How to Create a LinkedIn

Creating a strong LinkedIn profile is the foundation for building your professional brand online, whether you're a freelancer, an entrepreneur, or climbing the corporate ladder. This guide will walk you through a step-by-step process for setting up a profile that not only looks professional but also actively works for you, attracting connections, recruiters, and opportunities.

Getting Started: The Sign-Up and Core Details

Before you get into the creative parts, you have to nail the basics. The initial setup is straightforward, but making the right choices here sets the stage for a professional profile.

Step 1: Join the Network. Head to LinkedIn.com and click "Join now." You’ll be asked to provide your first name, last name, and an email address.

• Use your real name. This isn't the place for nicknames or handles. The name on your profile should match the name you use in a professional setting.
• Choose a professional email. If possible, use an email address that is simple and includes your name (e.g., your.name@email.com). Avoid old, unprofessional addresses from your high school days. Using your work email is fine, but a personal one you control is often better for long-term ownership of your account.

Step 2: Add Your Location and Most Recent Job Title. LinkedIn will prompt you for your country, postal code, most recent job title, and company. This information helps the platform start connecting you with relevant people and opportunities in your industry and area. Don't worry, you can and will flesh this out in much greater detail later on.

Your First Impression: Profile Photo, Banner, and Headline

When someone lands on your profile, they make a snap judgment in seconds. Your photo, banner, and headline are the three elements they see first, so they need to be sharp, clear, and compelling.

Your Profile Photo

A missing or unprofessional profile picture is a major red flag on LinkedIn. It suggests the profile is either incomplete, fake, or not taken seriously. Your photo is your handshake, so make it a good one.

• What to Do: Use a high-resolution headshot where you are the only subject. Your face should take up about 60% of the frame. Dress as you would for work in your industry, look directly at the camera, and smile. A simple, non-distracting background works best.
• What to Avoid: Steer clear of vacation photos, group shots (even with others cropped out), selfies taken in a car or bathroom mirror, pictures with pets, and logos. This isn't Instagram, focus should be on your professional persona.

Your Profile Banner (or Cover Photo)

The space behind your profile photo is prime real estate that most people waste. Leaving the default blue banner is a missed opportunity. Use this space to visually reinforce who you are and what you do.

Ideas for a great banner:

• A photo of you speaking at an event or leading a workshop.
• A branded graphic with your company's logo and tagline.
• An image that represents your industry or passion (e.g., a well-designed bookshelf for a writer, a clean code snippet for a developer).
• A high-quality stock image that aligns with your personal brand.

Your Headline

Your headline is more than just your job title. It's your 220-character elevator pitch. It should instantly tell people not only what you do but also the value you provide. A great headline is searchable and interesting.

Ditch the default "Marketing Manager at XYZ Company" for something more descriptive. Try a formula like:

[Your Title] | [Who You Help] | [The Result You Deliver]

Examples of effective headlines:

• Weak: Content Manager
• Strong: Content Strategist for B2B SaaS | Helping Tech Brands Drive Organic Growth Through High-Impact Content
• Weak: Sales Representative
• Strong: Senior Account Executive at Salesforce | Driving Revenue Growth for Enterprise Clients in the Financial Sector
• Weak: Software Engineer
• Strong: Frontend Developer | Building Intuitive User Interfaces with React &, TypeScript | Passionate About Clean Code and Accessibility

This approach gives visitors an immediate and clear understanding of your expertise and the value you bring to the table.

Telling Your Story: The 'About' Section

Think of your 'About' section (formerly the Summary) as the cover letter for your entire career. It’s your chance to tell your professional story in your own voice, connect the dots between your experiences, and show a bit of personality. Write it in the first person to create a direct connection with the reader.

A good 'About' section structure includes:

1. The Hook: Start with a strong opening statement that defines your professional identity or mission. Who are you and why do you do what you do?
2. Your Value Proposition: Clearly explain what you do, who you serve, and how you do it differently or better. What problems do you solve?
3. Key Achievements &, Skills: Mention 2-3 of your proudest accomplishments. Back them up with specifics if you can. Then, weave in your top skills.
4. Call to Action: What do you want people to do after reading? Invite them to connect, check out your portfolio, read your latest article, or send you a message.

Detailing Your Professional Path: The Experience Section

This is where you list your work history, but it should be much more than a simple copy-and-paste from your resume. For each role, focus on achievements, not just responsibilities.

Instead of listing your duties, showcase your impact. Use the "Action Verb + Task + Quantifiable Result" framework.

Let’s compare:

• Responsibility-focused: "Responsible for managing social media accounts and creating content."
• Achievement-focused: "Managed 5 corporate social media accounts, growing the overall audience by 35% in one year by developing and executing a cross-platform content strategy."

Numbers speak volumes. Always look for ways to quantify your accomplishments with dollars, percentages, or concrete figures. For each entry, make sure you link to the official LinkedIn page of the company you worked for. This adds a logo to your profile and makes it look more complete.

Building Credibility: Skills, Endorsements, and Recommendations

These sections provide the social proof that backs up all the claims you've made in your profile. They show that other people in your network trust and value your expertise.

Skills &, Endorsements

You can add up to 50 skills to your profile - a mix of hard skills (like SEO, Python, Project Management) and soft skills (like Leadership, Communication, Teamwork). LinkedIn will suggest skills based on your profile, but you can also add your own.

Once you’ve added your skills, pin the three most important ones to the top. These will be the most visible on your profile. Your connections can then "endorse" you for these skills, which adds a layer of validation.

A simple way to get endorsements is to give them. When you endorse a connection, they often return the favor.

Recommendations

While endorsements are good, recommendations are gold. A written testimonial from a former manager, colleague, or client carries a lot more weight than a one-click endorsement. A couple of thoughtful recommendations can make a huge impact on your credibility.

Don’t be afraid to ask for them! When you do, make it easy for the other person.

• Be Specific: Instead of a generic "Can you write me a recommendation?", try: "Hi Jane, I'm updating my LinkedIn profile and was wondering if you’d be willing to write a brief recommendation about our time working together on the [Project Name]. I'm hoping you could speak to my project management and team collaboration skills."
• Offer to Reciprocate: Always offer to write them a recommendation in return.

The Finishing Touches

Once the main sections are complete, a couple of final adjustments can make your profile look even more polished and professional.

Customize Your URL

When you first create a profile, LinkedIn assigns you a generic URL with random numbers at the end (e.g., www.linkedin.com/in/john-doe-a1b2c3d4). You can and should customize this.

On your profile page, find the option to "Edit public profile &, URL" and change it to something clean and simple, like:

www.linkedin.com/in/yourname

If your name is taken, try a combination like YourName-Field (e.g., JohnDoe-Marketing) or FirstInitial-LastName.

Triple-Check for Typos

Nothing undermines professionalism faster than typos and grammatical errors. Read your entire profile out loud to catch awkward phrasing. Then, use a tool like Grammarly or have a friend proofread it for you. View your profile as a potential recruiter or client would - does it tell a consistent and compelling story?

Final Thoughts

Creating a standout LinkedIn profile is a strategic exercise in building your personal brand. By carefully crafting each section - from a compelling headline and 'About' section to a detailed, achievement-focused experience list - you create a powerful tool that works for you 24/7, opening doors to new professional opportunities.

Of course, once your profile is polished, the real work of building your brand through content begins. For us, managing a consistent content publishing schedule across multiple platforms like LinkedIn used to be a frustrating scramble of spreadsheets and reminders. That's why we created Postbase, a simple social media tool that lets us visually plan and schedule everything in one clean calendar, helping us stay consistent without adding more noise to our day.

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