good LinkedIn Headline?

Before we get into the components of a good LinkedIn headline, let’s get one popular myth out of the way – that LinkedIn headlines must only have your designation and company name.

That is utterly incorrect.

You are much more than just your employment or designation. You bring to the table much more than just your job title. Your thoughts, strategies, critical thinking, interests, opinions, business visions, and even your experiential learnings mould your personal brand on LinkedIn. That’s why, a LinkedIn headline must reflect who you are as a personality in yourself along with what you do.

What distinguishes a good professional LinkedIn headline from average headers is how quickly yet accurately it can convey the answer to, “What will this person help me with?”

A good headline for LinkedIn shows your unique value proposition. It illustrates exactly what sets YOU apart from the hundreds of your competitors on LinkedIn.

Your headline can be your best advertisement and your worst enemy. The power a good LinkedIn headline holds can never be understated. This section of your profile is innately your 220-character elevator pitch.

Format Of A LinkedIn Headline

A LinkedIn headline can usually be of 3 main syntaxes:

1. Formal:

This is the simplest way, more specifically the default way, of defining yourself on LinkedIn. This isn’t the most creative or interesting way to put yourself out there, but it is the most straightforward one.

1. CEO @ <company name>, Head Of Operations @ <sister company>
2. Founder of <company> | Business Coach | Author | Venture Capitalist

2. Approachable:

This format is a solopreneur’s favorite. It goes with a sentence structure, making you sound welcoming. The header in this case talks about how you create an impact in the lives of your ideal client base. This need not be the exact company tagline. It can, of course, be along the lines of the company vision though.

1. We build digital success stories
2. I can help you future-proof your business
3. Helping managers streamline their systems

‍3. Descriptive:

When you choose to go descriptive, you choose to represent your company, startup, or business. This format reflects an authoritative tone with a background of sincerity.

1. Get Leads Within Your Grasp | Customer Success Manager @ <company name>
2. Financial Advisor @ <company name> | Making Marketing Methodical For FinTech Companies

You can decide which format suits your profile the best depending on the intention behind establishing your LinkedIn brand. If you are on LinkedIn to invite opportunities, intelligent conversations, and valuable connections, read along to double down on what works best for you.

How To Write A Good LinkedIn Headline?

The best LinkedIn headline looks like this:

Simplified version of what you do or help people with | Position in company

Why?

It’s because this is the entirety of your job role, nature, vision, and skill set all defined in one.

But more importantly, it incentivizes the reader to reach out to you and begin a conversation that can spiral into a discussion on a potential deal.

That happens when you spark an emotion through your LinkedIn headline. Only then will you get them to R.E.A.C.T.

The R.E.A.C.T. Approach

Named thus, the R.E.A.C.T. approach is a framework you can use to prepare a good LinkedIn headline that stands out and effectively prompts prospects and peers to “react”. This reaction can be in the form of a connection request, an InMail message, or a comment.

Fundamentally, your LinkedIn headline should do just enough work that it brings people (positively your ideal client base) to your profile. The rest of the elements can take up from there.

Relatability

People often respond to relatable content. Speak directly to your ICP in a language they understand. Break down heavy industry jargon into simple commonly spoken phrases to drive the point home.

Esteem

Generate a feeling of high esteem. Proudly state your highest designation; this typically applies to CEO, CMO, CXO, CTO, etc., roles. This means increasing your prospects’ trust in you, leading them to initiate a conversation with you, possibly about how a collaborative endeavor can solidify.

Attention

Grab their attention. Put yourself in their shoes and try to zero down on what exactly your ICP would be looking for. Present your USP in a unique, eye-catching format such that you become the only profile worth the attention.

Curiosity

There is something about cliffhangers that lures people into clicking on your profile and reading up about you. Through your LinkedIn headline, you have to ensure that you intrigue them just enough about your work that they instantly become interested in knowing more.

Temptation

Hit the nail on the head with your LinkedIn headline. A good headline for LinkedIn is so clear that someone reading needs no more than your headline to sign up for your brand and service. Tempt prospects into reaching out to you.

20 Inspiring Examples For Professional LinkedIn Headlines

Keyur Kumbhare

Keyur’s LinkedIn headline is the best example you can take.

His headline talks first about his value proposition. He has clearly defined what he wants you to approach him for. His services are clear and presented in an SEO-friendly way; moreover, he has directly stated who he runs his business for. To add to his credibility is his designation.

Aditi Negi

Aditi’s LinkedIn headline checks the R.E.A.C.T. list too. The mention of personal branding for C-suite executives through copywriting is all you need to know about her. There is enough temptation to reach out to her and book a call. This is a great way to use the descriptive format of LinkedIn headline writing.

Florian Decludt

Florian has implemented the descriptive format well. You know exactly what he offers and where he works. His headline makes you curious about how he drives revenue for agencies. That will be what takes you to his page and discover more about him.

Jack Gibson

Jack’s headline lacks nothing. There are no distractions and no filler words; only direct messaging standing for what he brings to the table and has achieved through his work. Such a LinkedIn headline ranks high in terms of SEO too since he has mentioned keywords such as “passive income” and “wealth building strategist”.

Luke Shalom

This LinkedIn headline has 3 clear elements: Luke’s high designation at a business, his skill set around content creation and social selling, and his target audience, founders. Coming across this LinkedIn headline on, say, your feed, will immediately make a founder looking for social selling services feel heard – feel relatable. Once Luke has this attention, the rest of his LinkedIn profile will carry ahead the conversion part.

However, this headline is too long to be considered efficient. Look at the image below, this is how the headline will cut off when viewing it on an active LinkedIn feed:

Only half a headline is shown! Easily, it can be assumed that not enough content is shown on his headline for you to get captivated enough to check his profile out. That’s why, it’s best that you start with an immediately noticeable headline and then talk about your designation at the company.

Mike Jones

Mike’s LinkedIn header leaves no scope for confusion or misunderstanding. It is the right mix of attention-grabbing words, curiosity-generating content, and clarity. Notice one thing in his headline: He hasn’t overexplained what EOS stands for. Clearly, he has done his research on his ICP well enough to know that this industry keyword is a colloquial term enough for him to mention without additional details.

Victoria Repa

Victoria’s headline might not be ideal but it’s among the better ones on the platform. She has clearly defined her designation, what her business does, and her skills apart from just one company. However, she fails to address one main concern – how does she inspire the change that she claims to bring about?

There also are 2 elements that you would want to avoid: The Forbes 30 Under 30 and the Harvard Guest Speaker mentions.

While these achievements are remarkable, there is no need to mention them right in the headline. It could be the first attachment in the Featured section below the headline if you must, but LinkedIn headlines must only be restricted to your current work and value proposition; it only looks more boastful than authoritative.

Alyona Mysko

Alyona’s headline is short, simple, and substantial. It has everything you need to get interested enough in her profile. With a few grammatical corrections, it can do for an ideal headline. Such concise representation can increase the chances of prospects wanting to converse with you. After all, delivering a message within 10 words is a skill that separates the top performers from the average crowd.

Tom Gerhardt

“Simple guidance for complex humans” is a great way to define your USP. While his company works on building efficient fiscal solutions for businesses, the vision that drives him is simplifying complexities. It is difficult to scroll past such a good LinkedIn headline without giving it a double take and then clicking on Tom’s profile to read more about him.

Eric Raza

Straightforward headlines create the most promising profiles. Eric’s header is a classic LinkedIn headline example of a business card format. He comes across as an approachable COO – look at the smartly placed verb, “helping”. The headline is almost certain to retain the attention of a scrolling eye and attract relevant prospects to Eric’s work.

Kelsey Gardipee

Now Kelsey’s headline is a good analysis to consider. She has defined her role very well as a CSM. However, she makes the grave mistake of losing precious headline characters in repeating her skill set. Instead, she could have mentioned her ideal client persona. Or, she could have added a couple of SEO-targeted keywords relevant to her industry.

Another mistake that you can avoid is including personal information, like the mention of being a military spouse. The presence or absence of the statement makes little to no difference to her as a professional. If this data is to be included, you should do so in the About section.

Micheal Brown

Take a look at Michael’s LinkedIn headline. Such a headline indeed acts as an asset to his personal brand. It is a declaration of his role, the company he works at, and the venture he runs. Anyone in the physician leadership role coming across this headline will know exactly who to go to for help.

Cathy Yules

Cathay’s LinkedIn header is incomplete in a way. We neither know of her company or role nor do we see which industry she is referring to. However, it is clear that she works with high-level management to optimize their working systems. It generates curiosity, leading us to visit her profile and figure out how. Though not ideal, the descriptive format is applied here and with a few amendments, this headline can win on LinkedIn.

Mohit Lalvani

Dr. Lalvani has great content for a headline. His LinkedIn header is filled with SEO-fulfilling keywords relating to his business and industry, and it also mentions the niche skill set he has experience in. Moreover, his being a seasoned entrepreneur adds to the credibility of his authority as a thought leader.

But, there are improvements that this headline can do with. For one, it is too long to be read from the comment section or connection recommendation view. The mention of his PhD can be eliminated from the headline and highlighted in either the About section or the Education section – a headline should only talk about the present-day expertise. The lengthy statement talking about his D2C and B2B experience can be cut short and placed towards the end. Plus, what Captain Zack is or does is unclear – does it deal with haircare? Skincare? Petcare?

Ideally, his headline could have better looked like:

MD @ Mascot Spincontrol | Founder of Captain Zack | Skin, Hair, & Pet Expert | D2C and B2B Entrepreneur

Vedika Bhaia

Being one of the biggest influencers and businesswomen on the platform, Vedika’s headline surely makes it to the cut. One makes no mistake while interpreting her line of work and domain of expertise. A Google search on LinkedIn content marketing will ensure that her profile appears towards the top results.

While it isn’t wrong to include numbers and data in the headline, we would argue that such remarks can be reserved for a better place for representation, sparing the headline. Headlines must be soft selling points, not direct sales pitches.

There is another issue with such a headline – there are too many keywords crammed into this limited space. The repetition of “LinkedIn” and “Marketing” shows poor planning on the copywriting part. Instead, a simpler approachable format would have helped catch the eye better.

Aadil Bandukwala

At first glance, Aadil’s headline looks short, smart, and sharp. But giving it a second thought, there is no specialty in it; it’s generic. There could be hundreds of B2B SAAS marketers on LinkedIn working on a global leadership level. There is no unique proposition that serves as a distinction between this profile and any other. Though such a headline falls into the format of an ideal LinkedIn header, it adds no value to the user’s personal brand. That’s why, it is more important to pay attention to the actual content of the headline than merely fit it into a formatted structure.

Palak Rathi

This is a good LinkedIn headline example to analyze. Through defined and straightforward messaging, Palak has made it evident that she helps content creators get better at their jobs. The headline is simple and is readable from even the comment section. However, mentioning that she is a CA, albeit an accomplishment, is not relevant to her role at all unless she is open to accepting work in the CA domain. She could also do away with the Content Creator tag since it is too generic a term to be considered a skill set.

Hansi Mehrotra

This is a unique style of putting yourself out there! From this LinkedIn headline example, you can adapt the descriptive and creative sentence structure that Hansi has used to describe what she does through her business. By interpreting her headline, one can say that she creates content on the above-mentioned bubbles, undoubtedly. She could make one addition to her headline to make it better: her designation at the firm (even if her own).

However, it is vital to note here that any grammatical or spelling errors must be corrected before publishing your headline. As you see, the miscapitalization can leave a negative impact on the viewer – it can mean all the difference between a prospect approaching or rejecting you.

Samanvaya Pant

This is one among the better LinkedIn headlines on the platform. There is a direct declaration of Samanvaya’s designation and thus-explained role at the relevant company. Additionally, he has mentioned who he works with and on what scale. Such phrases are essential to eliminate any scope for confusion and set apart his ICP from the rest. Though his headline does not exactly fit into any of the R.E.A.C.T. elements, it does make his intention on LinkedIn clear. You can take the reference of this headline if you wish to be formal and matter-of-fact in your profile.

Usually, such a headline format works for executives who work at well-known companies, MNCs, or internationally established companies, because that would take away the responsibility of explaining what services one can expect from the profile.

Vince Yamat

Vince has a headline that caters to the “Esteem” factor in the R.E.A.C.T. approach. He is the MD and CEO at a company and works with investors and startups. So far, this headline looks good. But dig deep. Would this not fail to qualify as one providing a USP, something unique that only Vince offers on the platform? The headline is neither eye-catching nor tempting enough to reach out to him. A few more details as to his company’s value proposition or market differentiator would have hit the bull’s eye. Remember, if your headline does not create an urge to visit your profile, connect via a note, or reach out through messages, then it doesn’t serve any real purpose at all.

8 Mistakes To Avoid While Writing A LinkedIn Headline

So far in the article, we have gone through everything that must be done correctly for a LinkedIn headline to be effective.

Let us now take a look at what to avoid so as to preserve a high LinkedIn reputation through your header.

Mistake 1: “Let It Be”

When you sign up on LinkedIn, you are gifted a default LinkedIn headline according to your present job role and company name.

Don’t let it be. Don’t leave it as it is and not bother to change it. The first biggest mistake you make is assuming that this default headline will be enough. But LinkedIn recommends a hundred other CEOs the same headline, with only a change of company name. You don’t want to be lost in the sea of namelessness, do you?

Let’s not be known as “yet another”s. We’re here to build a personal brand – let’s make it stand out.

Be proactive about your LinkedIn headline. It is your first impression, make it count.

Mistake 2: “Everything At Once”

LinkedIn experts abhor one habit that most executives have – being the overachiever right in the headline. While it is quite understandable that you might wish to pour in all your achievements and accomplishments in one singular line, assuming that you will be well-reputed as a highly esteemed businessman/woman, remember that doing so will only make you look desperate for attention.

Don’t spam your headline. Sometimes, less is more.

Mistake 3: “Art Decorator”

The urge to decorate the LinkedIn headline has overwhelmed us all at least once. Giving in to it is a big mistake a lot of people make.

The headline is not a space for adding emojis, fancy fonts, or superfluous adjectives.

Emojis take up critical space and make you look less professional. Fancy fonts come across as cheap and unnecessary in the business world. And adjectives like, “ambitious”, “innovative”, “adventurous”, and “dedicated”, will not add any value to your headline. These words will only eat up crucial characters that could be otherwise put to use to cater to SEO.

Mistake 4: “Dictionary Please”

Often, C-suite executives make the mistake of assuming that the technical terms they use are commonly known to all. Within the sales domain, for example, abbreviations like AIDA, NPS, BANT, and ACV might be day-to-day vocabulary, but to someone looking for sales experts to handle their business, these are heavy industry keywords that bounce right off the head.

Use simple words that convey your niche in a relatable way. Take the help of a professional LinkedIn expert to understand what kinds of words can and cannot be used in the headline to make the most of this section on LinkedIn.

Mistake 5: “Autocorrection”

When you’re drafting your LinkedIn headline, don’t forget to be mindful of the right spellings, tenses, verbs, and capitalization. This also includes avoiding the usage of made-up abbreviations, like shortening “Manager” to “Mgr”. It will make you look very amateurish, not to mention the algorithm not picking the word up as a valid keyword. At the end of the day, such minor mistakes can be quite repelling to the eye.

Mistake 6: “All That For Nothing”

Headlines that do a lot of talking but don’t really convey much at the end of it must be gotten rid of at the first opportunity. Nobody signs up for verbose – cut to the chase and only write terms, roles, and keywords that add value to your brand. Take the LinkedIn headline example stated above. This person has mentioned a bunch of fluff words only to establish himself as a content writer who works with SEO. Instead, he could have written a line about what his area of expertise is (finance, IT, healthcare, education, marketing, business), who his ideal prospect is (CEOs, students, job seekers, investors), or even what he helps his clients aim for and achieve (aspirations).

Don’t overexplain in your LinkedIn header, even if you think it will “impress” the algorithm. Your leads will thank you for being straight and to the point.

Mistake 7: “To Date”

There are professionals on LinkedIn who have been working in several domains for the past 3 decades even. If you’re one of them, you would know that it is quite tempting to list down all your ventures in your headline. You could have been the MD at company A, the VP at company B, the CEO at company C, and the Founder of the latest startup D.

Experts suggest that you only should include Startup D in your headline – your latest venture only.

Relevance is key and although all your work to date indeed adds up to your knowledge base and experiential wisdom, your LinkedIn headline is not the right place for this exhaustive list. Your About section will do better justice to it. But the header must only talk about what you currently want to be approached about.

Mistake 8: “Misplaced”

Avoid making this critical mistake while forming your LinkedIn headline. Good LinkedIn headlines do not include elements that have dedicated sections elsewhere on LinkedIn, like:

• Your location
• CTA to your landing page
• Hashtags
• Hobbies
• Awards or certifications
• Hiring requirements
• Contact details

Conclusion

Clear, concise, and catchy headlines rank on LinkedIn. Finding the right words and the best format to make your LinkedIn headline rank among some of the best LinkedIn profiles on the platform can be challenging. That’s why most high-ranking headlines come about through an expert’s help. Only a well-written LinkedIn headline will put your personal branding game at its best stage.

We at GrowedIn partner with executives to help them leverage LinkedIn’s potential and build it as a channel for reputation-driven business growth. If you’d like to discuss LinkedIn branding for your profile, you can schedule a call with us.

LinkedIn is one of the most popular social networking platforms for professionals driven by the passion of growing their business and personal brand organically. Millions of executives, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders have accounts on LinkedIn for one or both of two reasons: To know and to be known.

Most of these fail at both.

Why? Because their LinkedIn profile is not optimized at all. A blank, incomplete, or confusing LinkedIn profile is the antidote to reputation-driven business growth.

That’s why you need an engaging, trustworthy, optimized LinkedIn profile. Several studies prove that communicative CEOs on LinkedIn increase their ICP’s reliance on them by 77% compared to those profiles that were passive and dead. Clearly, in 2024, you need LinkedIn profile optimization to be a priority.

What Is LinkedIn Profile Optimization?

Your LinkedIn profile consists of various elements like the headline, the About section, the Featured dashboard, the Experience segment, and even a profile picture. An “optimized” LinkedIn profile, simply put, has all elements filled, and filled correctly, so that they all add up to form a highly esteemed persona for you.

An optimized LinkedIn profile is your digital clone that speaks for you even when you’re away.

Each section on your profile must have data filled up to the present-day mark. This includes any talk you might have given, a new startup currently in stealth mode, or a recommendation you received.

Your story throughout the profile must be coherent and factually verifiable. Data like timelines, names of institutions, and career trajectories must be consistent. The links and documents you upload to your profile should act as assets, leading your clients directly to either your website, landing page, discovery call, or recruitment platform, depending upon your social media intent.

LinkedIn profile optimization pays off when your business offline completely transforms thanks to the impression your profile creates. Its worth comes to light when at a networking event, a fellow entrepreneur comes up to you, seeking to connect with the personality they saw online.

This is where most executives fail. Most leave their LinkedIn profiles barren – don’t be one of them.

Why Is LinkedIn Profile Optimization Important?

Why is it not enough to fill in your LinkedIn profile with pure data? Why should I invest in good storytelling and systematic presentation?

Imagine being at a networking conference and receiving a business card with an illegible name. Or a confusing designatory title. Or a quirky email address.

The entrepreneur you met and the man that the business card represented turned out to be two polar opposites. The sincere personality and deep intellect that you found yourself in the company with suddenly seem dull and faded because of the horrible business card. You are left with a feeling of repulsion, since investing more time in a relationship with this leader seems confusing now.

A business card with zero color palette alignment, informal emojis, incorrect capitalization, and inadequate contact information is worthless. It is, in fact, worse than never having a business card to offer at all.

Your LinkedIn profile is a lot like a business card. It represents who you are, your contact details, your line of business, and your perspective towards professionalism.

It speaks your language. It talks about your life and business. It is the digital replica of what your business means to you, what kind of clientele you work with, and what kind of future your business sees.

An optimized LinkedIn profile shows your history to generate trust, talks about your present to gain leads, and paves the way for the future to grow your network. That’s why, it is imperative to invest in it well.

Complete LinkedIn Profile Optimization Strategy Analysis

The best way to understand this analysis step by step is to treat your LinkedIn profile as an inbound lead generator. This applies if you’re looking for clients, partnerships, candidates to hire, and even collaborative opportunities.

When is your LinkedIn profile an inbound lead generator?

It is when someone who lands on your profile gets a crystal clear idea of the following:

1. The exact definition of your work and business fundamentals.
2. The unique value proposition that makes the investment of time and energy in you worth it.
3. The exact link, email, or direction to contact you immediately.

Remember that the quicker your LinkedIn profile is able to exhibit the above information, the higher your chances are of retaining engagement. Let’s get into the complete LinkedIn Profile Optimization Strategy Analysis:

Banner

Your LinkedIn banner is the very first thing a person sees when they land on your profile. Your LinkedIn banner is a loud announcement about how you are as a professional. That’s why, it’s important to leave a good impression to rope the prospective viewer into further scrolling through your LinkedIn profile.

A LinkedIn banner is the digital face of your professional identity. It’s best that you align it with your brand's color scheme and core values. Consider incorporating your tagline to reflect your professional expertise subtly; however, prioritize engagement over direct selling. This approach ensures you're perceived as welcoming, fostering genuine connections rather than merely focusing on transactions.

You can even add in a CTA. This can be about leading them to your main website, your personal blog site, your company’s landing page, or a discovery call link with your team. However, note the emphasis on the optional condition – avoid adding links to all the above at once. This will only cram your banner and come across as overwhelming and salesly. Remember, less packed is more premium.

It's crucial to maintain clarity and avoid overloading your banner with excessive information. A clean, well-organized banner enhances readability and engagement, whereas a cluttered design can deter potential connections. 

Optionally, highlighting notable collaborations and providing contact information can add value, provided they are integrated thoughtfully without compromising the banner's visual appeal and simplicity. However, a lot of thought leaders avoid doing so since LinkedIn already has a dedicated “Contact Info” section for the same.

Profile Picture

For your LinkedIn profile picture, think of you approaching someone with a handshake in the digital world – your expressions must be sincere, professional, and warm. The ideal LinkedIn profile picture size is 400 x 400 pixels; sticking to a 1:1 ratio to ensure your face fits perfectly without any awkward cropping.

Clarity is key, so avoid any haze, blur, or filters that can diminish the photo's professionalism. Keep the background simple and distraction-free to ensure your face is the focal point. If possible, try minimizing the number of colors in the palette. More than 3 would look gaudy and might not suit certain industries, like IT or finance.

A professional headshot works best. Whether you opt for business attire or something more casual, the aim is to present yourself as you are! This photo should reflect your personal brand and align with what your ICP expects to see. Aim to include just your head and shoulders in the frame to keep it focused and clear. Avoid accessories like hats and sunglasses if it doesn’t suit your personality too.

And if it suits you, flash a smile. A smiling profile picture can work wonders, making you seem more trustworthy and approachable.

Headline

Your LinkedIn profile headline is an entire research element on its own. This is one of those spaces that require immense thought and investment of energy. An ideal LinkedIn headline defines your work and value proposition in less than 10 words. This is where you show everyone what you do and how you help others, followed by your current position and the company you're with. Steer clear of leaving it empty or settling for the default – this is your chance to shine, not to blend in with the crowd.

Be it a Google search or a LinkedIn connection recommendation appearing on someone’s feed, it is your LinkedIn headline that defines who you are. Whenever you engage with another account or send across a connection request, it is your profile picture and headline that you get judged by.

The ideal headline format is: Your Work | Position @ Company

You can define your headline in multiple ways:

1. Industry terminology followed by ICP:

2. Complete sentence about what you do and for whom.

3. Complicated business model simplified.

There are a few mistakes to avoid while preparing your LinkedIn headline. For one, avoid overcramming your headline with multiple achievements or designations. Only keep your latest venture published. That will be the most relevant point for connection that your ICP will look at. Second, while it is highly recommended that you include SEO-friendly or industry-specific keywords in your LinkedIn headline, you must avoid hyperspecific keywords that are known only to a handful of people from your niche. Third, fancy fonts and emojis must be avoided at all costs.

If you want to master writing the best professional LinkedIn headline that you can for your profile, we highly recommend you read our blog, “How To Write A Professional LinkedIn Headline [+20 Inspiring Examples]” to understand more.

Location

The location of your LinkedIn profile must be a reflection of where you are currently. As popularly misconstrued, it should not be set to your prospective clients’ geography.

Why is this important? Imagine a potential client lands in your town and is looking for the services you offer. Seeing that you are in the same area could be the deciding factor for them to reach out, offering a chance to meet in person and potentially seal a deal.

On the contrary, if the location you have set does not match with your real geography, it will only leave the client in distrust, crumbling your relationship before it even begins building. Thus, keeping your location genuine on your LinkedIn profile not only positions you for local opportunities but also upholds the integrity of your personal brand.

Contact Information

LinkedIn has a dedicated section for you to fill in your contact information. The elements typically include your email ID, phone number and type, address, birthday, website, and an instant messaging feature that you can link with any other platform like Skype.

The most important thing to remember while filling out this section is that all your contact information must be up-to-date. LinkedIn facilitating 1:1 personal contact shows that this section can be a goldmine for you to directly be approached by leads.

Keep in mind that you must only fill in a professional email address, not one that was informally made for personal use. Try to use an easily replicable and trustworthy email ID. Avoid amateur email addresses like sunny.cool@gmail.com. Instead, follow your company’s email address and phone numbers – there is nothing better than being contacted while at your workplace.

Don’t forget to get your phone number verified on LinkedIn. Your profile will thank you.

About Section

The LinkedIn About section is the ultimate “lead generation tool” that you can leverage to best optimize your LinkedIn profile. In your About section, you should talk about your entire story – from the time you started investing in your skill set, the purpose of your business, the turning points in your career, and the biggest milestones you’ve achieved so far. You can also write about the kind of clients you work with, the vision you see, and the leadership management style you carry. Some CEOs also like talking about what their hobbies are and how anybody interested can contact their teams to discuss work. This LinkedIn summary can help your profile in more ways than just an introduction.

Adopt a storytelling format while writing your LinkedIn About section. A story keeps the reader engaged and helps them get to know details about your journey that they can not only resonate with but also be inspired by. Through your About section description, one should know everything about your work, vision, motivation, clientele, product, personality, and background.

One misconception most executives have is that the LinkedIn About section should look like an elaborate resume.

Absolutely not.

The About section is a space you completely own. It is the best podium to put out what you want others to know about you. Talking about your journey helps others understand the brain and mindset behind the success of your company. It helps build trust and empathetically connect better. Even if you don’t have successful ventures through and through, including them in your About section shows how persistent you have been in achieving your dream. Justin Welsh’s about section is the perfect example of how to write your story.

However, do not beat around the bush by including irrelevant information like your personal life details. Remember, if it does not add up to the final entrepreneurial personality that you have, then it has no place in the LinkedIn About section.

Also, there is no need for you to add your skill set as if you wish to be recruited, or details about your product as if you are out to sell. The only intention behind the About section on LinkedIn is to put yourself out there for people to know.

Featured Section

The Featured Section on LinkedIn is a very interesting part of your profile. It is the best platform to showcase your best works that you are most proud of. Here’s a list of works you can display:

1. Research papers: A lot of industries hold in high regard research papers published by experts and leaders. Scientific journals or academic reports with high ranking invite intelligentsia of your domain to your profile, opening up doors to various opportunities.
2. TED talks: If you have ever given a TED talk presentation on its official platform, definitely consider adding it to your LinkedIn Featured section. This adds credibility to your stance and business ideas. In fact, you might even rope in a few mentoring opportunities through such authorization.
3. Newspaper publications: One of the best way to proudly talk about your business is by featuring any newspaper reports talking about your company and its success. Any update regarding investor funding, revenue milestones, CSR activity, Fortune 500 listing, or awarded nominations can add reputational value to your profile.
4. Landing page link: Where else to best place the direct link to your website and business than the Featured section? This section appears loud and clear on your profile and is a sureshot way to capture leads.

GrowedIn’s CEO, Keyur’s Featured section talks about what he wants to be approached for – his business:

Parallely, Justin’s Featured section looks like this:

Avoid one major Featured section red flag – Promotional videos or advertisements. The intent behind your LinkedIn profile optimization must be to invite and not sell. When people realize that they are being sold to, they consider you to be too self-centered. Instead, look to invite, connect, and engage. Building relationships will take you longer than direct selling.

Experience

As a VP or a C-level executive, there are high chances of you having more than 1 work experience, not just in terms of corporate hierarchy but also the number of companies that you have worked with.

The best way to go about optimizing your Experience section is by beginning with your latest venture. Always write the expanded company or job title as it is officially recognized and popularly accepted. For example, choose to write Ernst & Young LLP over EY, and Vice-President over VP; the reason being a higher level of professional decency.

What you would want to do with your Experience section is talk about the unique value you served at the place. Describe how you took the company revenue numbers to the next level. Talk about the strategy you implemented to multiply sales by 180% in 2 years. Include how, through promotions in the same company, you lowered the attrition rate by half. Take a look at Keyur’s profile:

Data and statistics in this section can really up your game. Data helps drive positive decisions home and reflects authenticity. Leaders think better in terms of data and relevant industry keywords, so remember to cater to the same. Including industry jargon also fulfills SEO criteria and ranks your LinkedIn profile higher during search results. Make the most out of this section for improved professional opportunities.

Education

While formal education may precede your current career by more than 15 years, including a brief description of your degrees offers significant advantages. Leaving this section blank overlooks the potential of your alumni network, which can bring you opportunities such as guest lectures and consulting projects. There have been instances wherein a 3rd-degree fellow-alumnus connection has brought to a CEO the invite to discuss a position on the college’s advisory board.

Staying in contact with people from batches other than yours can also mean attracting prospective clients and employing from a pool of talented individuals. Any point of similarity translates to an increased conviction among individuals.

You can keep the Education section short. It works if you mention 4 main details about your education – the name of the university, the course you pursued, the duration, and the final academic result you scored.

Licenses & Certifications

In the Licenses & Certifications section of your LinkedIn profile, it's important to highlight the professional credentials that show your expertise and stand out in your field. Instead of listing every certification you have, focus on the ones that directly relate to your core business operations and substantiate the long-term vision of your company. Explain briefly why each certification matters and how it fits into your professional journey. This helps to show your dedication to staying updated on industry standards and best practices. For example, if your business is in the financial services sector, acquiring a CFA, FRM, or ACCA certification can help build trust among your prospective clients. 

One tiny tip that can transform your Licenses & Certifications section is to ensure that your credentials are in order, i.e., the logo, the official title, the name of the issuing body, and the dates of the certificate are correct. Such minor actions reflect the level of sincerity you have for your work and knowledge.

Volunteering

In the volunteering section of your LinkedIn profile, spotlight your commitment to giving back to society. It is important that you create a positive impact beyond your workplace and business objectives. This section can be used to showcase your involvement in community initiatives, non-profit organizations, or charitable causes that align with your values and interests.

However, rather than simply listing volunteer experiences, provide context for each role, explaining the significance of the cause and your contributions. This section demonstrates a well-rounded approach to leadership, highlighting your dedication to social responsibility and community engagement. A volunteering experience can be a one-time activity or a recurring event in your life. At the end of the day, if you can share a heartfelt story about your volunteering experience, it adds testament to your strong morals as a leader in power to make a difference in someone’s world.

Skills & Endorsements

Leaders who aspire to set themselves apart from competitors must make the most of this section. In the Skills space, make sure you add a mix of hard and soft skills. It is best if you powerfully combine business, personal, industry-related, and management skills to bring out your holistic skill set. As much as being a “Financial Management” expert is important, you also must talk about your “Empathetic Leadership” skill. After all, the best leaders are those who can offer critical thinking and analytical skills with the support of high emotional intelligence.

Where a lot of leaders go wrong is by spamming their Skill section with more than 10 skills.

The right practice is to pick the right keyword for each subset of skill you have. For instance, avoid repetition with “Strategic Thinking” and “Strategic Planning”. Something more specific like “IT Business Strategy” will add credit to your profile. Also, numerous accounts of “Team Leadership” and “Educational Leadership” with “Organizational Leadership” sounds redundant, not to mention a desperate move to prove yourself as a leader.

The Endorsements aspect of this section is what really carries the day. Every skill can be endorsed by someone in your connections. An endorsement is a verified recommendation, almost a medal-like stamp of honor, that your profile wins by highly esteemed professionals who willingly vouch for your expertise in that particular field, be it an interpersonal skill or industry knowledge.

The higher your endorsements by reputed profiles, the better your LinkedIn profile optimization.

Recommendations

It is a wonder why LinkedIn places this section towards the bottom. This space deserves a podium on your profile. The Recommendation section is a pinboard where you can display all the official testimonials that you have received by industry leaders you have worked with.

There are 2 parts to this section – Receiving and Awarding. Recommendations that you have received appear first. Recommendations are typically 5-liner gratitude-filled messages that a renowned executive leaves on your profile talking about the positives of working with you. Strong accurate adjectives that describe your work ethics, relationship management, leadership style, business acumen, and team attitude can make a massive difference in how your profile is viewed reputationally.

Take a look at this recommendation that Keyur received:

LinkedIn is not a one-way channel where you only must receive. Recommendations are best given too. Consider writing recommendations for prominent industry leaders that you have worked with. Avoid flattery; the more genuine your recommendation, the stronger your bond becomes. Recommendations are the perfect media to reinstate trust in your working mindset.

Languages

Towards the end of your LinkedIn profile optimization journey comes the Languages department. This can be useful when you work with international companies. This is only to expand your accessibility to a wider range of prospects. It won’t impact the reach of your LinkedIn profile in any way, so you need not worry if you can only list 3 languages too. Make sure you include the proficiency you have in each language so that it becomes easy for prospects to approach you.

3 Rare Tips That Nobody Tells You About LinkedIn Profile Optimization

Tip 1: Your LinkedIn URL Matters More Than You Think.

When you first create an account on LinkedIn, you are given a default URL by the platform. You might find a combination of alphabets and numerals separated with hyphens to resemble your name.

The first favor you can do to your LinkedIn profile is to get rid of that encoded junk and replace it with a clean personalized set of letters forming your name. If that is unavailable, append a couple of relevant hyphens or add in your initials, and you’ll find yourself a LinkedIn profile URL that is not messy and readable.

Why should you do this?

The purpose this plays is a lot like a clean, “firstname-lastname”-based email address. It becomes easy to type out should someone look up your LinkedIn profile.

Tip 2: Your Activity On LinkedIn Forms A Huge Part Of Profile Optimization.

Try looking up someone’s LinkedIn profile today. A huge portion of their profile apart from all these elements mentioned above will be occupied by their “Activity” section. This part reflects all your online activities like commenting, posting, resharing, and reacting to posts. From the external view, your latest 3 activities are displayed. Comments that you put out even a year ago can be visible on your profile if you haven’t made any other proactive LinkedIn output.

If there are very old comments or posts in your Activity section, your profile comes across as dead or inactive. That’s why, it’s important that you regularly either put out posts on your profile or publish substantially valuable comments on other posts. This way, prospects that land up on your profile will know what you invest your energy into and are interested in.

‍Tip 3: There Is A Patents And Publications Section Too.

If you wish to upload official documents of patents that you have won or important publications that you have authority over, then LinkedIn gives you a separate space apart from the Featured section to do so.

You will find this section when you click on the “Add profile section” button and scroll down to the “Additional” option. This special dashboard will stand out since not many of your peers might have patents on their name!

How Can I Get My LinkedIn Profile Optimized?

LinkedIn profile optimization can be a long one-day task. The articulation of your messaging, the decision about links to be added, the design of the banner – every element needs thorough analysis and inspection. You need to keep in mind SEO-specific keywords and know what keyword volume is most preferable for your profile to rank among the best when search results relate to your domain.

We understand that this might get technically overwhelming. To save you time and bandwidth yet get you the best results on profile optimization, GrowedIn can step in. We work on C-level executive profiles to transform their LinkedIn personal brands to facilitate their reputation-driven business growth on the platform. We’re only a call away at growedin.link/discovery.

More than 11 million users are posting on LinkedIn in 2024, but only about 1% will reach the topmost positions in terms of reach, engagement, branding, and leads generated. This is because social media platforms like LinkedIn highly depend on 1 factor that is difficult to maintain – consistency.

Consistency in the world of LinkedIn posting can be defined as sticking to the same time and same days of the week every time you post. That is primary; whether you post every other day or only twice a week is secondary.

But how do you choose that “time”? Before we answer this question, there are 2 more important questions to be asked.

Is The “Best Time To Post On LinkedIn” A Myth?

A lot of LinkedIn users ask if there really are “best times” to post on LinkedIn, or if this is merely a myth.

Simply put, it is not. LinkedIn, just like any other social media platform, runs on an algorithm. And algorithms love repetition.

If you perform the same act regularly enough around the same time, then over a few weeks, the algorithm will become trained enough to support your posts at that time. Now, imagine thousands of users posting at some common time during the day. This would imply that the LinkedIn algorithm is going to be most effective and supportive at that time.

That would be the ideal posting time.

How does this work, though?

The “best” days and time to post on LinkedIn aren’t the same for everyone, but this data does remain constant across industries or niches. This is because as humans, we often think in a like-minded manner to our peers belonging to the same line of work. Most doctors might consider the early morning window of around 7:00 am for LinkedIn. Professionals in the education domain might prefer 10:00 am as a better choice.

The best times to post on LinkedIn reflect those parts of the day when your target audience or preferred engagers are active. These windows of time are when you can attract the most eyeballs and ensure that your content gets the attention it deserves, organically. In fact, it’s not just humans that justify this data point of “best” and “worst” times to post on LinkedIn in 2024 - it’s the LinkedIn algorithm itself. The algorithm boosts your content in these hyperactive time slots.

That’s double the strength of LinkedIn for promoting your post.

Should I Post Every Single Day On LinkedIn?

Posting regularly on LinkedIn will prove to be a good habit to follow. But posting regularly does not mean posting every single day. It means posting often, at equal intervals. For example, if you have a LinkedIn management team handling your account, you can try reaching a mark of about 20-22 posts in a month, excluding weekends. Such regularity will keep you reputationally relevant on the platform.

However, posting every day on LinkedIn is not a good strategy if you are doing all the work yourself.

If you’re a CEO, there are a million other high-value tasks that you can give your time and attention to that will generate 10x higher direct returns than LinkedIn will, with a higher rate of guarantee. 

As an executive, posting at the best time on LinkedIn about 3 times a week works well. You stay active enough on the platform and stay visible to your ICP.

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Best Time To Post On LinkedIn [Updated As Of March 2024] - Weekly Analysis

Remember that these times are with respect to your local time assuming that your business and your ICP belong to the same timezone. If there is an exception, for example, if you are a business operating in Australia but catering to clients in the US, then it’s best you consider these below timings to be US local time zones. This way, you will be able to reach out to your target audience when they are most active.

Monday:

11:00 am

Mondays start fresh yet hectic. Business has been waiting since Friday, and when the clock strikes 9 on Monday, it all comes pouring in.

That’s why most businesses prefer to check their LinkedIn feeds a bit later during the morning.

This is why data also shows that 11:00 am is the best time to post on LinkedIn on Monday. It is the most effective time for your post to reach a large audience. More importantly, the right audience.

‍Tuesday:

7:00 am

Because the week’s already begun and the pipeline’s already flowing, professional minds are going to be attacking their workloads on Tuesday. This means that social media can take a back seat. That’s why, it’s best to choose a time early in the morning to complete your posting and let LinkedIn take it up.

As per reports, 7:00 am is the best time to post on LinkedIn on Tuesday, while on a commute to work, if that makes the scenario convenient for you.

Wednesday:

12:00 pm

Just got off your back-to-back brainstorming sessions in the morning? You’re not the only one. Most companies say that Wednesday is their tightest day, packed with meetings. It all falls into place with LinkedIn also reflecting that most users come to social media to take a breather from work.

That’s why the best time to post on LinkedIn on Wednesday is 12:00 pm, when your ICP is likely to check what’s up just before they break for lunch. This isn’t just for entrepreneurs or C-class leadership roles. Even those wanting to grab the attention of recruiters can make the most of this minute to reach far and wide.

Thursday:

12:00 pm

Work tasks take up most of a Thursday, leaving post-noon sessions open for LinkedIn regulars to catch up. This is the best day to make the most of corporate stories that emotionally engage and educate. That’s why, the best time to post on LinkedIn on Thursday is 12:00 pm, just before you dive into the second half of the day.

CEOs, talk about your worst mistake, your best deal ever, your favorite mentor to date, and your secret recipe for sealing deals in 5 minutes. Post about your resilience. Talk about the future of FinTech. Make Thursdays thought-provoking.

Friday:

8:00 am

Fun Fridays start with people checking their LinkedIn feeds before their workdays start. Actually, Fridays are known to be great timestamps for clients to close those deals that have been on their radar for quite some time now.

Strange, but definitely strategic.

That’s why, the best time to post on LinkedIn on Friday is 8:00 am. It maximizes your chances of getting leads generated since your clients are probably out there looking for you. You can also utilize this time to send people connection requests because many people might be in the mood to focus on expanding their networks.

Disclaimer: The above time windows are purely based on data. However, the most important practice is to choose any time convenient for you and stick to it every time you post. You can choose to post at 10:00 am every single time, and as long as you prove to be active at that time on the platform, it is the best time to post on LinkedIn for you.

Should You Post On LinkedIn On Weekends?

Ideally, no.

LinkedIn on the weekends is lazy.

Posts reach fewer accounts, people don’t actively engage as much, and technical thought-inducing content dies soon.

Weekends must be reserved for slow, engaging, emotional, soft-launch stories. Rewinding from the stressful corporate week that just passed, employees might take their weekends easy. People usually look for no-brainer, non-educational content during these days.

That’s why a picture of your dog at the park might rank higher than a bulletin on why digital transformation is the way ahead.

You can post on weekends occasionally, but it’s best to keep it independent of your content strategy.

The best time to post on LinkedIn during the weekends can be considered from about 10:00 am to 11:30 am.

‍Disclaimer: It is worth mentioning again that these timings are the averaged-out data points. Ultimately what matters is whether you are consistent with whatever time you choose.

The Worst Times To Post On LinkedIn In 2024

Simply put, the worst times to post on LinkedIn are those when your ICP is most likely to ignore your activity.

The worst time to post is typically during non-business hours, like from 10 pm to 5 am (bedtime). In fact, data will show that any posting time beyond 8-9 pm should not be preferred since your post will remain on active feeds only till an hour after posting. This means that the lifetime of your post will decrease.

The lifetime of a LinkedIn post is the countdown to its expiry. After being published, engagement on a post stays active for about an hour. As time passes, the chances of the post topping on your connections’ feed lowers exponentially. By the 12th hour, your post is almost forgotten. This holds true for most content, except hiring posts, since they remain active through constant sharing from connection to connection.

That’s why, the worst times to post on LinkedIn to post are:

• After 10:00 pm
• Before 5:00 am
• Between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm

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Bonus: Top 3 LinkedIn Scheduling Tools

To maintain your posting consistency on LinkedIn, it’s best to take the help of an automated scheduling tool for publishing your posts. You can address the comments and requests at your own convenience any other time during the day.

Here are our top 3 choices:

1. Publer: With Publer, you don’t need to worry about missing the publication of your post at the time you have chosen. If you decide that 10:30 am is the best time to post on LinkedIn for you, put up your posts on Publer and set that time. Plus, it also helps you schedule the first comment on your LinkedIn post in advance.
   
   In fact at GrowedIn, Publer has proven to be the best scheduling and comment-originating tool that can also kickstart comments.

2. Buffer: Buffer is the simpler version of Publer in many senses. It is a basic, easy-to-use tool that helps you maintain your posting time, but doesn’t allow intiating engagement through the first comment.

3. Taplio: Taplio is a level ahead – it also lets you generate content for your posts through AI. However, if you really want your posts to make a difference in your marketing strategy, we suggest you have them written and not generated.

Conclusion

While there are best and worst times to post on LinkedIn in 2024, it is essential to remember that at the end of the day, consistency matters more than punctuality to the times mentioned above. Pick a time of the morning that suits your work schedule best and constantly show up on LinkedIn. That will make a huge difference in post visibility and reach of content. The “best” time to post on LinkedIn can only be a suggestion, not a rule. Experiment around to figure out what works best for you and your profile.

We partner with executives to help them leverage LinkedIn’s potential and build it as a channel for reputation-driven business growth. If you’d like to discuss LinkedIn branding for your profile, you can schedule a call with us.