How To Write an Effective Headline for LinkedIn Profile?

Do not forget, your headline for the LinkedIn profile is like the advertisement of your USP, it should not just be about facts, one has to make it enticing enough while keeping up with the brevity and telling others who you are and why people should connect with you.

The article provides you with tips on how do you draw the attention of the invisible crowds, to drop what they’re doing, and look at you?

Tips for an enticing Headline for LinkedIn Profile

Know Your Audience

The first and foremost rule of capturing someone’s attention is to know where their interests lie. One should be well informed about the kind of audience the profile is catering to. You should not be using confusing terms as it may turn off prospects. Since you are promoting yourself, you should use the designations that are easily recognized. Proper utilization of keywords will help you fetch the right kind of audience, for instance, you can write Communication Officer if you deal in corporate communication.

Also, if you are a recruiter and looking for a specific role, mention the role clearly using commonly used terms that can easily be tracked down instead of using not so common designations.

Using Uncomplicated Language

Well, using fancy language can up your game in some situations but certainly not here when you are trying to gain attention in a very short span of your time. Most people who use the platform are basically just skimming through your profile to gauge your capabilities by looking at your skills and education. Hence you have to use simple yet enticing language while writing the headline for LinkedIn. Do not fall into the trap of trying too hard to impress as even if the headline stands out by using compelling words it will not serve the purpose if the prospects fail to understand it. Complicated jargon will discourage visitors from engaging with you.

To understand which words are commonly used in your industry, it’s a good idea to look at the profiles of some prominent names in your industry for some insight.

Simplicity Should Not Mean Ordinary, Creativity Is The Key

Be simple yet creative. One can use humor and wit to put across the information and spice things up. You can creatively mention your hobbies too alongside the professional stuff that will be a great way to showcase different sides of your personality and will also portray multiple skills apart from your core skill which may add up to your overall impression.

For examples for catchy headlines:

Content writer: Selling your ideas through my words

Social Media Manager: I will help you promote yourself on social media. Oh, and you’ll make money off it too!

Highlight Your USP

As already mentioned, the headline for LinkedIn is like an advertisement for selling your profile. Hence it should be able to exhibit not only what you can do but also how well can you do it. Your unique selling proposition is the difference between you and a million other competitors, and it will be the reason why the visitor will remember you.

To highlight the USP you can use terms like “we help”; it’s that one extra thing that you are doing differently from others that makes you stand apart and the headline should be focusing on that as well. For instance, a content writer who can also do graphics for the content should be able to club the two to exhibit his/her USP.

Don’t be Pompous

There is nothing more discouraging than someone blowing their own trumpet. Do not brag about yourself by using words like expert, hardworking, best, superior, dedicated, smart, efficient, gifted, etc. instead highlight your achievements by using facts and figures in very few words and follow the rule of actions speak louder than words.

Highlighting your achievements and past experiences is the most genuine way to hold the attention of the visitor and also speaks volumes about your credibility. For example, Instead of writing dedicated, you can point out that you helped in revenue generation for your company by 40 percent.

Following is the example of a headline for LinkedIn with a very specific promise that makes it appealing and clickable:

Highlight The Bigger Picture

Instead of telling about the process you can also tell about the outcome and grab some eyeballs. For instance, if you are somebody working in the social sector you can introduce yourself as someone who is working for the greater good of society. Similarly, if you are the recruiter, you can focus on the larger picture of creating good teams where people look forward to working in a promising environment, for example, the following profile;

Nashla Fadile Contreras Rello, a senior global business recruiter at Google, writes that she wants to “Build the teams that shape Google’s future.”

LinkedIn Headline for Entry-level Individuals

If you are a fresh graduate with little or zilch formal work experience you might get intimidated by the professionals out there. Yet again each of us has something unique to bring to the table. Identify that and march on.

For people who have just entered the job market, it’s not necessary to have a long list of work experience to fetch the attention. In the profile headline one can highlight the things that he/she has actively done in college, be it internships, scholarly articles, publications, society memberships, extra-curricular activities, etc.

A few examples are:

• Psychology Major with Finance & Economics | Student Coordinator, Placements.’
• ‘Fashion enthusiast interned with haute couture magazines.’
• ‘MBA from Northwestern University, majoring in Information Technology.’

Do Away With The Obsolete LinkedIn Headline

One should be careful enough to update the headline as the situation demands. The skills that you had at the beginning of your career may not be the same ones that you possess now, as you acquire new skills and become a professional in them, remember to update them so as to come across as more current.

LinkedIn Headline Examples for Job Seekers

While most job seekers tend to ignore the headline aspect and instead try to impress with the resume but a headline if done right can do wonders for the prospects.

A lot of job seekers state the obvious when it comes to looking for employment and end up using terms like “unemployed”, “looking for the right opportunity”, etc. well not many recruiters will be interested to know the obvious, rather what may do the trick is stating about your accomplishments, qualification, critical skills, and experience.

For instance, the following examples can help serve the purpose:

• ‘Seasoned B2B Sales Executive | Sold $1.2 million in 2020.’
• ‘social media manager / Generated $12 million sales pipeline for manufacturing companies.’
• ‘Digital Media Manager & Content Writer | Written 500k words in 2020.’
• ‘Digital marketing veteran open to opportunities in Media & Advertising

Final Thoughts

Your LinkedIn headline is important for various reasons; it draws attention to your prime skills and strengths and gives the visitor a reason to connect with you. By mentioning your experience it portrays you as a trustworthy employee of the industry. Your LinkedIn profile gives you the opportunity to brand yourself, thus the headline serves as the most important tagline in your profile that can help you lure the prospects.

The headline is the first thing that a visitor sees hence if done correctly it can help you convert your visitors into future employers or employees as per the need.

Another important reason why you should be paying extra heed to the headline is that it appears in Google search results as a short description so people know quickly about your abilities.

By using the aforementioned tips, you can write one of the wittiest LinkedIn headlines around. In order to be out of the box, give a look at your headline today and change it accordingly and be surprised to know the wonders a few tweaks can do for your professional life.