Sarah Clay
Your LinkedIn headline is one of the most important areas of your LinkedIn profile—and is, arguably, the most difficult to get right.
What is your LinkedIn headline?
Your LinkedIn headline sits just below your banner and your profile photo. It is the first text which people see when they visit your profile. Here, you have 220 characters to make that all-important first impression.
Your headline travels everywhere you go on LinkedIn—the first third of your text showing every time you post (or comment on someone else’s post) or if you send someone a DM.
Can you see why your headline is so important?
Good! Then read on.
Hopefully you can see why it’s important that your headline packs a punch. What’s also vital is that it differentiates you from your competitors. With around 820 million people on LinkedIn in 2022, you need to stand head and shoulders above those doing a similar thing to what you do.
How can you use your LinkedIn headline to stand out?
With such a short amount of characters, it can be hard—but here it’s a case of less is more.
Here are 3 tips to help you write an awesome LinkedIn headline to position you apart from your competition.
1. Identify WHO you work with
You know when you hear your own name being called out in a busy street? You stop, you listen. Your name resonates with you.
Unless you want to target all people on LinkedIn called, say, “Emeric,” it’s a bit tricky to do this on LinkedIn. You also wouldn’t attract many people! If, however, you can identify your target audience by their job/position or business, you will have a chance of the relevant people being attracted to your profile. Tell those coaches, course creators, builders, writers, social media managers, that you help THEM!
When people see their profession listed, they’re likely to stop and explore your profile further. It’s not quite their name—but it’s the next best thing.
It will also save your audience—and, more importantly, you—a lot of time. Time is precious and you don’t want to be spending it answering comments and DMs from a load of people who don’t resonate with you, nor you them. Which brings me on to my next tip:
2. Identify WHAT you can do for your audience
Telling people what you can do for them is another great way of directly targeting those people that need you.
For example, I help entrepreneurs and business owners get leads on LinkedIn. If you’re an entrepreneur—then I am talking to you, my friend! If you don’t need more leads, then you don’t need my help. If you do, then you may want to dig deeper into what I do. Boom 
We are getting closer! So think about the end result of what you do for your clients.
If, for example, you’re a copywriter, you may help your clients by writing better copy than they do. Think about: what is the end result for them? If you write better copy than they do, 1) you’re freeing up time for them to devote to their business; and/or 2) you’re making them look more professional; and/or 3) you’re clarifying their messaging; and/or 4) you’re potentially attracting a different (better?) customer.
By talking about the results your service can achieve, you are more likely to resonate with your audience. We all have problems that need solving. If you can identify someone’s business problems in your LinkedIn headline, that reader is going to prick up their ears again! They’re getting closer to you, and we haven’t even finished yet!
3. Tell your readers HOW you help them
Problems can be solved in many ways and not everyone works in the same way, so it’s important to highlight how you operate. Do you have a membership or provide 1-to-1 services? Do you do “done for you” services or training?
The more information you give will help niche down your audience and help them with their buying journey. If you can keep things simple and explained clearly, you’re more likely to build up that all-important trust that people need to have established before they buy from you.
What does it mean to get more clicks you get to your profile?
Sarah Clay @sarah2
I train companies and entrepreneurs how to get more leads on LinkedIn. I work 121, with groups and I also have a fabulous community of LinkedIn learners
