How to Write Your LinkedIn Headline (+ 20 Examples)
LinkedIn is the best platform for building professional connections, finding B2B leads, and job hunting. But in order to make the most of the platform, you need a LinkedIn headline that’s going to stand out.
Below, we discuss what a LinkedIn headline is, how you can write a good one, plus showcase 20 amazing examples you can use for inspiration.
Key Takeaways
- A LinkedIn headline is like a quick elevator pitch showcasing what you do professionally.
- To write a good LinkedIn headline, you want to start by perusing different examples to get an understanding of what your headline should include.
- Make sure to incorporate things like your current role, your biggest skills, industry keywords, and other important information in your own headline.
What Is a LinkedIn Headline?
A LinkedIn headline is a short description of who you are/what you do that sits at the top of your LinkedIn profile. As you can see below, my LinkedIn headline is “Co-Founder at Neil Patel Digital.” Short, sweet, and to the point.
There are a number of ways to write your LinkedIn headline. You can keep it simple like mine, share a bit more about what you do, or infuse some personality into it. Just make sure it matches your overall personal brand—more on that later.
How to Write a Good LinkedIn Headline
To craft a LinkedIn headline that grabs attention and really showcases who you are, there are a few key elements you want to include. Follow along with these steps to write a good headline that properly details who you are and what you do.
Look at Examples Before You Start
Before you even put a single word in your headline, look around the platform to see how others describe themselves. You can also scroll down just a bit to see 20 amazing LinkedIn headlines we’ve hand-picked to share with you.
Looking around at how other users have written their headlines can be a great way to get the creative juices flowing in your brain. Plus, you can figure out styles that don’t suit you, giving you some parameters to start with.
Include Your Current Role
Now let’s get down to business. It’s time to start writing your LinkedIn headline. And the first thing you want to do is write down your current role.
Keep it simple. Something like “VP of Marketing at Company” or “Dev Lead.” And if you’re currently unemployed and job hunting, you can share that, as well, by writing out something like “Searching for a role in the HR tech space.”
Add Your Skills and Expertise
Next, include any relevant skills and expertise you have that will help you stand out. This can be really simple and in list form, like “Content Strategy, Product-Led SEO.” Or you can be a bit wordier and write something like “I build landing pages that convert.”
Including your best skills and experience can help you stand out, especially if you’re job hunting, looking for new clients, or aiming to expand your professional network.
Incorporate Industry Keywords
One major component of LinkedIn is its search functionality. And to make sure you appear in search results when people are looking for someone with the type of experience you have is to incorporate the right keywords into your headline.
You don’t want to create a keyword-stuffed, jargon-filled LinkedIn headline. But you do want to incorporate enough keywords that they sound natural while still helping you boost your profile’s ranking in search results.
Promote Yourself
Don’t be afraid to show off a bit with your headline. You’re good at what you do. Let it be known. For example, you could include something like “Built a channel with 1M+ YouTube subscribers” or “Building a bootstrapped SaaS product.”
Or, you can talk about what you do for clients. Like, “I write high-converting website copy,” or “I create social media ad campaigns that get results.”
LinkedIn is a professional social networking platform. The goal is to increase your online network, whether that’s finding new clients, making new colleagues, or meeting new industry professionals. And one great way to do that is to really sell what you can do.
Let Your Personality Shine
Just because LinkedIn is a professional platform doesn’t mean you can’t still let your personality come through in your headline and in your content. Include a line that provides a bit more context into who you are as a person—and not just as a professional.
We’ve included a few examples below of how some users have chosen to showcase their personality, even while remaining professional.
Make It Short and Sweet
You only have 220 characters to sum up exactly what you do and who you are in your LinkedIn headline. It’s like the shortest elevator pitch ever. So you need to find the right words to introduce yourself to other LinkedIn users in a really short, concise way.
Another pro tip: Keep the most important part of your headline at the beginning. In both search results and the LinkedIn feed, people will only see the first several words of your headline. They have to click to your profile to see the entire thing.
Make your headline short and sweet, but also, make them want to click to see more about what you have to offer.
20 LinkedIn Headline Examples to Steal
If you want to create your own impactful LinkedIn headline, you first need to look around and see how others in your industry are composing there. Here are 20 different ideas you can steal for your headline to get you started.
1. Be Straightforward
Similar to my headline, you can choose to just be straightforward, sharing nothing but your existing role. Don’t worry about any added fluff—just include what you do and where you work so your new connections know exactly what to expect from you.
2. Showcase Your Personality
Or, you can choose to have some fun with your LinkedIn headline. Infuse your personality into it, creating a headline that’s still relevant to what you do but also lets you showcase a bit of who you are.
This example, “I live on LinkedIn for a living,” works because Kate is a LinkedIn content creator. So she’s able to put a bit of who she is into her headline while still remaining true to her professional work.
3. Include Your Portfolio
In this example, we see the freelancer has included companies she’s worked with in the past right inside of her LinkedIn headline. This is a great way for potential clients to see if she’ll be a good fit right off the bat.
Consider incorporating some of your past or current clients within your own headline, especially if you only work with companies within a specific industry. It can help narrow down your incoming work requests to more relevant brands.
4. Let Connections Know What to Expect
With this example, Olly has let his followers and connections know exactly what to expect from him and his content. He’s building in public, sharing his experience, and providing content that others in the same boat might be interested in.
5. Promote Yourself
Use your LinkedIn headline as a sort of elevator pitch, promoting yourself and your product or services. In this example, Esha has written that she will write content for your brand that will keep people from scrolling past.
For your own headline, come up with a quick one-liner that perfectly encapsulates what you do so you can use your LinkedIn profile as a way to bring in new work.
6. Write a List
Another simple way to use your LinkedIn headline is by simply making a list. List out different roles you have, share a few things about yourself like we see in this example, or list out some of your different skills.
This is a great example because you can use it in any way. Use characters like the “|” or “-” to separate your list items in a visually appealing way that’s easy to follow.
7. Share What You Post About
Let new connections know what kind of content to expect from your LinkedIn posts. By sharing the topics you talk about, you can find like-minded connections and colleagues that are going to be much more likely to engage with you on the platform.
8. Explain What You Do
Explain exactly what you do so that LinkedIn users understand if they want to connect with you or not. This is also a great way to find new work, by creating a one-two line overview of what you have to offer potential clients.
9. Match Your Voice or Personal Brand
If you’ve been working on building up your personal brand, make sure your LinkedIn headline matches that voice or branding. In the above example, we can see this creator incorporates all lowercase letters into their overall voice and branding. So of course it makes sense for her to continue that right within her headline.
10. Share Your Accolades
If you’ve won awards or other accolades that are relevant to your work, why not tout them within your LinkedIn headline? Include major accomplishments right inside your headline to further promote your expertise within your profession.
11. Create a Tagline
Again, your LinkedIn headline can be treated like a short and sweet elevator pitch. With that in mind, one great way to use it is by creating a tagline of sorts that shows off what you do within a catchy one-liner that can stick in potential clients’ minds.
12. Promote Your Product
This example is great because not only does it share the user’s exact role, but she also added some additional product promotion. So instead of just seeing that Kirsty works at Chameleon, we now know exactly what type of company it is, and she’s included an adjective that helps sell it even further.
13. Include Your Value Proposition
What do you have to offer potential clients, customers, or employers? Write out your value proposition and include it as part of your LinkedIn headline. This is another great way to try to promote your product or services and generate new work through the platform.
14. Be Funny
Take a page out of Liz Willits’ book and just throw some humor into your headline. Just because LinkedIn is a professional platform doesn’t mean everyone’s headlines need to be formal and stuffy. This review from her mom showcases that Liz enjoys infusing humor into her work.
15. Use Buzzwords
Incorporating buzzwords can be a great way to grab attention. It’s the perfect example in this instance as Scott is a copywriter, so throwing in these big, eye-catching buzzwords not only intrigues potential connections but also showcases a bit of what he can do.
16. Share Multiple Roles
If you have multiple roles you want to promote, include all of them within your headline. We see Lee doing this in the last line of her headline, listing out, “Business owner, author, teacher, and traveler.”
17. Include Your Website
You can include a link within your LinkedIn profile, but why not make it even easier for people to discover where they can learn more about you or your business by sharing a link right inside of your LinkedIn headline? It won’t be clickable, but viewers can easily copy and paste it into their browser bar.
18. Share Your Achievements
Proud of your professional achievements? Show them off. We see Ben doing just this by sharing that he boosted monday.com’s monthly visitors from nothing up to 231k. Including tangible accomplishments like this can be a great way to showcase what you can do for potential clients and employers.
19. Share Your Mission
Showcase your professional mission right inside your LinkedIn headline. In this example, we see Tori sharing that she wants to build five million women’s net-worth and self worth. Sharing this is important as it’s a main part of her overall business goals. It also helps her to stand out to her potential audience.
20. Include Relevant Personal Details
You don’t need to keep your professional and personal self separated. Feel free to include personal details in your LinkedIn headline—especially if they’re relevant to your professional role. In this instance, we see Maggie share that she’s a mom right inside her headline. This makes sense for her as she’s building a platform focused on transforming parental leave.
FAQs
What is a LinkedIn headline?
It’s the short line of text right under your name on your LinkedIn profile. Think of it like a quick intro. it tells people what you do and why they should care. It shows up in search results, connection requests, and posts, so it’s one of the first things people see.
What should you put in your LinkedIn headline?
Start with your role or title. Then add what you’re good at or what makes you different, including things like skills, results, industry keywords, or a short value proposition. Keep it tight, use natural language, and make sure it actually sounds like you. Bonus points if it sparks curiosity or shows some personality.
Create Your Own LinkedIn Headline
Write your own LinkedIn headline by taking advantage of the tips and examples we’ve included throughout this article. Your headline should showcase what you do professionally, the kinds of content you share, and what your skills are so your new connections know what to expect.To make the most out of your Linkedin presence, check out my guide on LinkedIn marketing next.
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