Your LinkedIn Headline: Does It Work?

Short LinkedIn Headline

Your LinkedIn headline has one very important purpose. Do you know what it is?

If you do, you stand a good chance of writing an excellent headline today. You are also likely to revise and improve your headline as time passes.

If you do not know what LinkedIn headlines are really for, your LinkedIn profile is more likely to languish and remain unnoticed by many people, including those you would like to read what you have said.

Before looking at the text you have written, consider what the headline must do, if it is to succeed.

Your aim is to ensure that when your profile comes up in LinkedIn searches, whoever is looking at the list of LinkedIn users displayed will be enticed to view your complete profile.

This means your headline is worth spending time on.

Your LinkedIn Profile
Don’t write this much!

You know you have 120 characters to work with. Make sure you write lots of different versions before you even think about uploading the best version. (I am assuming that no one today tries to write a headline straight into his or her profile.)

Before you begin working on your headline check how many times you currently appear in searches. LinkedIn tells you the answer each week. Keep checking. Does your new approach mean your headline is more interesting? Does it mean that more of the right people look at your profile after seeing your headline?

What Should You Include?

You need a template or a list of instructions. Here is the one I use when writing LinkedIn profiles for clients. Remember the headline must fit into 120 characters. Cover the following:

Your Image + Role + Level + Sector + Value You Deliver

Too many people deal with themselves: their job titles, their responsibilities etc. Putting these things in your headline will not get your profile in front of very many people.

If you want to see some headlines that work, here are some I have offered to clients.

Business Manager At Independent Reprographics Company►New Business Development►Leading The Sales Team To Greater Success

120 characters exactly

OD Consultant►Keynote Speaker: Public Sector Reform and Modernisation►Helping Caribbean nations build greater prosperity

120 characters exactly

Award-Winning Independent Film Producer/Director►Corporate Training Films and Documentaries►BAFTA and EMMY winner

113 characters

All of these headlines have been written with an audience in mind. All of them helped the LinkedIn users who used them to come up more often in search results. That led to more people contacting them.

great tome
Are these all your LinkedIn profiles?

And My LinkedIn Headline?

I update my LinkedIn profile several times a year. I last updated on May 29th 2018. I created several headlines. Today is May 31st 2018.

The best two I created are below.

Creator of sparkling online profiles and author of bestselling career-oriented e-books for people who want to succeed 118

Creator of eye-catching online profiles plus bestselling career-oriented books to help you succeed at work. 107

  • My clients are employed people, not business owners. My clients want to succeed in their careers.
  • My clients want to gain the knowledge they need to succeed. My e-books help them extend their skills. They are SHORT and INEXPENSIVE.
  • My LinkedIn profile writing services help people gain that promotion or change the country in which they are working and so on.
  • I also teach existing clients how to use LinkedIn once they have an excellent and up-to-date profile.

How About You?

Has this article convinced you to update your LinkedIn profile?

If you are interested, take a look at my LinkedIn profile and at my e-books on Amazon UK and on Amazon US.