Top 6 LinkedIn Profile Tips and Tricks for Beginners (2024)

This blog post is for those who are new on LinkedIn or who already have a basic profile and would like to improve it and don`t know where to start. There are zillions of LinkedIn tips and tricks for professionals out there, and I hope this post can help you start and take the first steps by keeping your focus. Stay tuned for an extended version of these LinkedIn tips and tricks for beginners.

The top six LinkedIn tips, I`ll cover in this post for beginners are:

1. Choose a good profile picture to use on LinkedIn.
2. Add a background photo (LinkedIn banner).
3.  Remember to use keywords so your LinkedIn profile is findable.
4.  Write a good LinkedIn summary.
5.  Add relevant skills on your LinkedIn.
6. Have a good intro (Headline).

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is the world's largest professional network, with over 700 million members. People in more than 200 countries use it in 25 different languages.

It's an excellent tool for finding new jobs, building your professional digital brand, looking for potential clients, or even just networking with other professionals in your field. 

You can use LinkedIn to build your personal brand by showcasing your skills and experience using a professional profile.

Top 6 LinkedIn Tips for Beginners

If you are a beginner and need help figuring out where to start, here are 6 tips for you to focus on:

1. Choose a good profile picture to use on LinkedIn.

A profile picture is the first thing people see when they visit your LinkedIn account. It's an opportunity to make an excellent first impression.

This picture will appear on your homepage of LinkedIn and give people a first impression.

A LinkedIn profile represents who you are professionally, what you do, and your skills. It's like your digital professional identity on a social network. Regarding your LinkedIn profile photo, I recommend using a photo that you prefer to use on your CV.

A good rule of thumb is to have a photo taken in front of a plain background with natural lighting. You can find even more details here: LinkedIn Tips for Non - Digital Native Executives 2023 

2. Add a background photo (LinkedIn banner)

The other visually important part of your LinkedIn profile is the background section. You can use this section to highlight your professional skills and expertise in an eye-catching way - by using a background photo or design.

Many great tools can help you create a stunning LinkedIn background without any design skills at all. Canva is one of the most used ones. To start with one, you can simply go to www.canva.com and search for "LinkedIn Banner," and create your own.

       You might ask: “What is the LI profile banner size?”. The answer is as follows:

• LinkedIn profile picture size: 400 x 400
• LinkedIn banner or background photo size: 1584 x 396
• LinkedIn company logo size: 300 x 300
• LinkedIn banner / cover photo size: 1128 x 191

       If you would like to learn more, the LinkedIn FAQ pages here and also this page here can help.

3. Remember to use keywords

When filling out your LinkedIn profile, look for keywords that are popular and relevant in your current industry or the industry you're looking to join. Recruiters will view profiles with these words and might be more likely to contact you. 

You can use keywords all over your profile, and the ones I recommend focussing on the beginning are the following four: 

• LinkedIn Headline
• LinkedIn Profile Summary
• Experience
• Skills 

Please remember to not overload your profile with keywords. The goal is to leverage keywords to optimize your profile.

4. Write a good LinkedIn summary

This is an area that you can use to introduce yourself briefly. It is like your elevator pitch section. Here remember that "Less is more."

Some questions you can ask when writing this section are:

• What are the top 3 sentences I would like to share with visitors of my profile to give an overview of my professional career? 
• How do I answer the "tell me about yourself" question in 2 or 3 sentences in a job interview in a brief way?
• How can I highlight years of experience, different types of industries I worked in, and other countries I have worked in? What are the top skills, achievements, and strengths I would like people to know about? 
• Is my LinkedIn summary short and to the point? Remember, less is more.
• Did I include the results of my work, not just tasks & responsibilities?

Here is a great resource from Hubspot, where you can find 80 different examples which can help you get inspired.

5. Add as many relevant skills as possible (without overusing them)

        40% of hirers use skills data when hiring, according to LinkedIn article here.

Adding your skills on your LinkedIn profile is important for people to be able to endorse you and for recruiters to be able to find your profile when using LinkedIn Search.

6. Have a good Intro (Headline)

On the Headline (In the Intro Section), list your services and expertise. It can help you strengthen the visibility of your profile in searches.  You can choose between "I`ll list just the facts" approach, "I`ll be creative" approach or a combination of both.

• Examples for "I`ll list just the facts" approach: 

- Graphic Designer at xyz.  Driving AI focused design projects.

- Electric Engineer at xyz. Intern in xyz Department.

- Head of Diversity & Inclusion at xyz. Global Inclusion Program Lead.

- Founder at xyz, Executive Coaching, Digital Strategy, Digital Upskilling (I use something similar to this one.)

• Examples for "I`ll be creative" approach: Here is a resource for 10 Eye-Catching LinkedIn Profile Headlines to Inspire Your Own
• Examples for "I`ll combine both of the above" approach: 

- Founder at xyz. I help businesses grow their digital capabilities.

- Digital Transformation Leader at xyz: Helping you transform your business by xyz 

- Executive Coach. Helping brilliant women leaders advance because the future is diverse.

 Here is an overview of all six tips:

1. Choose a good profile picture to use on LinkedIn.
2. Add a background photo (LinkedIn banner).
3.  Remember to use keywords so your LinkedIn profile is findable.
4.  Write a good LinkedIn summary.
5.  Add relevant skills on your LinkedIn.
6. Have a good intro (Headline).

 I hope this helps you to start building your digital brand and presence on LinkedIn.

✅You can find an extended version of this post here: LinkedIn Tips for Non - Digital Native Executives 2023 

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Resources:

• LinkedIn Resource About Profile Pictures 
• Hubspot Resource About Personal Branding Examples
• Our skills-first vision for the future (linkedin.com)