LinkedIn may be the platform of choice for entrepreneurs and professionals looking to expand their networks, but with close to 500 million LinkedIn users globally, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd.
According to author and marketing specialist John Nemo, there’s an easy way to become more visible on LinkedIn—and it involves just one sentence.
As Nemo explains on his LinkedIn Riches blog, LinkedIn is effectively a business-to-business search engine and therefore in order for potential prospects and clients to find you, the headline of your profile—where most people list their current position—needs to be optimised for searches.
“If you’re like most people on LinkedIn, you likely set your profile up as a virtual resume, and thus your professional headline only features your job title,” Nemo says.
“The problem with a LinkedIn profile headline and summary section that is essentially a third-person rendering of your job duties, your role at your company, awards you’ve won, etc., is that nobody cares.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but nobody really cares about what you want.”
Read more: Three of the top mistakes people make on LinkedIn
Instead, Nemo suggests LinkedIn profile headlines should be “client-facing” and explain how you will help others reach their goals or solve their problems.
With 120 characters to use to craft an attention grabbing headline, Nemo says there’s plenty of room to use keywords and phrases that show others the services you provide and the audience you serve.
“They key is making it clear, simple and fast for people to decipher who you are, who you serve and what you provide,” he says.
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Editor
Eloise is an experienced business journalist and editor, who has held senior editorial roles at SmartCompany since 2014. Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter at @ellykeating.
