How to Make My LinkedIn Better

Your LinkedIn profile can be so much more than a digital resume, it can be a powerful tool for building your brand, generating leads, and connecting with opportunities. This guide will walk you through the practical, step-by-step actions you can take to transform your profile from a static page into a dynamic hub for your professional life. We will cover everything from optimizing your profile sections to creating content and engagement strategies that actually work.

The Foundation: Creating a Profile That Works for You

First impressions matter, and on LinkedIn, your profile is your digital handshake. Before you post a single piece of content, you need to make sure your profile is polished, professional, and clearly communicates who you are and what you do. Let's break it down piece by piece.

Refine Your Visual Branding

People are visual creatures. Your profile picture and banner are the very first things visitors see, so make them count.

Your Profile Picture

This isn't the place for a vacation photo or a picture of your pet. Your profile photo should be a high-quality headshot where your face is clearly visible. Here are a few simple guidelines:

• Look professional but approachable: Wear what you’d typically wear for work, smile, and look directly at the camera. A warm, friendly expression goes a long way.
• Use a clean background: A simple, uncluttered background keeps the focus on you. This could be a solid color, a lightly textured wall, or a professional-looking blurred background.
• Keep it current: Use a photo that was taken in the last couple of years. It should look like you – the person someone would meet on a video call tomorrow.

Your Banner Image

The banner behind your profile photo is prime real estate. Leaving it as the default blue background is a missed opportunity. Think of it as a small billboard for your personal brand. You can use it to:

• State your value proposition: A simple tagline like "Helping SaaS Startups Scale with Content Marketing."
• Showcase your work: If you're a designer, photographer, or speaker, use an image of you in action or a collage of your best work.
• List your services or expertise: Clearly state what you specialize in (e.g., SEO, Public Speaking, P&L Management).
• Promote something: If you have a book, podcast, or newsletter, this is a great place to feature it.

You can use free tools like Canva to easily create a custom banner with the correct dimensions (1584 x 396 pixels). For more tips on how to improve your presence, learn how to optimize your LinkedIn profile.

Craft a Headline That Grabs Attention

Your headline appears everywhere your name does on LinkedIn. By default, it’s just your job title and company, but it can be so much more. Your headline should quickly tell people whom you help and how you help them. It’s your elevator pitch.

A great headline formula is: [What you do] | [Whom you do it for] | [The result you create]

Here are a few examples:

• Instead of: "Marketing Manager at ABC Corp"
• Try: "B2B Content Marketer | Helping Tech Companies Generate Demand & Grow Revenue"

• Instead of: "Software Engineer"
• Try: "Frontend Developer specializing in React & Vue.js | Building Scalable, User-Friendly Web Applications"

Tell Your Story in the "About" Section

Your "About" section is your chance to expand on your headline and show some personality. Don't just list skills, tell a story. Structure it to be easily scannable.

A Foolproof "About" Section Structure:

1. The Hook (1-2 sentences): Start with a strong opening statement that describes your mission or the main problem you solve.
2. Your Background & Expertise (1-2 paragraphs): Briefly explain your experience and what you're passionate about. What have you accomplished? What makes you different?
3. The Proof (Bulleted list): List your key areas of expertise or services. This is great for keywords and makes it easy for readers to see what you offer at a glance.
4. Call to Action (1 sentence): End by telling people what you want them to do next. Should they connect with you? Visit your website? Send you an email?

Writing in the first person ("I help...") is much more personal and engaging than writing in the third person ("John helps..."). If you want to list your services, learn how to add services to your LinkedIn profile.

Showcase Achievements, Not Just Responsibilities

When you fill out your "Experience" section, avoid simply copying and pasting your job descriptions. No one wants to read a list of daily tasks. Instead, focus on your achievements in each role. Use bullet points and action verbs, and quantify your results whenever possible.

Instead of:

• "Responsible for managing social media accounts"

Try:

• "Grew the company's LinkedIn followers from 5k to 25k in 12 months through consistent content and engagement strategies."
• "Developed and executed a content strategy that increased inbound leads by 40% quarter-over-quarter."

Curate Your Skills & Featured Sections

Skills: Pin your top three most relevant skills to the top of your Skills section. These should align directly with the expertise you want to be known for. Endorsements from colleagues add social proof, so don't be afraid to ask for them.

Featured: The Featured section is a visual portfolio near the top of your profile. Use it to highlight your best content. You can feature LinkedIn posts, articles, links to your website or portfolio, and media you've been featured in.

The Strategy: Shifting from a Profile to a Presence

A great profile is just the beginning. To truly get ahead on LinkedIn, you need to be an active participant. That means creating valuable content and engaging with others in your network.

Find Your Lane: What to Post About

The most common reason people don't post on LinkedIn is that they don't know what to talk about. A simple content pillar strategy can solve this. Choose 3-5 topics you are knowledgeable and passionate about that are also relevant to your audience.

For example, a freelance writer's content pillars might be:

• Writing Tips & Best Practices
• Marketing Insights
• The Freelance Journey (lessons learned, personal stories)
• Client Success Stories

Having these pillars gives you a simple framework for generating ideas and keeps your content focused and consistent.

The Anatomy of a Great LinkedIn Post

The structure of your post matters just as much as the idea behind it. High-performing posts generally follow a simple formula.

1. The Hook (First Sentence): Start with a bold statement, a question, or a relatable problem. The first line is all anyone sees before they click "See more," so its only job is to make them click.
2. The Story/Value (The Body): This is the core of your post. Tell your story, share your advice, or present your insight here. Keep paragraphs short (1-2 sentences) and use bullet points or numbered lists to make your post easy to skim. White space is your friend.
3. The Takeaway (Conclusion): Sum up your main point in a clear, concise final sentence.
4. Call to Engagement (The Prompt): End with a question to encourage comments. Ask your audience for their opinion, experience, or advice. For example, "What's the best career advice you've ever received? Leave a comment below!"
5. Hashtags (3-5 relevant hashtags): Use a mix of broad and niche hashtags that are relevant to your post's topic and your industry. This helps people who don't follow you discover your content.

Don't be afraid to experiment with different formats – text-only posts, posts with a single image or carousel of images, videos, and polls can all perform well. To learn more about crafting effective posts, read how to create a LinkedIn post.

The Engagement: Building Your Community

LinkedIn is a social network. If all you do is post content without interacting with anyone else, you're missing the point. Genuine engagement is how you build real relationships that lead to opportunities.

Connect with Intention

When you send a connection request, always add a personalized note. A simple message explaining why you want to connect makes all the difference.

Something as simple as: "Hi [Name], I saw your recent post on [Topic] and really enjoyed your perspective. I'm also really interested in that space and would love to connect." is far more effective than a generic request. For more on building your network, check out how to network on LinkedIn.

How to Leave Meaningful Comments

Engaging on other people's posts is one of the best ways to grow your network and visibility. Your goal is to add to the conversation, not just say "Great post!"

Here’s how to do it right:

• Add your own perspective: "I agree with this, and I'd add that..."
• Ask a follow-up question: "This is a great point. How do you see this approach working in a fully remote environment?"
• Share a related experience: "This reminds me of a time when..."

Leaving thoughtful comments on posts from influential people in your industry puts your name and headline in front of their entire audience.

Respond to Everyone Who Comments on Your Posts

When someone takes the time to comment on your content, always reply. Acknowledge their point, answer their question, or simply thank them for sharing their thoughts. This not only builds goodwill but also signals to the LinkedIn algorithm that your post is fostering conversation, which gives it more visibility.

Show up Consistently

You don't need to be on LinkedIn 24/7, but consistency is critical. Find a rhythm that works for you. Posting 2-3 times per week and spending 15 minutes each day engaging with others is a fantastic starting point. A consistent presence keeps you top-of-mind with your network and shows that you're an active voice in your field.

Final Thoughts

Revamping your LinkedIn presence is a marathon, not a sprint. By focusing on a polished profile, a consistent content strategy, and genuine engagement, you can systematically turn the platform into a powerful asset for your career or business.

Creating and managing content across LinkedIn – plus all your other social platforms – can get a little overwhelming. In our experience running marketing teams, we found ourselves wasting too much time juggling disorganized calendars and using scheduling tools that couldn't handle the video content that works best today. We built Postbase to fix that, delivering a simple visual planner and reliable scheduling for all platforms, including dedicated support for short-form video, so you can focus on creating great content without the hassle.