Get to the point with your headline. Don't just add your job title and company name.
You have a headline below your name on LinkedIn. The reason it's called a headline is because it comes at the top, and it's what people see and read first.
It also appears every time you make a comment or share something on LinkedIn. As a default, LinkedIn suggests that it's your current job title and company you use here.
Bad advice. Don't use that information in your headline. Or if you do, add to it by talking about the problems you can solve or the value you can add.
Make it count. Write a good headline. Tell us what's in the story to follow.
You have up to 220 characters to use in your headline. So there's plenty of room to add a few descriptive words that will interest people. And keywords for search visibility.
Use your headline to describe what you're good at. Say what you deliver, and why it's worth reading your profile and connecting with you. Here's a simple formula: "[Job title at Company]: helping X do Y."
Imagine it as a short introduction so people want to know more. Don't include an email, phone or web address — this can make you look pushy, spammy or just plain desperate.
✴️ What you do✴️ Who you do it for✴️ How that helps them✴️ The results you achieve
S is for specific. Does your headline tell people who you are or what you do? Is it specific?
O os for Optimised. Did you write the headline in a way to help people find you? Is it Optimised with targeted keywords that recruiters or customers will search for? (Or optimized for US audiences?)
A is for Abilities. Is the headline unique to your skills and abilities — an authentic reflection of who you are and what you have to offer?
P is for Professional. Will the headline give the reader confidence? Is it professional?
Don't describe yourself as an Acknowledged Expert. Don't tell me you are Results-Driven. If you talk in clichés, you'll just come across as being lazy, arrogant, or insecure.
Your headline is also important because it's weighted heavily in a LinkedIn Search. So why not use keywords that potential customers or connections will search for?
Job Title at Company
Job Title at Company plus other info
Rocking it out, have profile views galore!
You can include geographical indicators so that people can locate you in the areas you operate. 'Plumber in Seattle' is going to work better than just 'Plumber'.
Tip: The text in your headline is also effective for searches in Google, Bing and other search engines. You can get quite spectacular first page search results on competitive search phrases from careful work here.
You can also include #hashtags that you use for your updates in your headline, aiding visibility for all of your content across LinkedIn.
Hashtags are going to become even more important to creating visibility on LinkedIn. People can follow hashtags, and access content that interests them with just a click.
So be consistent in their use. In updates, always use three, or at most five hashtags. This advice comes from detailed research.
Include your own branded hashtag such as #TheDoctorIsIn as one of your three chosen hashtags.
If you have activated Creator Mode on LinkedIn, you can also list up to five of the hashtags that your normally talk about which will appear at the top of your profile.
In your updates and posts, your branded hashtag will let people find all of your unique content with one click.
There are at least two forms of your headline. One short version people see when they view your content. The full version when they view your profile.
Here are some examples where the headline does not work because of a cutoff:
Business Development Consultant, operating across...
Development Team Lead / Project Manager at XYZ Associates...
EMEA Senior asset/procurement management in FMCG...
Director - Resources, Oil and Energy at Baker Hugh...
General Manager, Direct Channels and Vertical OEM appl...
None of these headlines sells, tells or really says anything memorable.
The issue here is cramming in the current job title first.
Your job title is not your headline. It's already on your profile.
It's not the lead!
So please wake up — and use your headline to sell yourself to your readers! If you really want to let people know your job title, add it at the end, and make the most of the valuable real estate at the beginning.
Lead with the main story. Test it to make sure your headline makes sense (or at least intrigues) when it breaks at (currently) around 40, or 68 characters.
Different mobile apps and screen sizes all conspire to truncate your headline in different ways. So get your most important information out there right up front.
And please use simple language. "Homo sapiens engages with canine" is not as good as "Man bites dog" when it comes to getting attention!
The classic questions people want to know in the lead of a news story are who, what, where, why, when, and very often — how much? So make your headline do the same: introduce an interesting story.
Use your LinkedIn headline to introduce a story - and make the reader want to read the full story. And remember to check the spelling!
