Steps for Crafting a LinkedIn Headline That Gets You Noticed
Your headline is the first thing people will see when the land on your LinkedIn profile and represents a valuable opportunity to engage others with your profile. It's also a key factor in how you rank in LinkedIn search results. By default, it’s your current job title and company name. Leaving it that way is a missed opportunity.
What should be included?
To accomplish those objectives, your headline needs to include two key elements:
Keywords: Incorporate at least 3 keywords or phrases related to the role you’re seeking. See below for tips on identifying the right keywords.
Branding Statement: A brief value statement that showcases the impact you deliver to employers, clients, or other stakeholders. It’s especially effective if you include metrics and results, e.g., exceeding quota, increasing site traffic, eliminating wasted spending, improving processes, your company's revenue/user base, etc.
You can also incorporate these two optional items:
Something unique to you, like a specific accomplishment or award, a passion, or a hobby.
Your company name, but only if it enhances your brand authority and value.
How long should it be?
Your headline can contain up to 220 characters and I recommend using as many as possible. Many people use multiple short sections like the ones you’ll see below, each describing a different role or ability.
Should I use my current title?
Unless you’re seeking a similar role, I’d avoid it. It’s likely to reduce your chances of appearing near the top of search results. If your goal is to move up or make a career change, consider one that is more descriptive or even aspirational.
For example, let’s say you’re a Manager of Social Media whose goal is a director-level role. This person might consider alternatives such as Social Media Leader, Senior Social Media Strategist, Innovative Social Media Strategist, Social Media Innovator, or Data-Driven Social Media Expert. Get the idea? Don’t hesitate to be a little creative!
Sample Headlines
Marketing Analytics Strategist Collaboratively Proving the Power of Data Analytics in Healthcare, Automotive, and Retail
Data Scientist, Machine Learning, and Analytics Manager @ Nike | Driving Growth Across 170M Members
M&E Profit Accelerator | Tapping Revenue Blind Spots | Inclusive Player-Coach | Warner Bros NBCU, Comcast, Private Equity
Marketing Technology Sales Leader | Presidents Club 5 Consecutive Years | Average Annual Revenue Growth of 55%+
Digital Strategy Evangelist | Performance Marketing | Paid Media | Content Optimization & SEO | Increased Rates of Customer Acquisition by 20%
Social Media Editor—Content & Digital Strategy @ New York Post | Creative Marketer Helping Brands Connect with People to Grow Subscriber Base
Pragmatic Strategist | Enterprise Software Program Management Leader | EFT and Index Technology and Operations Expert
Project Manager at Wayfair | Product Development | Increasing Cross-Functional Team Productivity by 45%
Managing Director at Ramp Ventures | Data-Driven Marketer | Entrepreneur | Content Marketer
Director of Product Management at Salesforce | Tech Evangelist and Formula 1 Fan
Administrative Professional | Produce Cost Savings Through Process Improvement | Report Creation & Implementation
Data Analyst | Expert at using Python, SQL, and Tableau to Help Companies Use Big Data to Tell Stories That Boost Customer Retention
Sales & Operations Executive ► Strategic Thought Leader | Execute Solutions that Drive Profitable Growth
Logistics Manager ► Expertise in Transportation & Warehousing | Drive Service Quality at Cost Effective Price
Keywords
Here are some free tools to use for identifying keywords:
ResyMatch will analyze a job posting, compare it to your resume, and recommend keywords to include.
Paste one or more job postings into a word cloud generator such as TagCrowd, WordClouds, or WordSift. Be sure to remove the headers, company information, and other irrelevant content.
Use ChatGPT or any of its competitors to perform a more robust keyword analysis using the following prompt:
“Identify the 10 most frequently mentioned keywords and phrases in the following job postings: (then paste each job posting in succession—omit any unnecessary information)”
Then, hold down the Shift key and hit Enter to start a new line, paste in one or more job postings, then press Enter. Anytime you want to start a new line, press Shift and Enter. Pressing only Enter will automatically submit the prompt for the chat bot to respond.
If you’ve never used ChatGPT, go to www.chat.openai.com and open a free account.