10 ideas for writing a profitable LinkedIn headline
LinkedIn's 690 million members include 180 million high-level influencers, 63 million decision makers, and 10 million C-level executives.
Hence, there are many influential people on LinkedIn who have rental and purchasing power. Whatever you want to achieve with the use of the network, you want to make a good impression.
Your headline is the first thing people see next to your profile picture. How decision makers can find you. This is how you will get people to notice you and what will make them visit your profile to learn more. Hence, it's safe to say that your headline is pretty important.
So, I thought I'd share with you my top tips for creating an effective headline. But first let's look at the basics:
What's your LinkedIn headline?
Your headline is the tagline that appears under your name on LinkedIn and at the top of your profile page. The headline was previously limited to 120 characters. But here's some good news: LinkedIn expanded the headline to 220 characters in 2020. So you have a little more space to sell yourself, share your vision, or whatever else you want to express about your headline.
What Makes a Successful LinkedIn Headline?
There are a few important criteria for creating an effective headline. The top LinkedIn headlines do this:
Use keywords
Keywords aren't the only thing that should be in your headline. But they're key to helping the right people find your profile. Keywords can include your job title, skills, and areas in which you specialize. Put keywords at the beginning of your headline and expand them with more information.
Express your worth
To express yourself or your company's worth, you need to share more than the tasks you perform. Your headline should depend on the benefits of the services you are offering and the type of results being achieved. For example, instead of saying you are doing tax planning, you want to help companies save money.
Are unique
A successful LinkedIn headline stands out from the crowd. Think about how many people are doing the exact same job or offering similar services as you. You can gain a competitive advantage and encourage more people to visit your profile by designing your headline differently.
Help you achieve your goals
You need to carefully consider why you are on LinkedIn and what you want to achieve. This should inform about what to include in your headline (and the rest of your profile). If you're not sure what to accomplish on LinkedIn or how to go about it, you can speak to a social media advisor.
Now let's take a closer look at how you can create a successful headline:
1. Get InspIration
By default, LinkedIn uses your job title and employer as the heading. What a slumber party. If you want to do better, the first step is to get inspired.
Look for people in your field or with roles similar to you. Take a look at how they wrote their headings. See what appeals to you and what doesn't. Of course, you shouldn't just catch someone else's headline. However, this will give you ideas on how to display your headline.
Also, look out for those who rank high in your industry's search results. What keywords do they use? Keep these keywords in mind as they likely contribute to why these professionals do so well in search results.
2. Ask yourself these questions
If you decide to update your LinkedIn headline to maximize its impact, doing a little brainstorming is a good idea. Here are some questions to help you brainstorm:
- How would you describe yourself to a new colleague if you only had five seconds?
- What makes you different from others with the same job title?
- Why should users click on your profile?
- What are your most requested skills?
- What are your greatest achievements?
- What makes you unique
3. Choose the right keywords
Include relevant keywords in your headline so that they appear in more search results.
To do this, you first need to consider who should find your profile on LinkedIn. A recruiter? A possible head start? Influencers you want to connect with? And so on …
This will help you find the right keywords. For example, you can indicate your specific skills or specializations in order to be found by recruiters with the most relevant vacancies.
In this example we don't have a "developer" or a "chatbot developer". The user goes into more detail about the terms "Facebook Messenger Marketing" and "Automation Practitioner":
As you use LinkedIn to network and build your authority, you may want to use broader terms. Your professional role could be "Artworker", but in order to be found by more people it is a very good idea to include the term "Graphic Design".
4. Include your unique selling proposition
Keywords alone are not enticing enough to entice users to visit your profile. Indicate the value you get in doing what you do, especially doing something that makes you stand out from the crowd.
There is a simple formula you can use to express this: I help X do Y by doing Z. Here is an example from an accounting consultant:
When she says, "I help women build profitable businesses," she is outlining the positive results of her work, not just the tasks she performs. You should do something similar.
You can also use data to drive your point home. Here is where an email marketer shares the average results they get:
There are tons of relevant data points that you can include to prove your worth, such as: For example, the number of clients with whom you contributed to a particular outcome or the results of an impressive case study.
5. Share your achievements / credentials
When you make self-glorifying claims on LinkedIn, people will either think you're arrogant or full of it. Instead, use the old adage "Show don & # 39; t tell". Show that with your achievements or credentials, you are great at what you do.
What is your most impressive achievement? Maybe you won an award? Have you been featured in top media? Sold a few books? Grown a well-known company? This is the kind of thing you want to share.
This professional shares the fact that he has been named a LinkedIn Top Voice Award winner four times and brings in some serious social evidence by mentioning his work with Mark Cuban:
Additionally, certain credentials that are recognized by people in your industry give you clout. For example, in the marketing world, it's good to be Google certified like this pro:
Share credentials relevant to your position to show that you are not just messing around but really know what you are doing.
6. Use natural language
Keep your headline free of jargon, especially if you are using LinkedIn for sales or lead generation. If a prospect doesn't understand what you're selling, you're out of luck.
Just as well, make your job title clear and simple, unless you are looking for a specific job. Again, users you are trying to connect to may not understand what you are doing. Even if you think the term “Business Development Manager” is clear, trust me, the simplification to “Sales Manager” is much more transparent.
Also avoid buzzwords. After a while, Tom, Dick and Harry will all use the same trending terminology to describe their services. So your words become meaningless.
And to say that you are a "guru", "ninja" or "wizard" is a bit cheesy and old-fashioned. It doesn't help you in search results either. When was the last time you looked for a ninja on LinkedIn or anywhere else?
Try to use simple everyday language to explain your role or value proposition. Here's a great example from a marketer:
Your target audience, small businesses, may not know or fully understand the industry terms. Hence, it offers a straightforward, beneficial value proposition.
7. Don't put "unemployed"
Even if you are currently looking for a job, do not include "unemployed," "looking for new opportunities," or anything like that in your heading.
The thing is, recruiters or companies don't search for the term "unemployed" on LinkedIn. You only get a few hundred characters for your headline. So better use this space for keywords you're likely to be looking for, as well as your experience, specializations, credentials, etc.
They can show that you are looking for work to add to your profile instead. You will see a section at the top of your profile titled “See Recruiters You Are Open To”.
Just enter details about the type of role you are looking for and the location. You can even change the settings so that your current employers don't see you looking for work.
8. Share your mission
Maybe you don't want to promote yourself. Perhaps you are in the process of building a startup, or you or your company are trying to achieve a broader goal that you want people to know about.
If this sounds like you, then you should definitely share your vision in your headline. In this example, the professional shares what they're doing in local transport, but also why they're doing it to reduce our carbon footprint and create a more connected community:
You could use a similar formula. Start with the what and then move on to the why. If you are not sure how to formulate your goals, you can always be inspired by the company's mission statement.
9. Show your personality
As with any other social media platform, users quickly scroll through their LinkedIn feeds, groups, and even search results. So you need a headline that will make someone stop and pay attention.
Get creative and use your headline to express your personality. Not only will they get noticed, but they will also make your profile unforgettable.
Here is an example of an SEO manager with a quirky sense of humor:
Don't worry though. You don't have to be LinkedIn's Kevin Hart. There are other ways to express your personality through your headline. You may want to project positive vibes or enthusiasm.
You could even share a little personal tidbit about yourself. Maybe you do PR during the day and rule Settlers of Catan at night… This also helps start conversations between you and new connections.
10. Keep your headline up to date
It's easy to set your heading and forget about it. But to get the most of it, you need to keep it updated.
First, make sure you add new skills, achievements, career developments, etc. as they emerge. Your skills will develop over time and your headline should reflect this.
Additionally, you may want to test the impact of your headline and update accordingly. When you make changes, keep track of the number of people who viewed your profile.
With LinkedIn Premium, you can also see who has viewed your profile. Hence, you can tell if your headline is attracting who you are trying to attract or your target audience.
Conclusion
You can use your LinkedIn headline to get noticed by influential professionals and encourage more people to visit your profile. A successful headline combines relevant keywords and your unique value proposition.
Don't forget to think carefully about who to target with your headline. And don't be afraid to sell yourself as long as it doesn't look too boastful.
Take the first step in creating a great LinkedIn headline. Do some research on what works well in your industry and come up with ideas for your own headline.