This guide offers tips for making edits and enhancements that will optimize your profile summary, helping build awareness and trust for your business and for our brand. In addition, we've outlined all compliance requirements for you so that it's a breeze to draft your profile for approval.
If you have a LinkedIn profile, you may already be off to a great start ─ use this guide to review your profile for any opportunities for improvement.
Editing Your Intro
Click the pencil icon (highlighted in the green box) at the top of your profile to make changes to details such as your name and headline in the intro card.
Adding Profile Sections
Not all sections covered here will exist on your profile by default. If you don’t have a section listed here, you can add it easily by clicking “Add profile section” in your intro.
To edit any section of your profile, click the edit pencil icon. (highlighted in the green box here)
Choosing Your Headline
Your name… well, that's self-explanatory. Your headline, however, should be more than just a job title.
In addition to your role, you should try to creatively highlight your value proposition in these 120 characters. Across LinkedIn, it’s one of the first things people will see next to your name and can help catch someone’s attention.
Feel free to draw inspiration from the format of these headlines, but it’s best to craft something unique to you. Remember, you only have 120 characters, so keep it succinct!
Here’s an easy framework to follow to craft your headline. You can separate each section with a vertical bar character “|” to keep things clean:
Job Title - Employer | Certifications (if applicable, for example: CLU, ChFC) | Value statement OR list 2-3 key skills.
When you are suggested to others on LinkedIn, this is how your headline will show up next to your name. (highlighted in a green boxes below.)
Editing your Contact Info
Just like you would with a business card, make sure your contact information, including a link to your website, is current. LinkedIn allows for up to three websites in the contact section.
To edit your contact info, first click “contact info” under your profile image. (highlighted in a green box here)
The contact info currently on your page will populate. To edit anything, click the pencil icon at top right. (highlighted in a green box here)
Setting Your Profile URL
LinkedIn generates a URL for you by default. You'll want to create a custom LinkedIn URL that is succinct and easy to recall-- something you'll be able to share. Choose something you will not likely need to change in the future so that you may always use the same page link to promote your profile.
Keep it short and clean. Use a combination of your name and numbers as necessary if your name alone isn’t available.
DEFAULT: linkedin.com/in/johhn-smith-69917280/ ❌
PROPOSED: Linkedin.com/in/johnpaul89 ✔
Changing Your Profile URL
First, access the “Contact Info” settings from your profile intro. Then click the pencil icon.
The edit contact info will appear. Click the Profile URL link, highlighted here in a green box.
You will be brought to the public profile settings page. From here, click the "Edit Your Custom URL" section to change your URL. (highlighted here in a green box)
Choosing a Profile Image
Both your profile image and cover photo should be business professional - these images are what people will see first on your profile and should make a good impression.
For your profile image, use a recent business headshot. You want something flattering, inviting, well-lit, and without a busy background. You will also want to make sure that you crop properly─ tighter framing is better to stand out since your profile image will show up small. Here are a few examples:
What Should I Avoid?
Choosing a Cover Image
A cover image is also important to stand out—it’s something that many people overlook but can help personalize your profile. For your cover image, the focus doesn’t need to be on you, but you’ll want to stick to attractive imagery that helps set a good mood for your profile. Whatever you do, make sure to use an image that you have the rights to use. Below are some ideas for cover images unique to you.
Proper Resolution
Pixelated images do not look professional–so be sure to use a resolution of at least 1500x396px. This size is optimal for LinkedIn. Anything larger is OK but will be cropped down to size when you upload the file.
Setting Your Profile & Cover Image
Writing Your Profile Summary
Think of this as your digital elevator pitch to quickly help you establish your background, build credibility, and inform prospects. You’ll want to frame it around the how and why of serving your clients. Be personal and enthusiastic to show your unique passion for what you do. Your summary should offer an easy overview of who you are and how you can add value to the clients you serve—keep in mind, this summary is reflective of your brand.
Writing about yourself takes some reflection, but it’s easier with some guidance and inspiration; there’s no need to overthink it!
To get yourself primed for branding yourself, reflect on your business persona by asking yourself:
Throughout this section, draw inspiration from the questions you asked yourself and include some of those reflections.
Value Statement
Your first 1-2 sentences will be the first that anyone sees–it’s the elevator pitch of your role.
Summarize your core objective while detailing your passion and reasons to believe in you.
EXAMPLE: I take pride in helping my clients prepare for the next step in their financial future. I believe that my combined experience, professionalism and knowledge of financial products and services will help you as you work to reach your financial goals.
Personal Summary
This can be 3-4 sentences on the why and how behind your work. Make it personal, informative, and enthusiastic, tying back to the brand when possible.
Be sure to shed light on some personal strengths. Feel free to include a personal conversation-starter such as a relatable hobby, volunteer cause, or show you’re a fan of something others may connect with.
EXAMPLE: Serving my clients and helping them navigate their financial futures is rewarding for me–I truly enjoy helping families and business owners navigate the road towards financial freedom. It’s my goal to establish lasting relationships with my clients and become a lifelong resource for each one of them. I have a tenacity for being a helping hand. If we work together, I’ll take care to consider every piece of your financial puzzle, starting with a careful review of your needs and level of knowledge, and putting them all together for a life-long plan. When I'm not serving my clients, you can find me working on my photography. Anyone up for joining me?
Key Solutions/Services Your Offer
Listing these keywords not only helps your profile be discovered but can help potential clients learn more about what you do. Write once sentence leading into the solutions summary that gives detail as to how you can help.
EXAMPLE: Below are some of financial goals I help my clients to navigate, including but not limited to:
Experience Best Practices
Showcasing your professional journey is essential on LinkedIn. Your most relevant and accomplished roles are what matters. According to LinkedIn, profiles with more than one position listed are viewed up to 29 times more than those with only one position listed.
Filling Out an Experience
Title - List the title for your position.
Company - Tag your agency. We have seen representatives in the past accidentally tag other companies─with over 30 million companies on LinkedIn, it’s an easy mistake. If your agency does not have a LinkedIn Company page, please make sure to talk with your office manager about creating one. Without a LinkedIn Business Page, you and your agency peers will be unable to tag your agency as your employer and accordingly your profile will not display a brand logo or allow visitors to click through to learn more about your agency. Think about it─how much would you trust someone at a company that appears to have no logo or that doesn't have a LinkedIn presence when it's so commonplace for businesses?
Location - It's important to keep this current so that you can be discovered in your area.
Start Date - For old positions, please ensure dates are correct.
"Update my headline" - Do not check this box as this will delete the customized headline you've already established.
While this section is important to inform connections on your current and past roles, you can keep it short and sweet─ focus on high-impact information and on ensuring that you provide background on both the company and job functions of the position being described. Focus on how you provide results for your clients. Note: in this section, there's a 200 to 2000-character requirement. You’ll want to make sure that the first 1-2 sentences are impactful as they may be the only thing to display on your profile unless a visitor expands the text.
Past Roles Ensure that previous roles or employers are not written in present tense or actively promoting competitor products or services. If a past role contains a description of a competitor's performance, ratings, or a competitor disclosure, we ask that you remove this information. While descriptions for all past roles aren’t necessary, you can use the guidelines below to craft a recap of your most relevant past experiences.
Current Roles
Like the job experience section, you can showcase your volunteering experience here. Just like a job, be sure to properly tag each organization you're associated with, including your title, if applicable, and the dates of your involvement. For the description, feel free to write about the work the organization does, why you're passionate about it, and list any core responsibilities of your volunteer role.
Add any undergraduate or graduate experience as applicable, and be sure to properly tag your university or college if possible and list your degree, field of study, start dates, etc. If you were involved in societies or activities which you'd like to list, bullet them in this section.
Please note that our policy does not allow college courses to be listed on your profile, either in this section or as coursework under the accomplishments section.
Here, you can further establish trust by listing relevant industry licenses and certifications.
Do you hold LOMA certifications? Any Securities Licenses?
Be sure to include relevant details such as an expiration date if applicable and a link to the credential if possible. It’s important to only list valid and current credentials.
Have you been recognized by National Life? Former employers? Your community? Be sure to showcase accomplishments that you're proud of. Like certifications and licenses, these can help you establish trust and credibility. Prioritize anything that is relevant to our shared business.
Depending on which skills are most important to you, you can feature up to three skills. Pick those most relevant to your role and client focus─what skills are your target markets most likely to be wanting to see? From the edit view, you can drag skills around.
While you may list approved skills, depending on your licensing level compliance may require you to turn off endorsements for those skills. Don't worry, as opting out and hiding endorsements can be reversed should the need ever arise. See LinkedIn for more information.