4 Common LinkedIn Headline Mistakes

It's a must these days to be on LinkedIn. Not only can you identify recent and relevant job openings, but it also offers employers and recruiters the opportunity to find you, to do company research and unique individuals within the organisation, and to develop your professional network.

Most of the revenue from LinkedIn comes from recruiters who use it as a big source to find talent and you want to make sure that you come up in their searches. You also want to make sure your profile on LinkedIn is compelling and get people to want to contact you.

Your LinkedIn headline is the first thing people will see about you when they are looking inside the website for certain skills , job titles and keywords. Here are some mistakes in your LinkedIn headline to avoid making, and a few tips to improve it.

1. Don’t Allow Your Current Job Title & Company To Appear By Default

When you don't change your LinkedIn headline manually, your current job title and employer name will be set to default. While leaving it like that is right, especially if you have a self – explanatory job title and work with a recognised employer, you can get better results when you take time to customise it.

Write a LinkedIn headline relevant to your target audience and include a few keywords (hard competencies). The difference is a headline from LinkedIn which reads: "Digital Sales & Marketing Executive | Data Analysis | Social Media | Advertising" rather than "Sales and Marketing at XYZ Company." The revised headline from LinkedIn does a better job of informing others about what this person is doing, who they are doing it for and what their expertise is. 

2 Not Presenting Your Selling Point 

Your headline to LinkedIn needs selling points or a value proposition that makes you stand out.

What separates you from someone else who could possess similar skills and experience? What hard skills or transferable skills will make you a great candidate for the job for which you apply? That's what you need to focus on.

3. Not Loading Up Your LinkedIn Headline With Keywords 

If you want your LinkedIn profile to appear in search results, recruiters and hiring managers need to be searching for the relevant keywords. Determine what these keywords are, and make sure they are in the headline of your LinkedIn. Be sure to include the skills needed for the position you want to take, not the one you are in at the moment.

Let's say a recruiter is looking for talent to fill a sales position at a Ad Tech company selling software. If your LinkedIn headline reads only "Sales Professional," the search results will likely show much lower than someone with a LinkedIn headline that hits some of the keywords.

An example of a good headline for LinkedIn could be: Sales Executive | Ad Tech Sales | Sales Management | Generation Lead 

4. Not Being Memorable To Others

A LinkedIn headline showing your skills and expertise will entice others to want to know more about you. Work your brain power to come up with something unique and powerful.

Write a powerful LinkedIn headline that it will stop recruiters in their tracks and write down your name!

A major battle job seekers are getting others to look at their profile on LinkedIn. But you'll be getting results with a personalised LinkedIn headline that appeals to the audience that you want to target.

The LinkedIn headline can only allow 120 characters, but it is your best chance to get recruiters to stand out and get them to see your profile!