Do you catch people’s attention with your LinkedIn profile headline?

As you craft your profile headline, brainstorm ways to catch people’s attention. Use words and phrases that will intrigue people and cause them to want to know more about you.

 

My Profile Headline

I’ve changed my profile headline many times over the years that I’ve been on LinkedIn. Currently, my headline is “LinkedIn Trainer | LinkedIn Presenter | Baby Boomer Specialist | Business Owners | Job Seekers | Making Social Media Simple, Easy & Fun.”

The two parts of this headline that are most attention-getting are “Baby Boomer Specialist” and “Making Social Media Simple, Easy & Fun.” Most social media trainers, especially those with a LinkedIn focus, don’t specialize in the baby boomer age group. Also, people in this age group are often surprised by my tagline “Making Social Media Simple, Easy and Fun.” Many have not had positive experiences with social media and would not call it simple, easy or fun.

 

Headlines of Two Recent Clients

One client works as the human resources manager for a company that designs and manufactures specialty turbomachinery. When we started working together, she was using the company’s tagline in her profile headline. Since hiring people is a key part of her job, her new headline is “From Submarines to Rockets – We’re Hiring!”

Another client is a junior at Colorado Mesa State University in Grand Junction, Colorado. Originally, he had “Student at Colorado Mesa State University” for his headline. At my suggestion, he expanded his headline to put his major “Business Marketing” at the start of the headline.

Since he’s quite skilled in playing ping pong, I encouraged him to add that hobby to his profile. He chose the phrase “Ping Pong Connoisseur.” Now, along with adding his field of study, he’s further differentiated himself by including this clever way of describing his hobby. His headline now reads “Business Marketing Student | Colorado Mesa State University | Ping Pong Connoisseur.”

 

More LinkedIn Headline Examples

I recommend Samantha Li’s article on LinkedIn headlines, “18 LinkedIn Headline Examples,” that was published in Small Business Trends. One of the reasons I recommend this article is because the focus is more on business owners than on job seekers. Most of my clientele are business owners, though some are job seekers.

Along with referencing the 18 examples, she lists the elements of a great LinkedIn headline:

  • Job titles or skills
  • Relevant keywords
  • Clarity
  • Simplicity
  • Creativity

In addition, she lists what NOT to include in a headline:

  • Unprofessional language
  • Professional jargon
  • Negative language
  • Too much information

Please note that at one point she states “you are limited to 120 characters” in your headline. However, as of August, 2020, the character limit was changed to 220.

Another approach to getting ideas for your profile headline is to look up the LinkedIn profiles of people in your field. Doing this will especially help with finding keywords and skills.

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 55 and up to be more effective using social media, with a special focus on LinkedIn and Facebook. She works with business owners, business development professionals, business consultants, job seekers, and more – ranging from entrepreneurs to people in large corporations. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.