How to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out

Your LinkedIn profile is more than just a digital resume, it's your professional storefront, your personal brand headquarters, and often the first impression a potential employer, client, or partner will have of you. An uninspired, half-finished profile is a missed opportunity. This guide will walk you through transforming your profile from a passive resume into an active beacon that attracts the right people and opportunities.

Nail the First Impression: Your Profile's Top Box

When someone lands on your profile, the first things they see - your photo, banner, and headline - can make them either stick around or click away in seconds. Getting these right is fundamental.

Your Profile Picture: It's Not Just a Headshot

Your profile picture is your digital handshake. A blurry photo, a picture of you on vacation from five years ago, or an image where you're a tiny speck in the distance won't cut it. Your goal is to look professional, approachable, and authentic.

• Quality Matters: Use a high-resolution photo where your face is clearly visible. Modern smartphones can take great pictures, you don't necessarily need a professional photographer.
• Framing: Your face should take up about 60% of the circle. A head-and-shoulders shot is perfect.
• Expression: Smile! A warm, genuine smile makes you appear more trustworthy and likable. Think about who you want to attract and project that energy.
• Background: Keep it simple and uncluttered. A neutral background or one that hints at your profession (like a clean office or an outdoor setting for an environmental scientist) works wonderfully. Avoid distracting backgrounds.

Your LinkedIn Banner: The Most Wasted Real Estate

The banner image behind your profile picture is a huge piece of visual real estate that most people leave as the default blue-gradient background. This is a massive mistake. Your banner is a billboard for your personal brand.

Use it to instantly communicate who you are and what you do. Here are a few ideas:

• A photo of you speaking at an event or leading a workshop.
• A custom graphic with your personal tagline, website, or services.
• A high-quality image that represents your industry or passion. A coder could use a sleek image of clean code, a writer might use a shot of a minimalist desk setup.
• Your company's branding, if representing them is a core part of your professional identity.

Use a free tool like Canva to easily create a professional-looking banner with the correct dimensions (1584 x 396 pixels).

Your Headline: More Than Just a Job Title

Your headline is arguably the most important text on your profile. It appears next to your name in search results, in comments, and when you send connection requests. By default, LinkedIn uses your current job title and company, which is okay, but it can be so much better.

A great headline is a concise pitch that highlights your specialty, the value you provide, and the keywords you want to be found for. A simple, effective formula is:

[Your Title/Role] | [Your Specialization or Top 2-3 Skills] | [Your Value Proposition or Who You Help]

Let's see it in action:

• Before: Senior Account Manager at TechSolutions Inc.
• After: Senior Account Manager | B2B SaaS &, Cloud Solutions | Helping Enterprises Optimize Their Tech Stack &, Reduce Costs

The "After" version tells a recruiter, potential client, or connection exactly what you do and what problems you solve. It's packed with keywords and paints a much clearer picture of your expertise.

Tell Your Story: The "About" Section

This is where you move beyond titles and keywords to introduce your personality and professional purpose. The "About" summary is your chance to write in your own voice and connect with the reader. Avoid writing in the third person or just listing buzzwords. Instead, tell a story.

A Structure for an Effective "About" Section:

1. The Hook (1-2 sentences): Start with a strong statement that summarizes your mission or what you're passionate about in your professional life.
2. Your Background (1-2 paragraphs): Briefly explain your journey. How did you get to where you are? What unique experiences shape your approach? Showcase a key accomplishment or two that you're proud of.
3. Your Expertise (Bulleted List): Clearly list your core competencies or areas of expertise. This makes it scannable and helps with keyword optimization. For example:
   • SEO &, Content Strategy
   • Product Marketing (SaaS)
   • Lead Generation &, Nurturing
   • Marketing Analytics &, Reporting
4. The Call to Action (1 sentence): End by telling people what you want them to do next. Do you want them to connect? Visit your portfolio? Or reach out for collaborations? Make it clear. For example, "I'm always open to discussing new marketing challenges - feel free to connect and send a message."

Remember to infuse your personality. Are you an analytical problem-solver? A creative storyteller? Let that come through in your writing style.

Detail Your Experience Like a Storyteller

Your Experience section is where you validate the claims made in your headline and summary. Don't just copy and paste your resume descriptions. Instead, treat each role as a mini-story of achievement.

For each position, go beyond simply listing your duties. Focus on your accomplishments and quantify them whenever possible. Use clear, action-oriented bullet points.

Consider this transformation:

• Old Way (Responsibility-focused): "Responsible for managing the company blog and social media accounts."
• New Way (Achievement-focused): "Grew organic blog traffic by 150% in the first year by developing and executing a data-driven SEO content strategy. Increased social media engagement by 45% through community management and targeted content creation."

The second version proves your impact. Numbers catch the eye and show you're results-oriented. Use a simple framework to guide your bullet points: What did you do? How did you do it? What was the result?

Pro Tip: Add rich media to your Experience entries. Link to projects you've worked on, articles you've published, presentations you’ve given, or company websites. This brings your work to life.

Build Credibility with Skills, Endorsements, and Recommendations

Social proof is incredibly powerful on LinkedIn. When other people vouch for your skills and character, it carries far more weight than anything you say about yourself.

Skills & Endorsements

You can list up to 50 skills on LinkedIn. Choose them strategically, focusing on the ones that are most relevant to the opportunities you're seeking. Look at job descriptions for roles you want and see what skills they list.

Pin your top three most important skills to the top of your section. Endorsements from your connections for these skills show a consensus around your expertise.

Recommendations: The Gold Standard

While endorsements are nice, written recommendations are the gold standard of social proof. A thoughtful paragraph from a former manager, client, or team member detailing their positive experience working with you is invaluable.

Don't be shy about asking for them. The best way to get recommendations is to:

1. Give them first. Thoughtfully recommend people you've genuinely enjoyed working with, they'll often be happy to return the favor.
2. Ask personally. When you request a recommendation, don't just use the generic LinkedIn form. Send a personal message and refer to a specific project you worked on together to jog their memory. Say something like, "Would you be willing to write a brief recommendation about my work on the Q4 Product Launch project? I really valued your leadership on that."

Get Active and Stay Visible

An amazing profile will only get you so far if you're not active on the platform. The real magic happens when you start engaging with your network and contributing to conversations. A living, breathing profile consistently outperforms a static one.

Post Your Own Content

Consistency is more important than frequency. You don't need to post every day, but aim for a regular cadence - once or twice a week is a great start. This keeps you top-of-mind with your network.

You don't need to be a thought leader to share valuable content. Post about:

• A lesson you learned from a recent project.
• Your take on a recent industry article or trend.
• A useful tool or resource you've discovered.
• A celebration of a team success.

Your content builds your personal brand and showcases your expertise in action.

Engage with Others

LinkedIn's algorithm rewards engagement. Don't just scroll and "like" posts. Leave thoughtful, insightful comments on the content shared by others in your industry.

Adding a meaningful comment (more than just "Great post!") does two things: it provides value to the original poster and it exposes your name, picture, and headline to their entire audience. It’s one of the most effective ways to grow your network and visibility.

Polish the Final Details

Finally, a few small tweaks can give your profile that extra professional polish.

• Customize Your URL: Edit your profile URL to be clean and simple, like linkedin.com/in/yourname, instead of the default version with random numbers. You can find this setting on your profile page under "Edit public profile &, URL."
• Use the Featured Section: This section sits near the top of your profile and is a great place to showcase your best work. Pin links to your portfolio, an article you've published, or a key project you're proud of.
• Turn on Creator Mode: If you are focused on building an audience and regularly creating content, turn this on. It changes the primary button on your profile from "Connect" to "Follow" and allows you to list up to five topics you post about, signaling to everyone that you're an active voice in your niche.

Final Thoughts

Turning your LinkedIn profile into a powerful tool for your career is all about intentionality. By optimizing your headline, telling your story in the about section, detailing your achievements, and actively participating in the community, you create a profile that does more than just restate your resume. It actively works for you, attracting a network of valuable connections and opportunities.

We know that staying active on LinkedIn is what truly keeps a great profile working for you. Consistently sharing content and insights is time-consuming, and that's why an organized workflow is essential. That's why we created Postbase with a clean visual calendar that helps us plan and schedule our own team's LinkedIn posts in advance, ensuring our professional presence stays strong without the daily scramble to find something to post.